Michael Belman

An encouraging flurry of activity on the site - 17 visits in the past week all responding to the discussion on the format of our next Reunion with creative and original suggestions. 

What about a ZOOM meeting to decide if we should have a ZOOM meeting or alternative or what we should do - much more helpful than a poll and at the outset we could invite all who have participated so far or invite all interested in attending. Could be helpful in assembling volunteers for a planning committee. 

Start at about noon Pacific Time - we move our clocks forward 1 hour on March 14 - and I think that would cover most of the Wits 66 inhabited planet. 

Norman Silverman

Dear Classmates,

 I am a Zoom meeting supporter for the following reasons:-

 1. It is cheaper, readibly effected and everyone, everwhere can participate.

 2. We are all getting older and  there may be fewer of us around in 2022.

  If not zoom,  when, wherere, who  and how will the meeting be arranged.  I assume we are not planning on hiriing a meeting organizer and the organizer will have to come from within our ranks.  

  Will we all be able to travel?  Some of us are not as mobole as we used to be.

 These seem trivial on paper but oganization will invovle planning, personnel, resources and money!

 It seems to me that we have 2 choices:-

A.  A  zoom meeting or 

B.   Defer the meeting until we can get together.

 In the great democratic spirit of our Alma Mater, perhaps we should get a Doodle Poll ant test the class’s will.

 Norman

Ronald Marcus

Hi. I agree with having the next reunion via Zoom. I,too,realize that it iis not perfect but never let perfection be the enemy of good. I would like to be part of the organizing group.

Keith H Marks

Greetings,

I go for a dual format arrangement for our 55th class reunion. Select a nice convenient venue for us to savor the interpersonal contact. Provide simultaneous zoom capability for classmates unable to attend in person for whatever reason. Timing - spring 2022 will give us time to assess how the wind blows the pandemic.

LOL to my classmates and their love ones.

Be of good cheer.     KHM.

David Lipschitz

THE MULTIPLE CHOICE REUNION PLAN

Choice A zoom and Choice B meet at a local site within out local continents

I do not believe that international travel is an option for this year. However in the Western world almost all of us will be vaccinated by October November.

1. For those who do not wish to travel we will have a zoom option.
2. For those (like me) who no matter what will travel somewhere to be with some of my colleagues I propose that we identify a local site in the country we now live in.
   1. The local site must be easily accessible and must have a 24 hour cancellation option.
   2. Each person would make their own travel plans including booking rooms at the hotel.
   3. No special events other than reserving enough space at the hotel for lunch and dinner.
   4. Book a room to participate in  the zoom meetings
   5. Without any additional organization this should be easy. Most importantly the organization of the local site must involve the minimum amount of fuss and bother and little if any planning
3. In America for example we can have a single location or perhaps an east coast and west coast options.
4. Similar options can be put together for Canada, Europe, Australia and the Middle East
5. I for one would be happy to work with as many of you who wish to be involved as lieutenants to our dear leader Michael Eliastam.​
6. I CAN TELL YOU IF IT IS PURELY A ZOOM MEETING I WILL DEFINITELY TRAVEL SOMEWHERE EITHER TO SAN FRANCISCO OR SAN DIEGO TO MEET WITH ONE OR MORE OF OUR CLASS WHO LIVE ON THE WEST COAST.  OR ALTERNATIVELY I WOULD FLY TO WEST PALM BEACH TO BE WITH ROB JACOBSON AND PERHAPS GO ON TOUR TO SEE IF I CAN GET A GLIMPSE OF THE ORANGE DYED BLOND HAIRED LUCIFER.
7. IF IT IS ONLY ME I WILL PROBABLY FLY OUT TO SAN FRANCISCO TO BE WITH THE SILVERMANS IF THEY WILL HAVE ME. ALTERNATIVELY I WILL IMPOSE MYSELF ON THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE SAN DIEGO AREA (WHERE BY THE WAY I HAVE A SECOND HOME).
8. In case you have not read #5 Michael I will help you in any way that I can.

John King

"Chag Pesach samech" to all my Jewish friends and classmates.

Numbers 6 vv 24 - 27

John King

Alan Reichman

,Thanks John,  

Always good hearing from you. Hopefully we'll all unite for reunion in the near future via zoom or IN PERSON (WOULD BE GREAT !),

All the best,

Alan Reichman

Robert Jacobson

Hi John, Thank you for the Pesach Greeting. I wish you, your family and classmates a Happy Easter. 
May all stay safe and well. Kindest regards, Robert

Michael Eliastam

I did not recognize the citation, looked it up!

‘“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’

²⁷ “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Thank you John. The regular apppearance of your messages of goodwill and good wishes always reassures me.

Be well

Michael

John King

“Chag Sameach” to all my Jewish friends and colleagues.  May the LORD bless you abundantly this Shavuot.

