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VOL. 84 Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 / 5 Nissan 5782
Fostering a closer Jewish community
Wishing all our readers a Happy and Healthy Passover.
WORK/LIFE BALANCE
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COLD WAR 2.0
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SIX MILLION COVID DEATHS
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LEAVING HOLLYWOOD
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
AROUND
T H E
COMMUNITY ANNE-MARIE ELIAS With Pesach almost upon us, it is not hard to understand why my mind turned to the Exodus. Biblically, the term refers to the departure of the Israelite slaves from Egypt under the guidance of Moses. Of course, Passover celebrates this Exodus. Linguistically, exodus means the road out. Historically, we have seen large migrations of those seeking a road out when the status quo becomes untenable. Think of the Russian Jews during the pogroms, starting in 1881 (as depicted in Fiddler on the Roof) or the post WWII migration of Jews from Europe to Australia, Canada and the US. In 2021 we started to see the words “The Great Resignation” being used in social media and news feeds. It is the exodus resulting from the impact that COVID-19 has had on our lives. It is estimated that one in five Australians resigned from their jobs last year. The reasons include a lack of personal fulfilment, purpose or meaning, career limitations, poor pay and benefits, and
Exodus: the roadmap to work/life balance
mental health concerns. This exodus drove some to make a sea or regional change. The ability to work remotely in a different environment was appealing. Only last week, my neighbour left for Bali for three months – a tropical change, albeit short term. He ensured he could work remotely, surf daily and have full-time house help. So, people have started to actively seek ways to make a fresh start. Their new lives were to include a better
work/life balance. For some, work may be as a full-time carer, parent or home manager, while for others it is paid employment or being a business owner. In order to achieve the balance we are seeking, we need to be intentional about it. We also may need to redefine or tweak our current value system. The key to achieving a successful work/life balance relies upon not just what we do while we’re working (i.e.
doing meaningful work and making a positive contribution), but what we do outside work. We can find fulfilment from hobbies or leisure pursuits. We also need to have tried and true methods for emotional, physical and psychological restoration. This requires a holistic approach that sustains, nourishes and motivates us. Here is a 10-point plan to achieve balance: 1. Manage your workload. 2. Prioritise physical health: eat well, exercise and energise (rest, relax and sleep) 3. Recognise the danger signs (don’t burn out). Practise stress management. 4. Be social. Maintain connections. 5. Take time off and time out. 6. Practise effective time management. 7. Set and maintain boundaries. 8. Live in the present. Be mindful. 9. Be flexible. 10. Consider what needs to change to reduce stress. Anne-Marie Elias is a psychologist in clinical practice for 25 years.
Pesach by the numbers YERACHMIEL ISACOWITZ The number four is abundant at the seder table. We have four cups of wine, four children asking questions and four terms of redemption. The Hebrew letter corresponding to the number four is dalet, which means door. What does a door have to do with Pesach? Everything.
