South African Jewish Responses to COVID-19

Although the death rate caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa has thus far been much lower than initially feared, the economic and social impact has been severe. The country’s Jewish community, constituting 0.1% of the population with a median age of 45 years, has not escaped its effects. Organizations and individuals have nonetheless been able to mobilize a rapid and wide-reaching series of responses directed towards those most in need both inside and outside the community. The uniquely coordinated, energetic, and multipronged nature of these responses are attributed to robust communal infrastructure, strong community social capital, and the history of the Jewish community’s positioning in post-apartheid South Africa, alongside the perceived importance of health to collective well-being.