Creating Transformation: South African Jews in Australia
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The study in its present form is indeed cogently presented and the main issues are adequately covered. However, the article could be strengthened in a few ways. (1) The article (or the sources on which it is based) overestimates the degree to which the Jewish emigres from South Africa formed a culturally homogeneous group, and it relies on the somewhat outdated and overgeneralized view that the South African Jewish community was largely Litvak in origin. First of all, that is now a matter for dispute and it would be a good idea to check with data at the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Cape Town. Secondly, given that the East European Jewish migration stream to South Africa is already 2-3 generations in the past, does it make any real sense to dub the contemporary emigration of South African Jews to Australia a "remigration" or to give such weight to the origin narrative of the migrants' parents and grandparents? We are dealing mainly with people who were not migrants to S. Africa but rather born in S. Africa, for at least a generation if not two generations. That all needs to be corrected. (2) The author speaks about the parallel (but different) migration of non-Jews from S. Africa (and from former Rhodesia) to Australia and uses it as a reference point, against which some of the specifics of the Jewish migration can be perceived. Yet we learn nothing much about the non-Jewish migrants, apart from the chronology of their migration streams and the fact that they have settled in Australia in a more dispersed fashion. Does the author know to what extent these non-Jewish migrants are or are not culturally cohesive (as per the assertion regarding the Jews)? Or are they more diverse and hence, perhaps, far less likely to congregate together? More to the point perhaps: does the author believe that non-Jews have been MORE apt or LESS apt than their Jewish co-nationals to choose to emigrate, and do non-Jewish migrants from S. Africa prefer Australia as their destination country in the same or different proportion compared to the Jews? (3) It would help if the author supplied further quantitative data regarding the other destination countries that are only mentioned in section 5.5: How many S. African Jews emigrated to destinations other than Australia (the relative percentages are given but this can be augmented by giving estimated numbers)? (4) The author asserts that Jews coming from S. Africa came equipped with a more religious orientation to their Jewish identity (more than whom? who are the others to whom they are being compared?). Moreover, given the political/ideological character of the early wave coming out of pre-Mandela S. Africa, is it not conceivable that some if not many of these migrants were more liberal-secular-leftist and perhaps a bit less engaged in religious identity behaviors? Is it possible that, over time, they and their children have experienced in Australia a turn to religious community adherence because of the changed environment? (5) Has the S. African Jewish sector in Australian Jewry been characterized by demographic growth (or stability) or aging -- in comparison with the already-establish Australian Jewish groups? Or, perhaps, has the S. African Jewish sector experienced any appreciable degree of remigration (in the first or the second generation) to destination countries elsewhere, outside Australasia?
Author Response
Dear reviewers,
Thank you so much for the comments. I have attached my revised article and my responses to the two reviewers. I have responded to all the points the reviewers raised, but in some cases disagreed with them and left the text as is. Where I disagree, I explain why in my responses to the two reviewers. One thing I would like to point out is that my paper's focus is on the Australian aspects of the story because that is the basis of my research.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
See attached file.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Dear reviewers,
Thank you so much for the comments. I have attached my revised article and my responses to the two reviewers. I have responded to all the points the reviewers raised, but in some cases disagreed with them and left the text as is. Where I disagree, I explain why in my responses to the two reviewers. One thing I would like to point out is that my paper's focus is on the Australian aspects of the story because that is the basis of my research.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The reviewer stands by the original critique re: Litvak origins. Two generations of native-born South African Jews are only in a marginal sense 'derived' from the culture of the origin-group. The author's cover letter makes it plain that South African Jews in Australia observed religious Judaism less than comparable Jewish groups in Australia -- which, on the face of things, would indicate sufficient distance from the "Litvak" culture as to render it virtually empty of content. However, this point should not prevent the article's publication, and it is simply a matter up for debate.
