92687p
School
So now I can admit that I am a big fraud. I should not be part of the class that finished in 1969!!!. Truth be told I actually left King David in 1995 after 40 amazing years. The chronology goes something like this:
1955-57 Nursery School
1958-59 Grade 1 and 2
1960-64 Primary School
1965-69 High School
1971 King David Hostel (Hostel Master)
1976 King David Hostel (Hostel Master with Cheryl who is a Hebrew Teacher and had a job at the school)
1981 PTA King David Nursery School (Chairman for 2 Years)
1985 PTA Primary School (Vice Chairman for 2 Years)
1986 Board Member SABJE (Management Committee, Busses, Hostel, Hebrew Teacher?s Seminar, Fee Assistance)
1990-95 Executive Member SABJE (Assistant Treasurer )
And to prove the point you will see that I am missing from the class photo of ?69.
I don?t know where the hell I was that day, probably patching someone?s leg or up in the roof of the hall smoking. I only noticed that I was missing in about 1992 when I was in the admin block and wanted to show someone where I was in the photo!.
Army
After Matric I was privileged to be able to serve our country by devoting 9 months of my life to the South African Medical Corps. I managed to get into the brass band, and spent 9 glorious months travelling the country playing in concerts and parades. We actually did PT once, when they tricked us into it by offering us a game of cricket, and then told us they had no kit, so we would have to do PT.
Tertiary Education
My parents decided, against my better judgment that I should go to Wits and study engineering.
So after two wasted years I went and did what I wanted to do!
I enrolled at the Johannesburg Technical College and did Industrial Engineering. Part of the program was a large block of practical work, and I was fortunate to get a job with Sydmore Engineering. So Stan Seef and I saw quite a lot of each other over the next few years.
Parnasah
In 1974 I left Sydmore to go and work for my Father who had a large company with branches all around the country. The prospects were great, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. The only problem was that after two years he was made an offer he could not refuse, and sold the business! I was left working for a multinational conglomerate which was just not my scene. I cannot put up with corporate bullshit and politics, so in 1980 I started my own company in opposition to them, and B?H? have never looked back. When I sold the company in 1995 I had a staff of 40, and worked out that there were 150 mouths dependant on food from me each day!. That?s quite a responsibility when you look at it in those terms.
One of the spin offs from my involvement with the SABJE turned out to be that because I was spending an average of 3 hours a day at the school or on school issues, I managed to get my staff to run the business without me having to be there. (My Philips Portable Brick Phone went a long way to facilitate this. At R 17000 at the time it was a bargain!!!!)
When it came time to dispose of the business the purchaser took great comfort in knowing that he could take over the business on the 1st of January, and I could leave SA on the 22nd and without me there nothing would really change.
Family Life
In 1975 I married Cheryl Rosettenstein. She is a Hebrew Teacher and taught at KDPS until we emigrated.
We have three children, Yair 32, Talya 30, and Gaby 26. Talya has given us two gorgeous grandchildren who have changed our lives completely. We are blessed to have our children close to us in Sydney.
On Emigration
In July 1994 we came to Australia, under sufferance, for my nephew?s bar mitzvah.
On the flight home I cried most of the way because I realized that I was so entrenched in SA with my Parents, brothers and sister, business and communal commitments that there was no ways I could ever extricate myself from this web, and move on.
18 months later, I had sold my house, sold my business, bought a house in Sydney, and relocated my whole existence. It is amazing what can be achieved when one puts one?s mind to something!.
I spent the first 2 ½ years looking for a suitable business, which was, as you can imagine, soul (and bank balance) destroying!! Eventually I managed to buy a Roofing distribution business which was totally mechula from a liquidator who saw the potential for the business under the correct management. That was in 1998, and T?G? I managed to turn it around and we are going strong today with a staff of 9.
On Family left behind
I am privileged to still have both my parents well in JHB. I have managed to see them at least once a year in JHB, and they have visited here often as well. Although it is hard for us all, they are fully supportive of our move.
My two brothers are still in SA and both doing very well.
Sadly we lost my sister Adele Z?L and two of her kids in a tragic car accident in January 1998. That has left a massive void in all of our lives.
On Reunions
I am sure you all remember the reunion we organized in 1995. That was at the Sydenham Shull Hall, and I remember Stan Seef, Les Singer, and Eric on the committee. The rest I seem to have forgotten, but to you all please do not be offended. At our age we are allowed a little bit of memory loss.
In 2006 we organized a reunion in Sydney for all ex Davidians and Staff. Hilton Rosenthal was ?instrumental ? in assisting with the function and we had over 800 attend. We had to turn away about 150 who left the booking too late!. We brought Elliot and Jeff Wolf to Sydney for the occasion and it turned out to be the most amazing affair. It was one of those events that is so special that it could never be repeated.
I am really sorry that I will not be there next month, because it sounds like it is going to be great fun.
For the next one after this???.. Please make sure that there will be enough parking spaces for our walking frames!!!!
So that?s me in a nutshell.
92779p Courtesy Jeff Miller
92778p Courtesy Jeff Miller