Cape Town Chabad Night at the Stadium to Remember

SOUTH AFRICA — Move over Ronaldo, Wayne and Pele… Cape Town’s West Coast Jewish Community is here! On Thursday 21 October close to 250 Capetonians took to the pitch of the World Cup Stadium in Cape Town to show off their soccer prowess and enjoy a night of fine cuisine, amazing prizes and great entertainment in support of the West Coast Jewish Community, its preschool and junior primary school – the Sinai Academy, and community centre – The Shul of Blouberg – West Coast under the auspices of Chabad of the West Coast directed by Rabbi Asher and Zeesy Deren.

The evening began in the elegant ground floor atrium of the iconic stadium where a delicious sushi spread at the foot of the rounded staircase was augmented by a refreshing cocktail bar on one side and the dazzling display of prizes in the Chinese Auction on the other side. While the guests put in the “bids” into the draws of their preference, for some El Al tickets to Israel, for others VIP Tickets to the USA/Bafana Friendly, they were surprised to see the vaunted “tunnel” leading on to the pitch wide open for them, inviting them into the bright light of the vast overwhelming centre of this magnificent edifice.

Waiting for them on the actual pitch of the World Cup games, Bafana legend Andre Arendse put them up to a challenge, get your penalty shot past me and you win a vuvuzela autographed by this soccer great. To the hooting (and vuvuzela blowing) delight of the crowd even Rabbi Deren stood up to the challenge and scored a goal – things were looking good for the West Coast, and the fun had just begun!

As the sun began to set and the last few guests had their shots, the crowd began to make their way to the posh fourth floor VIP Suite where the massive hall had been transformed into a luxurious lounge where plush couches, leather cocktail stools and tables, and an open bar of the finest malt whiskeys by the Brandhouse Deluxe Portfolio of Premier Brands, set the tone for what was to cap a remarkable experience.

On cue, the lights dimmed and the screens lit up with the exhilarating beat of “Give me Freedom” opening into “A Waving Hand” as the younger generation of the West Coast showed off their singing, dancing and swaying talents as a backdrop for a brilliant video production depicting the wide array of educational, social, religious and cultural activities that have brought the community together. with thanks to our own Shawn Levin.

To the thunderous applause that followed the video presentation, Rabbi Deren then got up to a share the message of the evening drawing on Abraham and Sarah as our role models for our task in creating a better more G-dly world, with the smile and kindness that they exemplified. Our regional director of Chabad of Cape Town Rabbi Mendel Popack then took to the podium for a beautiful presentation (including a surprise CT Stadium Birthday Cake) to the man who brought the dream of this event to reality, Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson. After the Mayors greetings, our event producer Lee-Anne Singer, together with her husband Chairman Brian Singer, gave words of appreciation to everyone who brought it all together. The program then concluded with Zeesy Deren giving a vote of thanks to the Singers, a driving force in bringing this mammoth production together and expressing our gratitude to everyone for their support, then everyone partook in the lavish buffet of Merle’s exquisite dinner enjoyed on the beautiful patio overlooking the lit up stadium…

Our ever engaging and musically talented MC Choni G then took to the stage to introduce the star of the night Nik Rabinowitz who took humour and laughter to a whole new meaning. Nobody was spared from the sharp wit that this king of cynicism displayed and regardless of where you stood (literally and figuratively) Nik had the crowd “rofl’ (rolling on the floor laughing – for the illiterate)… The evening concluded with auctioneer Rael Levitt at his best, auctioning off Silver Judaica and memorabilia and closed with the grand raffle of two El Al Tickets to Eretz Yisrael won by Ariella Kuper. But everyone was winner as Brian Singer announced that every guest would go home with a ticket, back to the stadium, for the USA/Bafana on Nov 17 (no, there are no extra tickets – but you’re welcome to come to next year’s event).

The greatest winner of all was of course the future of the West Coast Jewish Community, on a stronger more secure path to provide the opportunity of a positive and engaging Jewish life and learning experience, to every Jew regardless of background, knowledge or level of experience – for we, every last one of us, are all one family.