Kind regards, John King

Norman Silverman

 Dear Class memebers,

Please help keep the site free of advertising by paying your $ 25.00.       This cant be so hard!

Norman S

Alan Richards

I would like to contribute but who do I send the money to. Alan Richards

John King

To all my Jewish friends and classmates, Happy Hanukkah! :) 

Hope to Zoom with you on Dec 1 if  my other appointments don't clash. 

John King

Norman Silverman

Dear John,

It has been a long time since I saw your face and frankly can not remember your looks. WIll you please paste 2 pictures on your profile A current portrait and a Medical School portrait. ( or Just send them to me )

 Thank you fro alwys remembering our holidays, John.   Best wishes to you for the festival too!  Norman Silverman

Michael Belman

REUNION WEBINAR - 55TH ANNIVERSARY. GRADUATION DAY Decembris XV, MCMXLVI

Great meeting and safe to say that we all enjoyed our virtual time together. The meeting was recorded and so we can summarize the suggestions for future meetings. 

An efficient way to capture the ideas and suggestions is to use this link. "Message Forum" - the 8th link from the top on the left. Please use this so we don't lose any of the good ideas discusses. 

Of note is the fact that there were 53 class visitors to the stie during the past 30 days. This is a record and hopefully we will continue to use this space for future communications and exchange of ideas. 

We have 220MB at our disposal and have only used 278 (12.6%). Plenty of room for additional content.

Erroll Hackner

Thank you to the two Michaels for arranging our meeting today. Good to see you all. The epidemiology study should be very interesting if you can get it off the ground, Margaret. Ryan's suggestion of storytelling is an excellent suggestion with regard to our Wits Medical School and career experiences, if any of us want to get into the more intimate aspects of our careers. Maybe this can be a breakout group for those who want to participate.

The UCT Medical School class of 1966 is starting a Zoom Book Club. If anyone wants to participate in one of our own, I would like to suggest reading The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut, the Booker prize-winning SA author. Maybe this will be an avenue into a discussion of Apartheid and Medicine, a subject which we have never really addressed in our reunions.

Wishing you all well,

Erroll

Heather Crewe-Brown

I would like to add my thanks to both Michaels and to Mary and others who assisted in making the Webinar a reality last evening. It was good to see familiar faces again and to do some catching up on classmates' professional achievements, family lives and activities - an absorbing two hours!  May those of you who are not well at present, be restored to optimal health possible.

It was a pity that Shabit Madhi could not make it.  I support inviting him again, but suggest that you offer more than one possible date as he will continue to be overcommitted during the forth COVID wave in South Africa, with vaccine related issues, official meetings, media discussions etc., apart from his duties as Dean,

I agree with the idea of a possible epidemiological study and am willing to help if I am able to, Margaret.

As commented on by me after our last get together at Hunter's Rest,  it was unfortunate that more of the Wits Class of 1966 resident in SA could not take part again yesterday. How about next time chaps and Sinkers club ?!

Best wishes to all

Heather Crewe-Brown

Ronald Marcus

Firstly, thanks to the two Mikes for arranging this very informative and pleasant Zoom Meeting..It was really interesting hearing from the attendees about their updates,both professional and personal. Some very good ideas were discussed concerning future meetings.

I am wondering why the attendence was relatively small particularly,as was mentioned,with classmtes from RSA .Perhaps we could hear from those who did not attend as to why they did not or could not attend.Time differences?

Thanks

David Nathanson

I'm sorry I couldn't be with you all for the digital meeting but I enjoyed watching through the link that Mike Eliastam sent. I'm blown away by the talented careers and people that you've all had and been. I think we all possess a deep and rich experience and wisdom that we can continue to share with each other.

Ron Markus and others talked a little about what everyone has probably investigated regarding the aging process - the practical, medical and financial aspects that are indeed so important to us all. I'm interested in the emotional aspects of aging - the behavioral and spiritual feelings of what it is like to get older. I shared a little with Mike Eliastam a few weeks ago a workshop sponsored by the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California on the valuable last half of life that we are all capable of achieving if we are up to changing our internal image(s) of ourselves as we move from 'role' (career builder, professional, leader, parent, 'networth builders') to 'soul' (the time when we might possibly change from looking outwards to looking inwards; a time to express the 'elder' that ancient societies so revered). My objective was to manage a difficult time that I'm experiencing moving away from being an active surgeon to a part time physician teaching residents, fellows and medical students and no longer spending my time in the operting room. I would love to hear more about these very personal ideas that we must all have at some time or another at this age.

