Another Great Chabad J-Biz Event at Investec Bank in Cape Town

CAPE TOWN, South Africa [CHI] — A select group of close to 100 Jewish business people and professionals gathered on the third night of Chanukah for the last session in 2007 of Chabad J-Biz, Cape Town’s Jewish Business Forum.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

Held in the conference centre of the prestigious Investec Bank with sweeping views of the CT Harbour and Atlantic Ocean, the evening opened with a Dvar Torah by Hilton Datnow of Investec Bank, the event hosts. He then introduced the guest speaker Mr. Arthur Gillis, Managing Director of Protea Hotels which manages hundreds of hotels across Africa. Mr. Gillis shared eight points (one for each night of Chanukah…) of business lessons that he experienced during his highly successful career at the helm of this major company.

Following the fascinating talk by Mr Gilles, the audience was then honoured to have Mr. Hugh Herman, Chairman of Investec Bank and one of the most prominent leaders in the South African world of business, light the beautiful silver Menorah, with the assistance of his good friend and director of Chabad Rabbi Mendel Popack. The moving lighting ceremony and subsequent singing of Maoz Tzur was a beautiful reminder of the richness of our traditions and its ability to be a part of our day to day lives…

The session concluded with a raffle of an exclusive selection of Chivas Regal – the evening sponsors, followed by an elegant dinner reception of sushi, a lavish spread of hors d’oeuvre, hot latkes, and of course lots of Chivas for l’chaims! The highly successful event which is arranged by the Chabad J-Biz team of Rabbis Pini Hecht, Aaron Popack, Levi Popack and Asher Deren is just one of the many different programmes included in the J-Biz portflio with the stated goal of “Networking Jewish People, Business and Values.”