Of course, the blood on the doorposts saved the Jews in the plague of the first born, but more than that, the door represents the home. The home is so fundamental to Judaism that our most sanctified places – Beit Kneset (shul,) Beit Sefer (school) and even the Beit Hamikdash (The Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem) – are given that name. That is because the home is effectively the source from which the seeds of
Judaism sprout and grow. It is the single most powerful force for the continuation of our people. It is also no coincidence that in the song One is God, we sing about the four mothers of Israel. They are the pillars that were the cornerstones of the Jewish home and the conduit for Godly values. Pesach is regarded as one of the primary Jewish festivals. Typically, it is held in the home and it utilises all our senses, namely touch, smell, taste, sight and sound. Retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt links us to the very formation of Judaism. In addressing the four children, the Haggadah speaks to
the wise who needs intellectual stimulus, the wicked who requires boundaries, the simple who needs to be engaged and the one who doesn’t know how to ask who requires coaching. The implication is that the correct approach can turn any child into a righteous person. That process begins in a properly constituted Jewish home. Yerachmiel Isacowitz is an independent Torah educator. E: risacowitz@optusnet.com.au W: torahconcepts.com FB: The Mem Channel
A key to parenting is not so much being right, rather being effective. torahconcepts.com
The Mem Channel
PARLIAMENT OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
CRAIG KELLY MP 6th April 2022 My fellow Australians Liberal and Labor have given Australia one Trillion Dollars of debt ($1,000,000,000,000) (a million million) At the Government’s proposed rate of repayment, it will take Australians 250 years to repay the debt. A Trillion Dollars of debt will increase home loan rates to 4% in 2 years and to over 6% in 3 years. At 4%, over 60% of Australians will default on their mortgages and will lose their homes, and at 6% or more over 80% of Australians will lose their homes. The real estate market will then collapse and foreign buyers will flood our real estate market as they will have the money to buy up our properties. We have to stop Australians from losing their homes! A maximum of 3% interest on Home Loans The United Australia Party will introduce a maximum interest rate for all home loans of 3% per annum for the next 5 years to save Australian homeownership. My treasurer, Clive Palmer, has a wealth of business experience and the ability to save Australia. The Liberal and Labor finance teams just don’t know what to do and they are keeping you in the dark. Repayment of National Debt Both Liberal and Labor fail to address the Trillion Dollars of National Debt, but not the United Australia Party. We plan to address it head-on and save your family from its impact. Australia supplies over 80% of all Iron Ore to the Asian manufacturing market, where tens of trillions of dollars are invested in manufacturing in China, Japan, Korea and the rest of Asia. Asia achieves its position in world trade by using Australian Iron Ore. Asian economies and industry have no alternative. In the 1960s, Australia had an export license on the export of Iron Ore. The United Australia Party will introduce a 15% export license on the export of all Australian Iron Ore. The export license receipts will be isolated for the sole purpose of repaying our National Debt which will relieve every Australian from that burden and set up our future. So Australia can be all it can be without the financial destruction the Labor and Liberal parties have imposed on our country. Bring Australian Super Home Australia has over One Trillion Dollars of Super invested overseas. Just like when John Curtin in World War 2 brought the troops back to save Australia, the United Australia Party will bring back a Trillion Dollars of Australian Super back to Australia, to save Australia. To save your home and Australia, I need you to vote 1, for your United Australia Party candidate for your electorate, in the House of Representatives and for the United Australia Party Senate team. We can save Australia and your home. God bless Australia.
Craig Kelly
Craig Kelly Leader United Australia Party Authorised by: Craig Kelly, Parliament House, Parliament Drive, Canberra ACT 2600
UAP13469F4F
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
CO NS I D E RE D
OPINION STUART EIZENSTAT
“How long have known me, Stu?” Madeleine Albright asked me that question with a sense of urgency I had not heard from her before. It was mid-January 1996 and I was in my hotel room in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum. She called me through a secure line from her office in the State Department during the transition following Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection, before she was confirmed by the Senate as the first female Secretary of State in American history. I was about to be nominated by the president to the position she offered me as her Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business & Agricultural Affairs. “Well,” I replied, “20 years, since you and I worked together in the West Wing of the Carter White House, you as congressional liaison for the National Security Council under Zbig Brzezinski and me as President Carter’s Chief Domestic Policy Adviser.” The next question was even more odd: “What religion am I?” “Madeleine, of course, you are a Czech Catholic. What’s this all about?” She explained that a Washington Post reporter, Michael Dobbs, was doing an investigative article on her background as she awaited Senate confirmation, and determined that she was Jewish, not Catholic. She had known that her parents twice fled Czechoslovakia: first to London as Hitler and the Nazis were going to take over and then again in 1948, this time to the United States, after her father, a Czech diplomat who returned after the war, was confronted by Stalin and the Communists. She did not know that both of her parents were born Jewish and converted to Catholicism during the war, raising her and her siblings as Catholics. “What must I do?” she asked. She told me she feared the American Jewish community would oppose her nomination, believing that she was embarrassed by and covered up her Jewish past and this might sink her confirmation. Moreover, she said, “What am I supposed to say to my three girls? Am I to tell them they should now convert to Judaism?” My instant advice was to tell the truth, which was that she never knew about her parents’ conversion, to embrace her newly discovered Jewish past with pride and that, of course, neither she nor her three children should feel they needed to convert to Judaism. I also explained that given my work on Holocaust justice in the Clinton administration and frequent interaction with Holocaust survivors, the Jewish community understood that during World War II all sorts of methods were used to protect Jewish children, including placing them in Catholic convents or in Christian households where they were raised by righteous gentiles. I told her that several of the Jewish friends I had made in Belgium when I was US Ambassador to the European Union had been saved in just that way.
