Jerusalem Prize winner
NAOMI LEVIN
ISRAELI-BORN businessman Saul Same will be awarded the Jerusalem Prize Zionist Council of Victoria (ZCV) annual assembly in Melbourne next week.
Mr Same, who arrived in Australia as a young child, said he has always felt a strong love for the Jewish State.
“It has always been in my mind,” he said. “I’ve got enormous love for Israel.”
Mr Same’s business empire began with the establishment of Gloweave in 1944 —- today considered one of Australia’s most recognised clothing companies and merchants of more than one million shirts annually.
But while pursuing business success, Mr Same never forgot his homeland, showing support from an early age by collecting for Jewish National Fund Blue Boxes in Perth as a youngster.
From those beginnings, Mr Same went on to become involved in the United Israel Appeal (UIA), chairing the organisation in Victoria for three years and federally for four years. He was also instrumental in encouraging current UIA president Jack Smorgon to take a leadership role with the organisation.
Later, Mr Same served on the board of governors of the Jewish Agency from 1989-1995 and received a prestigious Keren Hayesod leadership prize.
He said he had no regrets taking on such significant community roles.
“The wonderful thing is that there is no way I would have met so many special people if I wasn’t involved,” he said. “I would go to Israel and meet people I wouldn’t have met otherwise.”
He cited South African Jewish leader Mendel Kaplan as one of those people, and the late Australian philanthropist Isador Magid as another.
When asked if his love for Israel ever translated into a desire to return there to live, Mr Same conceded that his love for his children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren, prevented such a move.
“We thought as they got older they would move away,” he said. “But it has been the reverse.”
Asked about the future of Zionist leadership in Australia, Mr Same is certain the future is in good hands.
“They feel differently,” he said of younger people. “But if you have a look at UIA, they are doing a better job than we did.”
The Jerusalem Prize is awarded by the ZCV, Zionist Federation of Australia and World Zionist Organisation.
Mr Same will be presented with The Jerusalem Prize on Wednesday, November 4 at Beth Weizmann, Melbourne.
Previous recipients include John Howard, Alexander Downer and Mark Leibler.
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