A celebration of rugby in Cape Town
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:40
Four out of ten (From left to right): Jewish Boks; Joe Kaminer, Syd Nomis, Professor Alan Menter and Doctor Cecil Moss
The South African Jewish Museum has celebrated the wonderful game of rugby by putting on a fantastic exhibition on the history of the game - concentrating, particularly, on South African rugby and the 'Springbok Minyan' (the ten Jewish Boks).
The idea to host this exhibition - 'The Glory of the Game' - came from benefactor Mendel Kaplan and it was made possible through the hard work of museum director Shea Albert.
The exhibition was officially launched at an intimate function in the Gardens on Monday, June 29 and the museum opened its display to the public the following day.
Whilst Monday evening's launch was a small event, and by invitation only, the likes of legends Dr Cecil Moss, Professor Alan Menter, Joe Kaminer and Syd Nomis were all present - along with fellow former star Boks, John Gainsford, Roy McCallum and Dave Stewart.
Doc Moss addressed the audience and spoke with much fondness about his time as a Springbok and watching the likes of Okey Geffin, Nomis, Wilf Rosenberg and Joel Stransky - despite not having played with them.
The inimitable Nomis also had a quick word, praising the influence of Doc Moss and also making reference to the wonderful talents of the great John Gainsford. Nomis, the most-capped Jewish Springbok, also 'partnered' Joe Kaminer at a breakfast at the museum on Tuesday morning, with the duo taking part in a delightful Q&A.
Respected rugby historian Paul Dobson did plenty of behind the scenes work to ensure that all the history was captured perfectly in this exhibition, whilst also helping with the profiles and some excellent anecdotes on the ten Jewish Boks - not to mention two top Jewish referees, Max Baise and Jonathan Kaplan, as well as legendary Bok team doctor, Dr Augie Cohen.
Kaplan, of course, is the most-capped Test referee of all time, having recently passed the 50-Test mark - the only international referee to have achieved that honour.
In all, ten Jewish players have played 78 Tests for South Africa (from Zimerman to Stransky); being on the winning side an incredible 57 times, drawing on six ocassions and losing just 15 times.
These ten Jewish Boks make up the 'Springbok Minyan'.
They are known as the 'Springbok Minyan' because ten adult Jewish men represent the quorum (which is known in Hebrew as a Minyan) for certain religious obligations in Orthodox Judaism.
The 'Springbok Minyan':
Morris Zimerman (four Tests)
Louis Babrow (five Tests)
Fred Smollan (three Tests)
Dr Cecil Moss (four Tests)
Professor Alan Menter (two tour matches)
Joseph 'Joe' Kaminer (one Test)
Okey Geffin (seven Tests)
Syd Nomis (25 Tests)
Dr Wilf Rosenberg (five Tests)
Joel Stransky (22 Tests)
* For further information on this fantastic exhibition, call (021) 465 1546, email info@sajewishmuseum.co.za or simply head straight to the museum at 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001.
The SA Jewish Museum is open from Sunday to Thursday, 10am to 5pm and from 10am to 2pm on Fridays.
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