Michalya Schonwald Moss

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Jan 15, 2024, 2:08 AM

The Betrayal of the Boerejode

Although not a South African by birth, my Bloemfontein-born husband and our two children proudly claim this heritage. Ironically, they find my accent amusing. Learning of my American-Israeli roots, people often inquire about my decision to settle in South...

Jul 1, 2021, 2:12 AM

Whoever saves one life saves the entire world

CADENA’s Search and Rescue Team: Arielle Shturman Waiss, Guidian Shturman Waiss, David Israel Benaim Getzel, Ely Saad Braun, Yosef Laniado Mareyna, Ariela Wulfovich Kahan and Moises Soffer Luchtan. (Source: CADENA International)

When the news broke about the Champlain Towers collapse in Surfside, Florida, I was on the phone with a colleague from CADENA discussing the importance of cultivating a global network of Jewish humanitarians who are trained in emergency rescue,...

Jan 28, 2021, 4:07 PM

Tu BiShvat and Family Trees

A few months into Covid, I reached out to my friend *Che, my go-to person for WWII-related queries, and asked if he had been experiencing any Holocaust-themed dreams or disturbances since the world turned pandemic. I was clearly looking for...

Mar 28, 2019, 11:14 PM

‘There are no natural disasters here’ #CycloneIdai

"There are no natural disasters here." That was before Cyclone Idai wreaked devastation on Mozambique and parts of Zimbabwe and Malawi last week in what is being called the worst weather disaster in the Southern hemisphere. When CADENA, the US-based humanitarian...

Oct 28, 2018, 10:49 AM

You are the daughter of the most powerful man in America. A man who has given us his word to "Make America Great Again." Yet since being elected there has been an insurmountable cost to making America great. On a...

Jan 30, 2018, 7:18 PM

Mission to Kakuma

Boscow, a 20-something Sudanese refugee employed by IsraAID’s field office in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya near the Somalia border, tells me that he arrived at the camp a few years ago. His village was attacked and his...

Nov 20, 2017, 6:50 PM

Imagining a Jewish African Spring

As the world watches the fall of another dictator, South Africans are secretly (and some not so secretly) waiting for bits of the Mugabe coup to rub off like a monsoon after a prolonged pest-infested drought. A few days ago...

Mar 1, 2017, 1:38 AM

Trumping on Jewish Graves: Purim fest 2017

Purim Eve 2017: Queen Esther was never in the palace. Shushan is on fire. Jared Kushner is definitely not Mordechai. Melania Trump might be Vashti. King Ahashverosh has completely lost the plot. And Haman has sparked a nationwide FBI...

Sep 28, 2016, 4:02 PM

Selfies with Shimon

While Israel mourns the passing of Shimon Peres and the world pays tribute to this larger-than-life man, my Facebook feed is full of selfies of my friends with the late President of Israel. I am moved to see how...

Dec 10, 2015, 7:08 PM

Lighting up in the South of Africa

Chanukah in the Southern hemisphere: along with Christmas trees melting on 34 degree Johannesburg sidewalks- sweating during candle lighting has been one of the more amusing adjustments for me on this side of the equator during the holiday season. Last...

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About Me

Michalya Schonwald Moss is a social impact & innovation consultant and co-founder of SpekTech, a digital platform that accelerates climate impact beyond the carbon market in Africa. Originally from the U.S and Israel, Michalya has lived in Johannesburg, South Africa since 2009.

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