The advice I gave Madeleine Albright
Tomas Kraus, the head of the Federation of Czech Jewish Communities, later confirmed that “it is common for Jews from this part of the world to be ignorant of their Jewish roots.” By being candid, I was certain there would be no blowback either from the Jewish community or the Senate. Besides, I reminded her, as UN Ambassador
Synagogue to look for her grandparents’ names among the more than 77,000 Czech and Slovak Holocaust victims lovingly inscribed by Czech survivors on the wall of the synagogue. She found the names of her paternal grandparents, Arnost and Olga Korbel, who had perished in the Nazi death camps — Arnost in Theresienstadt in 1942 and her
"My instant advice was to tell the truth, which was that she never knew about her parents’ conversion, to embrace her newly discovered Jewish past with pride …" during Clinton’s first four years in office, she had established herself as a strong, fervent supporter of Israel against Arab attacks. She followed my advice and was confirmed with a 99-0 vote. On her first foreign trip as Secretary of State, as I was in her office for a last-minute briefing, she looked at her suitcase and, with her characteristic wit, said, “Well, with my newly discovered Jewish background, I suppose I should say I am going to schlep my suitcase!” We all burst into laughter. But Madeleine Albright went beyond my fondest hopes in identifying with her Jewish past. As Secretary of State, in her maiden trip to her Prague birthplace in July 1997, she went straight to the Pinkas
grandmother in Auschwitz in 1944. At the synagogue she said publicly, “Tonight … their image will be forever seared into my heart.” Later during her tour to welcome her native Czech Republic and two other former Soviet bloc countries into NATO – a burning issue today with the Russian invasion of Ukraine – she toured other Jewish sites in Prague and movingly confronted her past: “The evil of the Holocaust” has taken on “even greater personal meaning” since she learned the fate of her grandparents. “To the many values and many facets that make up who I am, I now add the knowledge that my grandparents and members of my family perished in the worst catastrophe in human history. So, I leave here tonight
with the certainty that this new part of my identity adds something stronger, sadder and richer to my life.” She went a step further and on a later trip went to the small villages where her fraternal and maternal grandparents had lived to try to relive their history. As her Under Secretary, I saw up-close how her background as a refugee from fascism shaped her foreign policy views and her greatest triumphs in the two Balkan Wars, in Bosnia and Kosovo. As UN Ambassador she joined with National Security Adviser Tony Lake to successfully urge President Clinton, over Pentagon and State Department opposition, to take aggressive US leadership of NATO and direct military strikes against Bosnian Serbs following the brutality against Bosnian Muslims encouraged by Serbian strongman President Slobodan Milosević. The July 1995 massacre of more than 7,000 Bosnian men and boys at Srebrenica, dumped into a mass grave, evoked for her the Holocaust her parents had escaped. She confronted Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Colin Powell, stating, “What’s the point of having this superb military that you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?” That military action paved the way for the Dayton Accords, negotiated by Richard Holbrooke, the peace agreement that ended the war. In January 1999, following another Serb massacre of Kosovo Albanians at the small Kosovo village of Racak, Secretary of State Albright brilliantly combined diplomacy with NATO military force, again over Defense Department opposition, to secure a peace which lasts to this day. She was a strong, constant supporter of my work on Holocaust justice in my negotiations with Swiss and French banks, German and Austrian slave labour companies and European insurance companies. She gave the keynote speech at the Washington Conference which led to the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, where she weaved her own Holocaust background into the contemporary challenge of returning looted art. And she asked me to lead the US delegation to the Kyoto conference on Climate Change, giving me strong backing for the Kyoto Protocols. Madeleine Albright, tiny in stature but huge in impact, had a charisma, a sparkle, a brilliance and a fluency in Czech, French, Polish and Russian. She connected the foreign policy she forged with President Clinton to the lives of everyday people around the world. All of these qualities made her larger than life. Stuart Eizenstat co-chairs the Jewish People Policy Institute’s board of directors.
