Jewish bookpublishing in South Africa (Dorem-Afrike)

During the library's latest acquisition trip, in November 2023, almost 1200 books were bought in South Africa, Mozambique and Eswatini. In Johannesburg seventeen titles by Jewish authors and/or about Jewish subjects were bought. This sample suggests a lively bookpublishing industry unknown to me. Although Leiden University Libraries have some 170 items catalogued as being written in Yiddish, none of them is published in Africa or is written by African authors. The University of Amsterdam has some works of the famous South African historian Leybl Feldman (e.g. Yidn in Yohanesburg biz Yunyon 31-ten May, 1910, translated as “the Jews in Johannesburg”. The global interest in Yiddish culture has led to several digitisation projects such as the Yiddish book center, which offers 52 African Yiddish books free online.

A rich Jewish bookpublishing tradition
According to the 2022 census, South African Jews are a tiny minority of 0,2% with the largest populations in the Western Cape and Gauteng Province (Johannesburg and Pretoria). But with over 50.000 people it currently is the largest Jewish community on the African continent. My visits to the Johannesburg suburbs of Glenhazel and Sandringham brought me into contact with this Jewish enclave: bookshops, yeshivot (seminaries), synagogues and kosher stores belied all the stereotypes of an ‘African town’. Kollel bookshop stocks mainly imported works from Israel and America whereas the family business Bookdealers is a general second-hand book trader with a great selection of Judaica and branches in Melville, Blubird and Rivonia. Most of their supply is not yet visible online. Two examples of this acquisition trip may point to the very rich Jewish bookpublishing tradition: 

Lider hinter grates                                                                                                                                                                        
The Yiddish poetry collection Lider hinter grates (Songs behind bars, see book cover in Hebrew) of the Lithuanian-born Yecheskel Avishabi Ma'or is introduced by David Wolpe, an active South African writer. According to the In memoriam, published online by the international Yiddish center, “In Johannesburg, Wolpe became an active contributor to periodicals in Yiddish and Hebrew. From 1954 to 1970, he edited the local Yiddish periodical Dorem Afrike (South Africa). In addition, he wrote poems, short stories, articles, essays, and critical reviews on modern literature for Yiddish periodicals of Europe, Israel and the USA. In 1959-1960, Wolpe published in the newspaper Afrikaner Yiddish Tsaytung a book of his memoirs A yid in der litvisher armey (A Jew in the Lithuanian army). In 1978, his large poetic book A volkn un a veg (A cloud and a road) appeared - a result of his 30 years’ creation. Then followed the collections of essays A vort in zayn tsayt (A word in its due time, 1984) and Mit Avrom Sutzkever iber zain lidervelt (With Avram Sutzkever through his poetic world, 1985). In 1987, a collection of short stories Heymen, khaloymes, koshmarn (Houses, dreams, nightmares, 1987) was published, and in 1991 Krikveg (The road back), a two-volume collection of poems and essays.”

Jewish life in the South African Country Communities
A totally different and more recent example I found at the Kollel bookshop. According to a recent article (Pimlott 2023) “Jewish life in South Africa was tightly integrated into the global Yiddish and Hebrew journalistic network.” This is illustrated by the 6-volume set “Jewish life in the South African Country Communities”. The series is published by the South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth and affiliated to the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora in Tel Aviv. Much more than the non-Jewish books purchased during this trip, Jewish titles are published or supported by both national and international institutions. I acquired books from the Hebrew Order of David international, the South African Jewish Historical society and the South African Maccabi Council in Johannesburg, whereas I came across only one self-published family history book (African Outliers). 

Gerard C. van de Bruinhorst

References

Pimlott, W. The Yiddish press and the making of South African Jewry in the British world: exclusion, libel, and Jewish nationalism, 1890–1914. Jewish Historical Studies, 2023, 55(1), pp. 1–26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.jhs.2024v55.02.

South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth Jewish life in the South African country communities. Johannesburg: South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth, 2012.

Ma’or, Yecheskel Avi-Shabi Lider hinṭer graṭes : lider un dertseylungen (Songs behind bars: songs and stories), Johannesburg, 1970.