CHOL – Community History On-Line

A forum for those involved in preserving the footprint of Southern African Jewish community life in digital form

About Community History On-Line (CHOL)

This forum was set up in 2020, by Geraldine Auerbach MBE and Eli Rabinowitz together with Professor Adam Mendelsohn, Director of the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at UCT, Gavin Morris, Director of the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town, and their archivists, Katie Garrun and Leila Bloch.

The rise of the internet has provided unprecedented means for connecting people as well as being a (hopefully) secure repository of information. Many people with a passion to preserve the history of their communities have grasped this opportunity with both hands. CHOL aims to facilitate those working to preserve the footprint of Southern African Jewish communities in digital format for future generations, in the following ways:

CHOL aims to:

  1. Bring together all those already working in the field
  2. Learn from their experience
  3. Highlight and connect to what they have already done/are doing
  4. Encourage others to participate and initiate new projects
  5. Develop standards and protocols
  6. Avoid duplication by sharing information

Activities to achieve these aims

  1. Encourage initiatives and activity
  2. Hold regular meetings to refine and develop initiatives
  3. Establish an email discussion list and other interactive social media
  4. Hold public physical and virtual meetings where participants are invited to ‘show and tell’
  5. Compile and circulate a newsletter to send those who show interest

Target audience

Any organisations and individuals already involved – or wanting to be involved with researching, documenting, and presenting South African Jewish community history on-line

Executive Committee

  1. Gavin Morris – Director, South African Jewish Museum
  2. Adam Mendelsohn – Director, Kaplan Centre, UCT
  3. Geraldine Auerbach MBE – Creator, with Eli Rabinowitz, of the Kimberley Jewish Community Kehilalinks web site
  4. Eli Rabinowitz – Maker of Kehilalinks websites for communities in Eastern Europe and South Africa
  5. Leila Bloch – Senior Researcher and Archivist, South African Jewish Museum
  6. Katie Garrun – Kaplan Centre Archivist
  7. Gail Loon Lustig – CHOL Share Your Stories coordinator
  8. Bramie Lenhoff – CHOL webmaster
  9. Paysach Burke – Creator, Woodstock and Salt River Jewish Communities
  10. Laura Konviser – Oral historian
  11. Dave Bloom – Creator, Zimbabwe Jewish Community