Wishing everyone in the Jewish community a happy and meaningful Passover After my time as the Australian Ambassador to Israel, I was elected as the Federal Member for Wentworth. Since 2019, I have supported the Jewish community by: Speaking out publicly against anti-Israel boycotts
Securing record government funds to community infrastructure & security upgrades Advocating for Australia's adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism Arranging travel exemptions for important family occasions during COVID lockdown Championing the full listing of Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organisations I will continue to be a friend of the Jewish community in Wentworth and across Australia.
Authorised by Dave Sharma MP, Suite 302, Level 3, 179-191 New South Head Road, Edgecliff, 2027.
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CO NS I D E RE D
OPINION
BY MAAYAN HOFFMAN COURTESY: JWIRE.COM.AU The Russia-Ukraine war is being fought not only in the field but also on our social networks, according to Haifa University professor emeritus Gabriel Weimann. “Unlike in many previous wars, in this war we have psychological warfare launched by both sides using very new technologies and in a no-limits way,” Weimann said. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has highlighted what has become an integral part of the contemporary landscape of conflict: information warfare. “This is part of the Cold War 2.0 paradigm,” explained Yaniv Levyatan, an expert in psychological and information warfare, also at Haifa University. “Both sides show that they can make significant moves that are directed towards the other side, the local population, or people around the world who are watching the events.” Israel experienced this last May when TikTok videos helped spark several nights of clashes and chaos among Arab and Jewish youth in Jerusalem. Scholars, including Weimann, blamed the videosharing platform for playing a role in the security escalation, which included Hamas firing thousands of rockets in Israel. “Everyone is calling it the TikTok intifada,” Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, said in an interview then. According to Levyatan, the world needs to be “looking and learning” from the current conflict to understand the vital role information warfare could play in future escalations.
Cold War 2.0: Russia and Ukraine’s information warfare campaigns “During the war in Ukraine we are getting a clear understanding about the crucial role it plays in today’s modern warfare,” he said. Borrowed videos, rumour mills Russian information warfare began weeks before the invasion itself. The country used social networks to show images and videos of its soldiers on the Ukraine border, showing the size and strength of its force. Then, when the war launched, “the Russian invasion was accompanied by a huge “noise” of TikTok videos designed to sow demoralisation among the Ukrainians,” Levyatan said. “Along with genuine videos of the Russian army’s progress, there were videos “borrowed” from other armies and even Star Wars’ movies. The message promoted here was that the invading Russian army is huge.” Social media was also used to spread rumours, such as one that special units were being sent to Ukraine to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky or that Zelensky had fled Ukraine, which put the Ukrainian people on high alert. But while, on the one hand, Russia’s goal has been to intimidate the Ukrainians, on the other hand its greater focus has been messaging targeted at its own people. Russia is using social media to bolster domestic public opinion of the war and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Levyatan said is crucial for the continuation and safety of the regime. “Russia is practicing mostly in-house propaganda, trying to convince Russian
civilians that this is not a war and that the operation in Ukraine is against America and Western superpowers who are trying to develop nuclear and biological weapons in Ukraine,” he said. Ukraine is engaging in the same virtual battle, but in its case the messaging is more geared toward world public opinion, he said. “From the beginning, Ukraine’s goal was to position itself as ‘David’ to [Russia’s] ‘Goliath,’” Levyatan said. He said President Zelensky is, likewise, trying to share a message with the west that “we share the same values” to help keep officials and the public engaged. “But we must understand that both Putin and Zelensky are using fake news – telling lies to achieve their goals,” Levyatan said. This includes the “Snake Island” incident, where Zelensky reported that 13 brave Ukrainian soldiers chose death rather than surrender to the Russians when, in fact, they had surrendered. Another incident was the supposed deliberate bombing of Babyn Yar by the Russians, which turned out not to have happened. “On a daily basis we see fake stats, fake pictures, fake maps, false information about victims,” said Weimann. “You cannot trust even the basic numbers, like how many people were killed.” He said even some of the testimonies that appear heart-wrenchingly genuine are contrived. “The most important problem with this is that the fake news [on the social networks] is now being conveyed to us by the conventional media,” he noted.
