The charities we support cover education, training, community welfare and care (for the elderly, vulnerable as well as those facing specific challenges).
Charities We Support
Beth Shalom
Beth Shalom is an old-age home situated in Durban. We are a Jewish home and our catering is strictly kosher. We have a total of 85 residents at the moment and there is a waiting-list for various types of rooms. We cater for the elderly and infirm in Durban, providing a home away from home for people who are no longer able to manage in the community on their own. The average age of residents is 88, although we have some as young as 60.
We provide a warm and caring environment and our residents are categorised according to their needs. We have a frail-clinic for the physically infirm and a semi-frail area for residents who are mentally impaired. Then there is the hotel section for those who are both physically and mentally active. Entertainment is provided for the residents on a regular basis and we are grateful to volunteers who see to this need.
We rely to a large extent on donations to allow us to care and provide dignified living for our residents.
Chabad House driven by Miracle Drive
The work of Chabad House driven by Miracle Drive involves projects of upliftment, education and inspiration, which benefit all children, scholars, students, adults and the elderly.
The work Miracle Drive does is infinite, but benefits so many people, not only in the Jewish Community but also within the broader South African community.
Chevrah Kadisha
Throughout the world, you will not find another Jewish organisation like the Johannesburg Chevrah Kadisha. Established in 1888, it is the oldest Jewish organisation in Johannesburg and the largest Jewish welfare organisation on the African continent. From its inception it provided a paternal, protective and unifying influence and accepted the leadership role in developing the community.
Today, the Chevrah Kadisha Group encompasses 4 major organisations and provides 9 core services which care for aged, handicapped, vulnerable and helpless people. This includes providing food, accommodation, health care, counselling, protected employment and educational support to those who lack means and/or are unable to care for themselves.
This organisation is unique in that it takes care of the living, as well as the departed. From the cradle to the grave, the Chevrah Kadisha is committed to ensuring that No Jew Gets Left Behind.
Durban Jewish Social Services & Jewel House
Durban Jewish Social Services is a private non-Governmental organisation providing an essential resource for any member of the Jewish community for the Province of Kwazulu-Natal.
Jewel House falls under Durban Jewish Social Services. This is a residential facility for our residents with mental illness who require the infrastructure, care and supervision as well as professional intervention from a team including Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Nursing Sister and Social Worker.
Durban Jewish Social Services also intervenes with a number of clients living independently who have mental illness, some of whom may require Jewel House in the future. We also have a substantial client base of people in need within the open community – different age groups and a broadly based range of problems and difficulties. In addition to counselling we provide financial grants to some of our clients. We also provide meals on wheels.
Most of our work is privately funded by the Jewish community and Trusts but Jewel House also currently obtains a subsidy from the Department of Health who also gives us the necessary license to operate such a facility.
Glendale
Glendale Home was established in 1966 to provide total care 24 hours per day to the intellectually disabled in our community. Facilities include residential & holiday care, occupational & stimulation centre, physiotherapy as well as training & counselling.
The original house, now known as the Homestead, was renovated and adapted through the generous sponsorship of the Montague, Rose and Stanley Freeman Trust. A major building project was embarked upon in 1971 to expand the facilities. This project formed the foundation of the existing home as it is known today. In 1986 owing to increasing demand, an additional wing was built. The Adele Searll Night of 100 Stars Workshop was opened in 1998.
Hatzolah Medical Rescue
Hatzolah is a community based Emergency Medical Rescue Service operating within a pre-defined geographical area in Johannesburg. From the moment an emergency call is received, a seamless dispatch process ensures that our expertly trained responders are at the scene in record time, every time.
Hatzolah guarantees an unmatched level of service and response times and recognise our contribution to the health and safety of the Johannesburg Jewish Community as an imperative, irreplaceable one.
Hatzolah is a registered non-profit Company and is run and managed by a board of volunteer directors and professional executive staff. Hatzolah dispatchers and responders comprise both full-time and volunteer personnel, ensuring 24/7 operations. All services offered by Hatzolah to the community are free of charge.
