Benjamin Philip Rabinowitz – a life committed to freedom, equality and dignity

15 May 2023

How in a few minutes permitted by a eulogy is it possible to capture the life of someone who so stretched the boundaries for almost nine decades?

Benny Rabinowitz was no ordinary man, whether in business, philanthropy, politics, culture, devotion to community or friendship. His daughters Susan and Lesley, whom he loved dearly, have asked me to pay tribute to their remarkable father. It is an honour to do so, but given the magnitude of the task, I approach it with a considerable measure of trepidation.

Mercifully our Jewish tradition provides a framework within which to guide an approach to such a eulogy; that is to examine the parsha (the portion of the torah reading) for the week.

In significant part, the weekly portion sets out Judaism’s conception of a society based on social justice. For example, it recognises private property but steadfastly prohibits stealing, unfair exchanges or seizing of another’s property by cheating or moving boundaries without payment. It is thus aware that private property and the market can lead to inequality and the creation of a permanent underclass. It therefore prohibits the taking of interest on loans, and calls on family to help individuals to avoid falling into poverty. It envisages a sabbatical year in which all people, be they free or slaves, are released from the structural obstacles which prevent them from vindicating their dignity. It mandates that in the sabbatical year land should not be cultivated but its produce should be thrown open to those in need to come and take. In the seventh year private ownership is effectively suspended.

It is beyond the scope of this eulogy to develop these complex themes any further. Suffice it to say that the parsha promotes a vision of a society which embraces freedom, equality and dignity. Not for nothing has the distinguished economist Martin Wolf written a recent book (The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism) in which he seeks to advance the case for democratic capitalism (or social democracy if you wish to use that phrase). In effect its contents represent a modern-day version of that which we read in this week’s portion of the torah.

The relevance of this to Benny’s life should be obvious to all of us gathered here to pay tribute to him. Let me give but a few examples.

He represents a shining light for those with resources to promote a society based on social justice.

Benny was a very early, committed supporter of the Progressive Party and the candidature for the Sea Point constituency of Colin Eglin, however imperfect that vision was of the time. He did this when the vast majority of his own community supported the reactionary United Party and its candidate, Jack Basson. At the same time he was a steadfast opponent of capital punishment. Many years later, when his own political party pondered whether to support capital punishment, Benny was outraged, being steadfast in his commitment to its abolition, which as the Constitutional Court has reminded us, is based on the notion of dignity, such that so arbitrary a system of punishment can never be supported.

Benny’s vision went beyond the idea of a society predicated on formal democracy for all South Africans. He also saw the importance of freedom of expression. Not everyone knows that he was a critical figure in saving the Weekly Mail (which became the Mail and Guardian) when it was in financial difficulty. Very few, if any, within the business community other than Ben were prepared to stand up to provide finance for this important newspaper to continue to expose the atrocities of apartheid.

When developers sought to replace the Sea Point swimming pool (the Pavilion) and exploit all manner of development on the beachfront, denying ordinary people the right of access to open spaces and thus the benefits of an environment, it was Benny who stood up against greedy developers.

The same held true when there was an attempt to exploit the mountains beyond Camps Bay for development. The Oudekraal case which saved Table Mountain was, in significant part, due to Benny’s intervention to ensure that legal representation opposed the naked exploitation of our natural resources.

In his commitment to culture and the arts he helped ensure that the Cape Town orchestra was saved for future generations. Many other South African art forms, particularly in the Cape Town area, survived due to this commitment. And then there is the generation of pupils from disadvantaged communities who were the benefit of Ben’s commitment which ensured that they were able to obtain tertiary qualifications and enrich their lives. The right to education was vitally important to Benny’s vision for a just world.

For many years Ben supported the Press Club which ensured robust debates within the Cape Town community. I can go on. Suffice it to say that if members of the private sector, many of whom are even better resourced than Ben, would have made a commitment of 10% of that which Benny had throughout his life, South Africa would be a very different and better place than it is today. He represents a shining light for those with resources to promote a society based on social justice.

But that was only part of Ben. There was his extraordinary gift of friendship to so many of us gathered here today. How can one forget those wonderful dinners at San Marco where the politics of the day, the latest gossip (Benny was a fine expert in the art thereof), and the fortunes of various sporting teams were all discussed on evenings which remain for me some of the most joyous and stimulating occasions of my life.

Read more in Daily Maverick: David Niddrie: That quiet guy in the corner scribbling in a Moleskine notebook

And then was the rugby box at Newlands, when not only the difficulties of rugby were interrogated but so were politics and law. Who among us can forget Benny at cricket at his beloved Newlands cricket ground presiding over a group of people whom he had invited to watch, whether an international or provincial match. He was keen on telling us that he and I should have been in the Wisden cricket annual for having one test wicket. South Africa were playing England and Graeme Hick clearly had been run out. There was initially no appeal. In those days the only referral to a television empire was for run-outs. Benny and I loudly implored Hansie Cronje to review the decision, which he ultimately did and Hick was given out. Benny claimed that was our wicket.

Family and community

The torah portion to which I referred also speaks of a commitment to family and community. Ben loved his two daughters and was a truly committed brother to Jack, who I gather is watching on Zoom. His was a remarkable gift of promoting friendship. I remember the first time that Claudette and I were invited to his home for one of his famous parties. We were at least a decade younger than the balance of guests and knew nobody, but Ben, without any fuss, introduced us to certain guests with whom he thought we would have a significant connection, which indeed proved to be true. He was a remarkable host, of a kind I have rarely met.

Ben, if you are listening to this, I want to tell you that the existential angst that you always felt that no one really cared for you was so manifestly misplaced. As this gathering shows, you were truly admired by so many and justly so for your political, social and personal deeds.

Indeed as I stand here today I cannot help but long for just one further occasion where we could all meet at one of your famous dinners and discuss the turbulent world in which we live. Sadly, that will never be again. But we have the memories and we draw inspiration from your life.

To Susan and Lesley, you have lost a beloved father, Jack a dedicated brother, the rest of us a friend of a unique quality, and the community one of its very finest. We all will draw strength from the memories of a life led to the absolute maximum. And as Ben would now have said if he were here: let’s all go off and have a good lunch. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

South Africa

Family and community