Professional journalists are being “fooled” by disinformation because they are “starving for pictures and stories and eager to get as much information as they can in a fast way in today’s competitive media environment,” he said. “The thresholds are lower and their selection of material is with less caution than on other days.” A lesson for the future Both countries are using a variety of social networks, from Twitter and Facebook to TikTok and Instagram. However, Levyatan said that “most fascinating” was the way that LinkedIn was now being used. “LinkedIn is a business social network and using it is super intelligent and effective because people on LinkedIn can relate to one another,” he explained. “If I am in the high-tech community and see my colleagues in Ukraine leaving their offices with an AK47, I feel empathy. You can see huge numbers of likes and comments.” He added that both Russia and Ukraine have engaged top marketing professionals to carry out their campaigns and are using the same data that any other business would – measuring traffic, evaluating who saw what message where and on what device. Russia, of course, has a history of using information warfare. But as Weimann stressed, this latest example is just the start of what we are likely to see in the future.
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
CO NS I D E RE D
OPINION
RABBI BENJAMIN BLECH COURTESY: AISH.COM It was an all-too-common post Holocaust syndrome. Psychologists even gave it a name: it was called “survivor’s guilt”. Six million had perished and survivors were few. They were condemned to live with the scars of their memories. Their dreams would forever bring with them nightmares which they most often could not bear to share with anyone. They bore the guilt for having survived. Why me? It was the unanswerable question for those who realised that they had, on an almost daily basis, somehow managed to escape the angel of death. Survivors speak of daily miracles that saved them. If they continued to believe in God, they considered it divine intervention. If their fate caused them to lose faith, they attributed it to incomprehensible good fortune that somehow protected them. And for the rest of their lives they continued to wonder: why me? Why did I live while the great majority of those around me perished? Survivor’s guilt was an appropriate response to survivors of concentration camps or those directly under the heels of Nazi domination and oppression. They were the intended victims of Hitler’s genocide. I believe the term “survivor” can apply to another group of people.
Six million people have died from COVID-19
Thankfully, I never endured the horrors of Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen. I was born in Switzerland and managed to escape on the very last boat able to leave Europe in 1941. It was a boat filled with fearful Jews who had no idea if the modern-day Haman might, God-forbid, be successful in his desire to murder every last Jew on Earth. While it’s certainly not the same of those who survived the death camps, I, too, feel like a survivor. Any Jew who survived the years of the Holocaust, be
it in America, Germany, or anywhere in the world, is prone to survivor’s guilt. It is a syndrome that Sheryl Sandberg sensitively called “a thief of joy and yet a secondary loss from death”. And the most common and helpful coping mechanisms to the troubling feelings related to survivor’s guilt syndrome is this: “If I inexplicably and mysteriously continue to live while so many others perished, there must be a reason – and I have an obligation to make the rest of my life have meaning and purpose.”
