Mungo Soggot
The world’s most famous pop star exchanged his trademark white glove for a yarmulke last weekend when he attended a bar mitzvah at the Sandton synagogue and nearby Capri hotel in Johannesburg.
Michael Jackson jetted in from the United States especially for the event, stunning guests with his enthusiastic participation in the festivities. The superstar threw himself into traditional Jewish dances such as the hora, the havhnagila and “the train”. He also joined the rabbi for a brocha (prayer) at the head table, and admired the payers (traditional sideburns) of some of the Hasidic guests. Jackson himself did not tone down his legendary sartorial taste for the occasion, opting for a maroon, military-style outfit.
One reveller commented to a fellow guest: “We have been praying here [at the Sandton synagogue] for 23 years, waiting for the Messiah to come. And who do we get?”
>From Gallo Manor to Sydney, Australia, Johannesburg’s Jewish community has been buzzing with talk of the superstar’s Sandton appearance last Saturday. The bar mitzvah was held for the son of a family whom Jackson befriended at Sun City two years ago. A bar mitzvah is a rite of passage to manhood for Jewish boys on their 13th birthday. The family, who is understood to want to remain anonymous, decamped with Jackson to an undisclosed destination this week.
Guests said Jackson’s two bodyguards, Attila and Skip, as well as locally recruited guards, mingled with the gathering. One bodyguard was heard to comment that Jackson rarely participates so energetically at public events. The star danced the night away, only returning to his suite at The Michelangelo hotel in Sandton Square in the early hours of the morning.
All of which was a fitting finale for the hired band, Skippy & Doug, which has specialised in providing a musical accompaniment for Jewish weddings and bar mitzvahs – events where traditional songs are played to a synthesised beat and electric guitar. The band’s leader singer, Eyal Shaked, is moving into catering, and has decided to open a sushi bar, Yo Sushi, in Camps Bay, Cape Town.
“It was kind of weird to be singing at a bar mitzvah where Michael Jackson rocks up,” Shaked said this week, when asked to comment on the evening. “In spite of the fact that Michael Jackson was there, it was a really warm barmy,” he continued. He complimented the bar mitzvah boy and his younger brother, who had been the master of ceremonies, for “making it such a warm evening”.
Jackson’s security team seized all video and photo footage and will return them to official photographer Photogenic after vetting them. No one else was allowed to photograph Jackson.
Guests said the band sacrificed its customary rendition of Die Stem for the occasion, swapping the old anthem for the US anthem in honour of Jackson. The band also sang Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and the Israeli anthem. A large group of children took to the stage to sing We Are the World.
It was also an appropriate swansong for the Sandton synagogue, which has been replaced by a new, larger place of worship, built with the financial assistance of top Jewish businessmen. The new synagogue was officially opened last Sunday.