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The Jewish New Year is a time of joy and renewal. It is my pleasure to wish the Jewish Community a very happy New Year for 5762. At this time, Jews in South Africa and all over the world give thanks for life, family and community. I believe our Jewish Community has every reason to feel positively about the coming year.

Rosh Hashanah has profound significance for the Jewish Community in that it marks the beginning of a process of self-examination and reflection culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in ten days' time.

It thus provides both a personal and communal opportunity to think about our own lives and our roles in ensuring universal principles of morality and justice and how we might make a further contribution to our country and the world.

We were pleased to learn that the theme of the recent conference of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies was South Africa - Ikhaya - Our Home. Clearly, Jewish South Africans have taken their place in the South African nation, secure in their religious and cultural practices. Jews have played and continue to play a positive and enthusiastic role in building a better life for all our people. We are grateful for the opportunity to work alongside our Jewish compatriots, for a peaceful and prosperous nation and for a better world.

Our world is facing difficult times. We must continue to respond with compassion, determination and a deep sense of justice. At this important time in the Jewish calendar, I call on the Jewish community to persevere and to redouble its efforts towards world peace and a just world order.

With every good wish for a "Shana Tova U'Gemar Hatima Tova".

Contact: Bheki Khumalo at 083 256 9133

Issued by: The Presidency, 18 September 2001