In the aftermath of World War 11, before the establishment of the State of Israel, a group of young Johannesburg Jewish men, fathers, who came from various commitments to Jewish life and different parts of the world, gathered together and felt the importance of creating a haven of Jewish education in Johannesburg. Around the end of 1946 into 1947 these men went from Jewish door to Jewish door, appealing to the community to help set up a Jewish day school. And it happened, with the opening of the first class of King David School in 1948. Of these men, some names are familiar to us all: Rabbi Isaac Goss, Louis Sacks, Ronnie Misheiker and others whom I do not know, and one other, a very special, important person to me and my family: Sam Kacev, my father who was a passionate Zionist and a great lover of everything to do with Jewish culture and the Jewish soul and thus Jewish education .

My sister, Deanna Novick, was number 25 of the first register, and the rest , as they say is history. From then , 1948, until today, 2017, nearly 70 years later, our family is the only one of the original first register who have had unbroken attendance at either the Linksfield or Victory Park campuses, whether as pupils, teachers, - Hebrew and secular, formal or informal - or involved in the various committees and parent associations that help keep alive the spirit and ethos of the King David movement.

Yes, one can say, King David is in my blood, and I am certainly proud to say that I attended one of the best and best-known Jewish Day Schools worldwide, an institution that has produced some of the great minds of the three or four generations since the first matric group in 1956.

Of those of us who live in Johannesburg and surrounds, most have had their children educated at their alma mater, and are now "klaibing naches" by watching their grandchildren walking along the same paths and sitting in the same classrooms as we did some 50 - 60 years ago.

Kol Hakavod to King David Schools and the memory of these innovative young fathers. They helped make a mark on the Jewish world and the world in general for many years to come.