Shavua Tov

MANDY YACHAD

June 30, 2023

A rare treat - A sporting Friday Night Dinner

I have found in my growing years of experience that certain situations are rather repetitive, not  that I am criticising that - Knowing where you are and what you are doing gives a certain confidence. This was true of the Shul experience that I had from the age of 8 till 68 at Brighton and Hove Reform.

Odd parts of the service might change, melodies may differ, but basically from Rabbi Rosenblum till the early days of Rabbi Andrea, there was a certain conformity which I was pleased to experience

However all that changed when I started attending at Rabbi Efune’s. There was just about a minyan there each week, people I got used to and now regard as friends. However every now and then there would be an influx of different people. They might be other Chabadniks down from London or over from America, quite often they were students having a break from the JFS or one of the yeshivas. These were times of joy and often laughter which I was pleased to experience.

Occasionally when he was playing for Brighton and Hove Albion, Tomer Hemed would be there, but I don’t remember him talking football. To my disappointment there are so few Jewish top class sportsmen. If there any Jeiwhs footballers in the Premier League, they are Israeli. In the County Championship there is only one Jewish Cricketer, Steven Eskinazi of Middlesex, and he is Australian!

So imagine my joy when Rabbi Efune, told me that as I like cricket, I should sit next to one of his guests, Mandy Yachad. Mandy is a Chabadnik from South Africa for who he played cricket at 1 day level.

It was a pleasure from  the first minute. He was as keen as I to talk about his cricketing past, playing first class cricket for Transvaal and Northern Transvaal and playing ODI cricket from South Africa. He was playing along side Clive Rice, Jimmy Cook, Hansie Kronje, Kepler Wessels and Alan Donald.

Unfortunately due to the boycott of South Africa because of its Apartheid policy, Mandy was prevented from having the international career his talents deserved.

However his talents were not reserved to cricket. Mandy was a great hockey player, appearing in 21 Test matches and his clubs Balfour Park, Wits University and Wanderers.

Mandy is not just a sportsman, he is a qualified attorney specialising in commercial law, having worked at and being a partner in Werksmans, one of South Africa’s leading legal firms from 1983-1999.

His children are following in his footsteps. His son Shaul represented South Africa in cricket which won Gold in the Maccabiah Games in 2008 and his younger son  Ariel  is a keen sportsman as well.

So, you may be asking why Mandy found his way to the community of Pesach Efune last Friday. He was over here for a celebration at Lords of Jewish cricketers - also to go the the Lords Test Match. But the most important part is that his son is married the the Efune’s daughter Chani.

It was such a pleasure to meet with Mandy - a rarety as a top line Jewish Cricketer but also a very charming gentleman indeed.

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