Herzlia Foundation
The Herzlia Foundation Trust’s vision is to raise funds to future-proof United Herzlia Schools through the creation of an Endowment. This will ensure that no Jewish child is denied a Jewish education for genuine financial reasons and that Herzlia remains a Jewish community school providing educational excellence with world-class facilities
Highlands House
Highlands House is filled with understanding, kindness, patience, caring, support, a sense of belonging for each resident, independence, fulfilment and a genuine openness to individual needs that each ageing member of our Jewish Community deserves. We share a commitment to Jewish values of honouring our elderly by ensuring their individual dignity and respect with which to grow old gracefully.
We find the beauty within every person who comes through our doors and offer them a secure environment in which to express themselves from within during their golden age. We believe that each resident has strengths and capacities that can be supported and nurtured.
Our focus is on the individual’s wellness and abilities rather than on disability and illness. We aim to provide holistic care that encompasses the individual’s physical well-being in order to meet their spiritual, emotional, cultural and social needs.
Jaffa House
Jaffa is securely situated in the leafy suburbs of Muckleneuk Pretoria, South Africa’s capital. We like to think of Jaffa as a place for seniors that accommodates the Jewish elderly in all the different phases of growing old.
Our residents that are still young at heart enjoy many outings, activities, shul services, guest speakers and excises sessions. For those not able to look after themselves, frail and semi frail care is available. We are committed to offer ongoing brain stimulation to all our residents.
Jaffa is a community centre in Pretoria with Jewish organisations using its facilities for meetings, movies and entertainment. Jaffa is a kosher facility, Shabbat and all Jewish festivals are observed. We have a healthy volunteer programme run by the community who offer up time to assist residents in different ways.
Many of our residents have endured hard times financially, thanks to fund raisers, donations and kindness we are able to accommodate those who cannot provide for themselves. Jaffa has facilities to house 100 residents.
Jewish Women’s Benevolent Society
The Jewish Women’s Benevolent Society is a non-profit organisation in Johannesburg run by volunteer Jewish ladies. We pride ourselves to have been in existence for 120 years. Our mission is to help the indigent in our Community with financial assistance and care, allowing them to live with dignity.
JWBS runs a ’55 Club’ for lunch and entertainment twice weekly. This is a place where lonely people can come and be served a 3-course hot meal and spend the afternoon with our volunteers, socialising or being entertained. Members of this Club really look forward to this outing. Our Clothing Depot is open 3 mornings a week and provides needy people with nearly new clothing and household items. They are sent to us by the Social Workers who look after their needs. Our Group of Befrienders visit lonely people in their homes. This Group is run by a Social Worker and their compassion and kindness is a fabulous service that JWBS provides to the lonely.
In order to be able to exist, JWBS organises many fundraisers during the year, including: our membership drives, appeals for funds, Benarc gift shop, gala dinners, bridge mornings, golf day and Sunday market. Our volunteers are kept very busy all year round.
King David Schools Foundation
The King David Schools’ Foundation was established in 1994, initially to provide scholarships and bursaries for a number of deserving learners at King David Schools. However the significant changes in education in our country, together with our desire to ensure the continuation of the Jewish community require a clear direction and deliberate response.
The KDSF’s campaign: Dor le Dor – Generation to Generation Campaign, is focused on creating an Endowment Fund – the engine that will drive a sustainable future for the King David Schools, pivotal to the longevity of the Jewish community in South Africa. One of the primary objectives of the KDSF is to ensure a sustainable future for the King David Schools as institutions of excellence as well as offer those learners who can’t afford it, the privilege of an excellent Jewish and secular education.
Oranjia Jewish Child & Youth Centre
Oranjia aims to provide child and youth centred services as well as residential care group care to Jewish children who have been found in need of care in terms of the Child Care Act.
The philosophy of care is based on the core principle that children at youth at risk need opportunities for competency, development and personal growth.
Our emphasis is on the development of the whole child and youth in a context that actively promotes personal growth and development by building trusting and safe relationships between professional staff and residents. These meaningful relationships are characterised by concern for physical and emotional needs, trust, understanding and awareness of the child and youth as an individual in a social and communal context.
