Leanne Horwitz is an almost magical woman. She is bursting with passion, creativity, beauty and knowledge and here, she shares her thoughts on life and love with us.

Leanne Horwitz

I ask Leanne where her family is from and she shares a delightful and enchanting tale with me... one I suggest everyone read.

‘Are you listening?’ Leanne begins the story of her family history, ‘The Avramson family lived in a shtetl, much like all the others, in Lithuania. Daily life was daily life – nothing happened much besides the occasional bris or wedding. But this shtetl life was not for my great-great-great grandfather Avramson. He craved the bite of the north wind and the crunch of fresh snow beneath his boots. He craved the call of the wolf and the delight of the hunt. For great-Grandfather Avramson was a fur-trapper.’

 ‘Every season he would return, eyes bright and sleigh full of the softest furs. And the family would invite him in, and break bread and share a joyous shabbas. There was always the fear that one day, great-Grandfather Avramson would succumb to the bite and the crunch and the call and not return to the shtetl of his birth.’

Leanne’s words are beautifully woven into a tale of wonderment and excitement.

Looking to the North
‘One season, the worst happened. Great-grandfather Avramson did not return. The family lit the candles, week after week, and waited. Great-grandfather Avramson did not return. The family accepted his loss and mourned him gently. Still, every season, they would look to the north, quietly, shyly, hoping that Great-Grandfather Avramson would come over the rise, his eyes bright and and his sleigh full of the softest furs. But Great-Grandfather Avramson did not return.’

‘On the fourth year since Great-Grandfather Avramson had disappeared, little Leah was playing beside the house, sticks and a piece of string making a toy just for her. She looked to the north, habit now, and saw a shadow approaching. As the shadow came nearer and resolved into a figure, little Leah let out a whoop – for Great-Grandfather Avramson had returned. His eyes were bright, his sleigh filled with furs.’

Love and the Call of the Wolves

‘But not only furs! Nestled amongst the furs was a woman of great beauty, her face full of the bite and crunch and call and delight of the far far north. This was the reason for Great-Grandfather Avramson’s long absence – he had fallen in love and made this Inuit woman his wife. Great-Grandmother Avramson came into the gentle shtetl life and attended the weddings, and the occasional bris.’

‘But when she was alone, at night, she would look out to the north, as if feeling the bite of the north wind on her cheek, or the crunch of the fresh snow. She would hear, in her reverie, the call of the wolves.’

Still Looking North
‘Eventually, the family had to leave the shtetl and the place of their origin, hunted and pursued. They came south, far south and their name changed. They settled in a mining town that was to become a metropolis. Life was less gentle, but still there was the bris and the wedding to attend.’

‘And down the line of the family now called Horwitz, the girls will occasionally look to the north. In the heat of the summer they may feel a cold wind bite their cheek. The fallen leaves, for a moment, will feel like fresh snow beneath their shoes. Their eyes will become bright with a delight others cannot see. And in their ears, softly, softly will be the howl of a wolf far away.’

Just like the story of Leanne’s past, she too, has a sense of magic around her...

Beliefs

Leanne is an atheist. She says that she has ‘no real beliefs that you would call spiritual.’

She puts her viewpoint into perspective by saying, ‘I find the lack of any other world/afterlife a good thing, it means that we have to focus on this life and do good in the here and now.’

Being open and generous is important to Leanne, and she says that a strong ethical code does not have to rely upon a set of rules from a religion but rather the acknowledgement that all people have equal worth. 

‘If one never uses people as a means to an end, but treats them as an end in themselves, that is all the belied one needs.’

Career and Ambition

Leanne is a history teacher and describes her job as the best job in the world! She has been working for 8 years now, ‘Hopefully inspiring a love for history.’

She is also very involved in the schools debating team; she coaches her school team and is one of the coaches for the Gauteng team.

Leanne wants to study further and get her PHD in history. She wants to dive into interested research and begin publishing her findings. She also plans to start a project that uses South African history to teach lessons to societies in conflict in other parts of the world.

‘As difficult and flawed as our transition to democracy was, and as much as we still continue to negotiate issues of race, class and gender, I think engaging with those issues can help other societies to begin to reflect on their own issues. I want to remain in education, as I think it is the most important factor to creating a just society.’

For Fun!

Leanne enjoys doing an array of different things for fun. She loves water fights in the park, wandering around town, partying at Kitcheners, CCHQ and trance parties.

She also enjoys vegging out on her couch watching zombie flicks. She says that her main form of recreation would be reading, ‘which I do voraciously and pretty indiscriminately.’  She tells me, ‘I love getting so caught up in a book that I read the night through without even realising it.’

Challenges

‘Pah! I laugh in the face of danger!’ Leanne jokes. But she does admit to liking challenges as she says that the difficulties help you know that you are alive and still developing.

For Leanne it is a constant challenge to find new and exciting ways to teach sections, ‘but it is a challenge I enjoy and an intellectual exercise of great worth.’

South Africa; Mzansi Magic

I ask Leanne how she sees South Africa and what she believes can be done to improve it.

‘Wow – a massive question,’ Leanne responds, ‘I think we are a country of just so much potential. This is my home and my heritage. As much as we have potential, that can so easily be squandered by people who don’t care, or who are selfish. Particularly, I am very disappointed in some of our current politicians who seem to have forgotten the grounding principles of the struggle, and of ubuntu and who want to be in power for the personal glory and wealth they can accrue, rather than to serve the people.’

‘ I think that we need to make sure our politicians are more accountable to us – call them out when they do wrong, use the press to its full extent and vote pragmatically rather than sentimentally or because of strong personas. I think that much of our politics would improve if we had a strong black-led opposition party.’

Education is Key!
Leanne also believes that education is key to the success of this country, ‘Without quality education for all, we have little hope of achieving our potential. Token curriculum changes are not the way to gain quality education. There must be political will and interested community involvement to uplift ALL schools in South Africa and close the massive gaps that exist. Teachers must be motivated and love their jobs and we need to attract the best and brightest graduates into the profession (this can best be done by improving the status of teaching as a career, and making the salaries competitive).’

Leanne’s beautiful passion for education is astounding and inspiring, she goes on to say that, ’We have to get kids fed so that they can learn. We have to ensure that the heads of child-headed households can go to school and still look after their families – grants and crèche facilities at schools would be a great help here. We need school to be a SAFE and pleasant place to be – not somewhere where a girl child must fear for her safety. These are huge issues. They will not be solved quickly, and require us as communities to apply ourselves and our own resources to the schools in our communities. It will take work, and not the laying of blame. As hard as these issues are to solve, I think they are the most pressing in our country today.’