Nelson Mandela Thanked the Jewish Community

How the Jewish people have historically helped those in need

South African President-elect Nelson Mandela with leaders of the Sea Point Synagogue outside Cape Town, May 7, 1994

In December 2022, I was in South Africa with my family and our IBSI Ambassadors. One of the many places we visited was the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town. We learned from our Black South African friends on the trip that there were some Jews who were proponents of apartheid. Though they were not considered White, Jews did enjoy the privileges of white people during the apartheid era, and some exercised those privileges with seemingly no remorse. On the trip, we also learned of the many Jews that sacrificed their lives to end apartheid, and even some who did so ‘by any means necessary.’ There was so much more we learned in my adoptive country, but the link above and the one here will give more background.

Now, back to the museum…

In this museum, we went into a small theater and watched a short documentary about Nelson Mandela and his relationship with South African Jews. In the last few minutes of the footage, Mandela is seen at an event hosted by the Jewish community to honor him. He gave a beautiful speech about his love and appreciation for the Jews who fought, and in some cases died fighting against the apartheid regime. (Mandela made similar statements at Sea Point Synagogue outside Cape Town shortly after his election in 1994). 

After Mandela’s speech, a rabbi approached the podium to speak. In his speech, the rabbi cited Jeremiah 29:5-7. The rabbi explained that for many Jews, especially those who are active in their communities for the better, see themselves as exiles. And not just exiles, but exiles with a mandate from G-d Himself. The mandate is as follows:

“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

Written in 586 B.C., Jeremiah sends this letter from the squalor of Jerusalem to the Jews who had just recently been carried off to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. This was not a happy time by any means, but one of great turmoil, pain, and even deceit. Part of Jeremiah’s letter was to address the false prophets telling their fellow Israelites that G-d would bring them back to their homeland in two years when Jeremiah had already told them that G-d said it would be 70 (which it was). Jeremiah writes this letter in an attempt to quell any confusion or disbelief stirring up with his people in exile.

The rabbi in the documentary explained that he and other Jews had to help their Black South African brothers; they had no choice but to stand and fight against their government. And they felt they had no choice because of Jeremiah 29:5-7. Many observant Jews who aren’t living in Israel see it as their mission to be excellent stewards of the communities they inhabit. And they do this because they take the quote “...in its welfare, you will find your welfare” very literally. If a society prospers, the people in it prosper. If I can change my environment around me for the better, it will treat me well in return. I believe this helps explain many impactful diaspora Jews in history such as Julius Rosenwald, Rabbi Everett Gendler, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, and the British Jews who averted civil war by purchasing slave-owning banks in Britain and emancipating Black slaves, to name a few. 

Simultaneously, to quote a dear South African friend and founder of Thirst For Hope Rabbi Ramon Widmonte: “Jews all over the world who aren’t living in Israel or the United States are constantly looking for signs that it’s time to go home. If we miss the signs, we die.”

The Rabbi said this to my family and me over a Shabbat dinner about 5 years ago. From what we at IBSI have been witnessing since then here in the United States, We know the number of American Jews who fall into this category grows almost daily.

What an interesting dichotomy; people who have devoted their lives to solving real-world problems and bettering the communities around them, are also keenly aware of the threat, history, and nature of Jew-hatred, and have a plan of return should they need to protect themselves and their families. 

I can’t help but process this first as a Christian, and second as an American of African descent. I’ve grown up being taught a very similar principle, which can be found, among a few places, Philippians 3:20, which says: “...But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…”

Though I feel that not enough of us have applied this verse, I am privileged to know many fellow Christians who live by it and consequently have made the world better. As believers in Jesus, we are mandated to live our lives as if we are taking care of someone else’s creation because we are. This is not our home, and much like with a rented house, there are standards the owner requires its tenants to live by.

As a Black American, I see this also as someone whose ancestors were brought here. My thoughts on what that in itself all means are in a previous article entitled ‘the Bible Slavery, and a Higher Purpose,’ but I will say this: I believe America is our home and not our home. We are both in spiritual and physical exile for reasons only our Heavenly Father fully knows. But as Deuteronomy 29:29 says: “The secret things belong to the Lord our G-d, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever…”

What we do know is we are here, breathing, and functional; and as long as that remains, we have a purpose–an assignment–that we must fulfill. That purpose goes beyond simply being wealthy and successful. Our lives should benefit and aid others in some way. And when our lease is up, and we move to our permanent homes, we should want the house we left to be better for the ones still remaining.

Imagine if we all lived as if we were in exile.