ORT South Africa
ORT South Africa was established in 1936 and is affiliated to World ORT which operates in 60 countries around the globe and is recognized by corporations and governments world-wide. Since 1994, thousands of South Africans have benefitted from learning new skills, growing businesses and receiving cutting-edge teacher training and support in Mathematics, Science and Information Technology (STEM). ORT SA was awarded the Mail and Guardian “Investing in the Future Award” 2015 in the STEM Development category.
In the last 10 years, ORT SA has impacted on 775 teachers in over 1000 schools, teaching more than 70 000 pupils. 800 small business have been assisted with mentoring and training and 1000 people have been taught entrepreneurial skills. ORT vision statement, “Educating for Life”, is the ethos by which ORT SA is governed.
Our Parents Home
Our Parents Home is located in Norwood, Johannesburg and houses 210 residents. It was established in 1940 and incorporated into the Chevrah Group in 2001.
At this pleasant facility, residents interact socially with each other in a safe, structured environment. Arts, crafts, concerts, exercise classes, bingo and more are organised regularly. Residents can listen to guest lecturers, and Shiurim are provided by visiting Rabbonim. The hairdresser, manicurist and podiatrist are accessible to residents and a team of social workers offers supportive counselling to them.
A Day Care programme has been carefully designed for elderly people who do not need the residential services of an aged home, but who wish to benefit from the social and therapeutic advantages provided.
A specialised Alzheimers ward at Our Parents Home, known as the Sunshine Circle, offers expert medical care and nursing to the aged.
http://www.jhbchev.co.za/pages/content_Our-Parents-Home.aspx
Sandringham Gardens
Sandringham Gardens was established in 1912 and incorporated into the Chevrah Group in 2000. This facility has been taking care of the needs of older persons for 100 years. It is home to over 400 elderly people, approximately 300 of whom are in need of long-term, intensive medical and nursing care.
The Sandringham Gardens hospital, which forms part of the Chevrah’s Community Medical Centre, has a full complement of nursing staff, General Practitioners and access to consulting Specialists. It also provides dentistry, optometry, audiology and speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry and radiology services and has a fully-stocked dispensary and more.
For those in the residential section who are well enough to enjoy the wide range of amenities on offer, regular entertainment, outings, in-house functions, religious lectures and a beautifully maintained shul are on hand just to name a few.
http://www.jhbchev.co.za/pages/content_Sandringham-Gardens.aspx
Selwyn Segal
For over half a century the name “Selwyn Segal” has struck a chord of tenderness and compassion. This Organisation was established in 1956 and integrated into the Chevrah Group in 2005.
Selwyn Segal incorporates:
- The Selwyn Segal Centre in Sandringham Johannesburg – providing accommodation, therapy and stimulation for 113 residents.
- Kibbutz Lubner is located in Olifantsfontein, Midrand, Johannesburg – where 18 people live and thrive on the dignity of their work from producing food from the earth.
- Finkelstein TLC – a school for Jewish children with special educational needs – catering to almost 30 children ranging in age from 4 to 21 years, each with differing levels of impairment.
Yad Aharon
The Yad Aharon & Michael Tzedokah Food Fund’s mission is to assist needy families in the Johannesburg area of South Africa with weekly fresh produce food parcels consisting of an array of seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, potatoes, freshly baked bread, eggs and a “protein of the week”. With so many relying on our hampers as their principal source of food, we constantly strive to increase their content, thereby ensuring that every Jewish man, woman and child is afforded the basic right to a nutritionally balanced diet. The preservation of our recipients’ self-esteem has been a cornerstone of the organisation since its inception and Yad Aharon & Michael pledges its continued and unwavering commitment to safeguarding the dignity of all its recipients.
Yeshiva College Foundation
The Yeshiva College Foundation which was established in 2011 is the fundraising arm of Yeshiva College. Our primary aim is to meet the financial challenges of our school’s bursary fund enabling us to guarantee that every deserving child is able to afford a Yeshiva College Education. The Foundation is required to ensure that Yeshiva College achieve Excellence in Education thereby investing in our teacher development, learning programmes and infrastructure.
A crucial support of Yeshiva College is our growing, unique group of graduates from all over the globe, extending all the way back to our establishment in 1953. We are committed to strengthening their connection that they have to Yeshiva College and to each other.