Ray Wainman is a 73-year young Jewish South African man born in Vereeniging who has a flair for all things handy. A regular amateur handyman to his family and friends, five years ago, while visiting his sister Sharon Bolel and her husband Rabbi Shem, Ray was handed his sister\u2019s Shabbos lamp to fix. It was \u201cfalling apart\u201d in her estimation, and she told her brother that she was on the verge of having to buy another costly Shabbos lamp unless he could work his magic and make some semblance of working order out of the lamp she relied upon every Shabbos for light. It is ironic, recalls Ray, because his sister Sharon and Rabbi Shem are to him his inspiration, his sister his \u201cguiding light\u201d. So it must have been her encouragement and all this talk of illumination that were the first steps to what would soon become Ray\u2019s next big thing. Sharon knew well that Ray had been \u201cblessed with good hands, and innovation and creativeness\u201d, and as he was unemployed at the time, she encouraged him to invent a home-grown, kosher Shabbos lamp that was manufactured locally from high quality components, yet affordable.<\/p>\n
With Shem and Sharon\u2019s support (Shem was soon to become Ray\u2019s business partner), Ray successfully created a stylish, sleek version of the adjustable lamp that is used for Shabbos. Ray named his invention Hi-Lo-Glo (the names \u2018Shabbos lamp\u2019 and \u2018Kosher Lamp\u2019 are names that are registered in the USA and Canada and could not be used), giving it local flair and a competitive price tag.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the inception of Hi-Lo-Glo, our first undertaking was to get our product safety-approved by the South African Bureau\u00a0of Standards (SABS).\u201d Because the lamp is an electrical product, Ray could foresee from the outset that more than just being used on Shabbos, the lamp would find its way into many houses and many rooms in these houses, giving light to all the household members, both young and old, and so for him the issue of safety was of paramount importance. \u201cThe light is perfect for a baby night light too, so we knew that the lamp would ultimately land up in some children\u2019s bedrooms,\u201d and seeing this as a major responsibility to ensure that all avenues had been pursued, Ray ordered testing to be done on his lamp to ensure its safety. Although it took quite a while, Hi-Lo-Glo was approved for safety with ease.<\/p>\n
The next major hurdle was to get Hi-Lo-Glo halachically approved by the Johannesburg Beth Din. In this endeavor, it also sailed through with flying colours, now bearing two important stamps of approval that would show the market that it isn\u2019t full of false promises, but that it does what it sets out to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a five year journey of self-fulfillment and fruitfulness this has been for me, filled with many trials and tribulations, a lot of hard work and set-backs, and the glow of success, self-determination, and triumph,\u201d says Ray. August of 2017 saw the completion of the manufacture of the first batch of Hi-Lo-Glo\u2019s in Ray\u2019s little cottage at home, which became the centre of the Hi-Lo-Glo universe, and the lamps were all set to go out to the retail market. \u201cWe launched the sale of the Hi-Lo-Glo lamps at the Rosh Hashanah market last year at the Norwood Mall, and, like a whirlwind, we sold almost all of them.\u201d Ray was inundated both with a sense of self-satisfaction and gratitude for the success of his endeavor, and from \u201cthe compliments and pats on the back which flowed from there\u201d. As a result of what seems to be the market success of the lamp and an identified need for more, the Hi-Lo-Glo team undertook to produce another larger batch of lamps, but this time, in a more efficient, quicker, and, maybe even smarter way. \u201cWe have commissioned a group of University students studying engineering to make them up for us\u201d \u2013 giving them the manpower they need and the students the chance to use their skills. Trying to keep the manufacture local is a way to contribute to the South African economy. \u201cWe are South African \u2013 born and bred \u2013 and feel gratitude to the country of our birth. South Africa has been very good to us!\u201d<\/p>\n
Hi-Lo-Glo has grown tremendously and, in the not-too-distant future, Hi-Lo-Glo is thinking of exporting the lamps. \u201cI\u2019ve dabbled with many inventions and innovations over the years and had it not been Sharon\u2019s idea of this Shabbos lamp and her motivation and encouragement setting me off on this journey, it would surely never have happened. I\u2019m vying for top spot to see who wins the top salesman\u2019s prize of a trip to Mauritius \u2013 me or Rabbi Shem! Jokes aside, I couldn\u2019t wish for a better partner in this venture \u2013 I handle the research and development, technical aspects and manufacturing, and Shem markets, sells, and pays the bills! You must admit I have the more exciting function to perform! Of course, there are of course still many challenges.\u201d Challenges he welcomes.<\/p>\n
Ray looks up to Sharon in life as well as in business. \u201cShe took the bull by the horns from a very young age, determined to make Yiddishkeit play a major part in her life, and how fitting it was that she should meet such a fine partner in Rabbi Shem Bolel.\u201d Ray\u2019s successful innovation has not in any way detracted from his sense of gratitude and appreciation for the things he has in his life. Sadly, due to his upbringing and circumstances beyond his control, Ray was not given a Jewish education. \u201cBut throughout my life I cherished my Jewishness.\u201d He is flying from the hoo-hah his Hi-Lo-Glo has caused, yet he remains grounded and committed to the people and the things that illuminate his life.<\/p>\n
For more information on the Hi-Lo-Glo go, visit www.hi-lo-glo.co.za.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A broken Shabbos lamp inspires a home-grown source of illumination By Chandrea Serebro Ray Wainman is a 73-year young Jewish South African man born in Vereeniging who has a flair for all things handy. A regular amateur handyman to his family and friends, five years ago, while visiting his sister Sharon Bolel and her husband Rabbi Shem, Ray was handed his sister\u2019s Shabbos lamp to fix. It was \u201cfalling apart\u201d in her estimation, and she told her brother that she was on the verge of having to buy another costly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-may-2018"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1110"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1111,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions\/1111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishlife.co.za\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}