I was also interested to hear Aldo Serafini's curiosity about art, music, poetry and literature. I realized thirty years ago how much I hungered for knowedge of the world outside of science. I was lucky enough to find The Teaching Company, initiated by a Harvard-trained lawyer, who has built an enormous library of courses in the humanities (and other topics) taught by award-winning professors available by streaming, DVD and audio. I have educated myself on topics that I knew very little about and it has enlarged my awareness of myself and of the world. Perhaps we could talk to each other about topics that we didn't spend our careers doing.

I am interested in what Mike Belman suggested - to use this website to inform, discuss, and debate our contributions to the world as we see ourselves and how we imagine we might have enhanced lives around us.

I liked what Margaret Spitz revealed about a virtual meeting with her 'firm' and how they planned to continue meeting periodically. What struck me seeing all of you is that I didn't really know you well at medical school and how interesting you are now and how it could be nice to develop friendships that time and career prevented us from doing when we were young. Perhaps we could all meet more frequently than every five years and share aspects of our lives that could interest more of us from our class.

David N

Basil Porter

Hey Dave- what a great message for us, to move from "role" to "soul". None of us, even with the best  cv's and professional accolades is going to escape our common fate of ageing and waiting to meet the grim reaper. Let's start exposing our inner feelings, doubts, regrets, and ways we are dealing with it all. PLenty of material there for a few zoom sessions, while aiming to meet when Omicron declares a move from pandemic to endemic ,and to have a last meeting (with wheel chair assistance).

Ryan Kramer

Michael E, many thanks for the Birthday wishes.

David N, we share an interest in an inward journey.

When some people ask about my travels I will often reply that many of my most interesting journeys of

the past 20+ years have been inwards, providing some of the most blissful and enriching experiences of my life.

While not retired, Covid has substantially curtailed one part of what I love doing, being a primary care physician.

When I examine what I enjoy, it is liking ......

people, problem solving, using my knowledge and intuition, feeling I have been of value, helping, receiving, learning, giving of myself, watching them benefit (or not).

I grieve the reduction in these opportunities.

I would be more than happy to share and learn from others. I am able to give a 10-15 minute talk to illustrate.

Any thoughts anyone?

John K, the blessing you quote from Numbers is given to by many of us to our children and grandchildren each Sabbath Eve.

Thanks for thinking of us on our special occasions.

David Nathanson

Hi Ryan and Basil (and Mark),

Thanks for commenting upon my last message to the group. Mark responded privately and shared some quite amazing things from his life in Canada. Basil, I loved your obvious insights - you sound like you are a wise man. Mind you, I remember your ;passionate, energetic and thoughtful ideas in the anatomy dissection hall those many years ago. Ryan, I certainly am interested to hear about your 'inward' journeys.

David. 

David Lipschitz

A SALUTE TO DR. DINDAR

Dear Dr, Dindar, I address you by your last name as a measure of my high regard and deep respect for you. Am sure you don’t mind that I use your first name from now on. The history of your life as a medical student and physician in Southern Africa was an absolute inspiration for me and my family. Your life in South Africa was full of insults, severe racism, and the threat of physical violence. As one of the few people of color you are a true pioneer, and your commitment to actively enter the struggle against sinister and criminal overt racism makes you one of the true heroes of our class. It is so sad that you were forced to leave.  

Your story filled me with a sense of regret as I compared my life to yours. I grew up as a Jewish white South African with a silver spoon in my mouth. Even as a Jew I experienced no discrimination during my time as a medical student and physician in South Africa. Thank goodness I was the son of an immigrant whose only passionate demand was that I work hard to achieve through education the kind of opportunity that he never had access to. He always said I want my son to be a doctor. It is this demand that led me to work extremely hard and to take advantage of the opportunities made available to me.  Both in South Africa and in America I took and took and took but gave little back.

And yet in my twilight years I deeply regret not giving more back.  I describe myself as a taker, Farouk you on the other hand are a giver. And now in my old age I envy you and wish that I had given back to South Africa, had participated in the struggle against Apartheid and most importantly that I had known you better and supported you more.

The same regret exists about my naiveté in regard to America’s problems that only became apparent to me with the rise of Donald Trump and the death of George Floyd.  Sinister and reprehensible racism that has reared its ugly head in America and systemic racism has become mainstream and threatens opportunities and risk of violence among people of color. Once again, I have done nothing but sit in an armchair and as a token of my guilt given money to the causes, I am passionate about.

Farouk this little note is to honor you specifically but also to salute others who have stayed in South Africa and have diligently given back to make South Africa a better place.  

Michael Eliastam

David;

This an honest and  beautiful note. Nowadays many of us feel like we really did not understand the benefits of our White Privelege when we were in medical school.

Look forward to seeing you on the next zoom webinar, February 2, 5:45PM SA time. (10:45 AM ET)

Be well

Michael Eliastam

David Nathanson

Just for clarification, Michael. I thought the Zoom meeting was february 1 t 11 am EST?

Can you please confirm. Thanks.