The Wolf twins are donating all gifts back to
the KDSF to assist 500 kids currently on subsidies.
HELP THE WOLFS TO HELP THE COMMUNITY
A Classic Surprise for Lupine
Legends Elliot and Jeffrey Wolf
By: RONEL ZEFF
Pictures by: ILAN OSSENDRYWER
This past Thursday saw the HOD in Oaklands packed as 120 guests arrived to celebrate the 75th birthday of former headmasters of King David High School Linksfield and Victory Park, Elliot and Jeffrey Wolf. The Wolfs have collectively given 75 years of service to the KD schools and thus the South African Board of Jewish Education (SABJE) and the King David Schools’ Foundation (KDSF) saw fit to honour the Wolfs with a special by invitation only surprise cocktail party.
The guest list comprised those individuals who had worked closely with the Wolfs during their tenure and who were still involved with the SABJE, and remarkably, the guests managed to keep the details of the surprise from the Wolfs – right up until the day before the party! However although the twins may have found out that something was being plotted, they could not discover, much to their chagrin, when, where, how or what.
They were taken, ostensibly, for supper at Grill on Grant in Norwood, yet on arrival, were greeted by Myer Blumenau, a former KDHSL parent and owner of a Wolseley vintage car. There were teases of: “A vintage car driven by a vintage driver for vintage twins”!
The Wolfs arrived to much fanfare at the HOD, where the guests had been waiting for some time. Sheryl Benjamin, former head of Mathematics and Deputy Principal at KDHSL, and close friend of Elliot’s, acted as MC. Graham Wolf, son of Jeffrey, gave a personal insight into what it had been like learning at King David while his father was headmaster and his uncle head of the sister school, and also relayed a few amusing stories of mistaken identities.
Rabbi Kacev, Director of the SABJE, spoke warmly of the twins and how privileged he had been to have worked under both their headmasterships. As it was Tu B’shvat, Rabbi compared the Wolfs’ teaching careers to the three stages of a tree – the seed, a point of potency, potential, passion and principles – much like the Wolfs’ aspiration at the start of their careers to use education to change the lives of others; the tree, with deep roots that can anchor it in times of turmoil, much like the Wolfs and their commitment to forward thinking in a world of change or in fact a stagnant apartheid South Africa; and the fruit, or produce of the Wolfs’ labour – centres of academic excellence based on the ethos of care, empathy and a firm commitment to the continuity of Judaism.
Former Davidians Mark Samowitz (KDHSVP 1996) and Kevin Greenberg (KDHSL 2005) performed a lovely, heart-warming medley of the Wolfs’ favourite songs, and Gary Friedman’s team of enthusiastic waiters gave a local twist to the traditional “Happy Birthday song” – “remixed”, as it were, to Shosholoza!
Not to be outdone, the Wolfs were called up to say a few words, and impressed all present by their aptitude for impromptu speech – honed of course, by many years of parents’ evenings, assemblies, and prize givings!
As Rabbi Kacev remarked, the King David schools will forever rest on the deep foundations the Wolfs gave to the schools, and the KDSF and SABJE hope that the Wolfs’ 75th surprise birthday party was a fitting tribute and thank you to two well-loved and respected leaders of Jewish education.
Wolf 75 - The Wolfs blow out their birthday cake candles! - Pic ILAN OSSENDRYWER.jpg
