April 26, 2004
The SA Zionist Federation treated the Johannesburg Jewish community to a rip-roaring and delightful celebration of Israel's 56th birthday.

In a carnival atmosphere enhanced by the presence of camels, jumping castles, merry-go-rounds, clowns, magicians and thousands of Israeli flags and coloured balloons, more than  5  000 people met and mingled, ate and drank to their hearts' content, watched and applauded a wonderfully vibrant and lively stage show of dancing and singing by youth and adult performers, and proclaimed the achievements of a remarkable nation that has withstood continuous assaults, wars and terrorist attacks that possibly no other country could have resisted, yet which has chosen withal to celebrate life.  
 
Messages of goodwill and congratulations were brought by representatives of all the Jewish organisations; keynote addresses were given again by Daniel Pinhasi, Charges d'Affairs of the Israeli Embassy, and Avrom Krengel, Chairman of the SA Zionist Federation; and in a lucky draw 2 fortunate ticket holders won air-tickets to Israel courtesy of El Al Airlines.  The evening was enhanced by the presence of large numbers of members of the ZIonist Youth Movements as well as members of the Media Team who fight for even-handed reporting of Israel in the media.   Jews from across the religious spectrum - secular to very Orthodox - joined in the festivities and in many cases re-established connections with friends they had not seen for a long time. 

The evening also saw the launch by the SA Zionist Federation of its membership drive - which aims to enrol every Jew in SA as a member of the SAZF, in the process  automatically  becoming a member of the World Zionist Organisation and  concomitantly a member of world Jewry.  The launch  started off with a bang and will be continued for as long as it takes to ensure that every Jew in the country is registered with the SAZF.
 
The annual SAZF Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration brings together the largest number of community members in an atmosphere of friendship and warmth. Once again  this year a record crowd attended the festivities, reflecting the deep love for and belief in Israel that characterises the SA Jewish community.