The miracle of longevity dare not be an unfathomable question; it must provide an irrefutable answer. There are countless survivors whose commitment to living a meaningful life constitute the most powerful and resounding response to their being alive. They strove to somehow make sense of their survival. The total number of deaths from the global pandemic recently passed six million. Six million lives have now perished with COVID-19. Some of our closest friends and dearest family. Six million is the number that now represents the contemporary tragedy, which challenges us once again with the seemingly inexplicable question, “Why me?” Somehow the angel of death did not select us. We have been spared. Let us use the residual survivors' guilt that many of us may be experiencing to increase our commitment and efforts to fill our lives with purpose, achievement and love. Rabbi Benjamin Blech is a Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and an internationally recognised educator, religious leader and lecturer. He is the author of 19 books. His website is rabbibenjaminblech.com.
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
JUDAI C A
QUIZ
RABBI DAVID FREEDMAN Each year, time seems to speed up between Purim and Pesach! In this Passover edition, there is a dedicated theme to the questions below – yes, each examines and delves into different aspects of this momentous time on our lunar calendar. After all, this is an epic biblical story chronicled in the Book of Exodus exploring timeless themes. G-d freed the weary Israelites after centuries of slavery – Moses led the way to the Promised Land. On the home front, it is a busy but rewarding time in the pre-Pesach, cleaning, cooking and preparing zone all leading up to the Seder. Within, every minute is infused with so much, from the four cups of wine to the bitter herbs to the songs, the stories are compelling and the drama of it all is unparalleled! Admittedly, the most important question on that evening is Ma Nishtana HaLaila HaZeh? Why is this night different to all other nights? Well, you’ll have to read more on Seder night to get that answer. In the meanwhile, here are 25 Pesach-themed questions to read out and enjoy with family and friends over your Yom Tov table! 1. Why is Pesach known as Passover? 2. True or false: Pesach Sheni is the second day of Passover? 3. Which one of the Five Megillot: Song of Songs; Ruth; Lamentations; Ecclesiastes or Esther is read in synagogue during Passover? 4. The generic name of the Egyptian
Test your knowledge monarch was Pharaoh. Only two pharaohs are mentioned by name in the Bible: Pharaoh Hofra and Pharaoh Necho. During the time of which Israelite prophet did these pharaohs live – Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel? 5. Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt, is first mentioned in Genesis 10:6. Within, it refers to a person who was related to Noah. What was the
host the first ever Seder in the White House? 10. At the end of Barak Obama’s Seder service (see the preceding question) when the participants said Next Year in Jerusalem, what did Obama add? 11. In the song which concludes the Seder – Chad Gadya, how much did the father pay for the hapless goat known as the one little kid?
Good luck. Enjoy. Hopefully, learn something new about the liberating festival of Pesach and its traditions. relationship between Noah and Mitzrayim? 6. According to the Targum (the ancient Aramaic translation and commentary to the Torah) 200,000 fully armed warriors defied the will of God and fled Egypt thirty years before the Exodus. Which prophet wrote a prophecy in which he saw the skeletal remains of these soldiers – Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel? 7. True or false: Shabbat HaGadol (loosely translated as the Great Shabbat) always occurs on the Shabbat immediately before Pesach begins? 8. Which infamous action by the Nazis began on Erev Pesach, Nissan 14, 5703 corresponding to April 19th, 1943? 9. In which year did Barak Obama
12. Where would one find the Bird’s Head Haggadah? 13. Who spoke these words on April 3, 1968: “If I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, "Which age would you like to live in?" I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God's children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the Promised Land.” 14. Moses with Pharaoh's Crown by Guido Reni (Scottish National Gallery) was painted in which century?
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15. On Shemini Atzeret Jews pray for rain, what do they pray for on Pesach? 16. Who played Pharaoh Ramases II in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille’s version of The Ten Commandments? 17.Cecil B. DeMille’s first version of The Ten Commandments was made as a silent movie. In what year was this film made? 18. What is Maot Chitim? 19. Which famous Biblical personality is said to attend every Seder service? 20. The Haggadah About Nothing by Rabbi Sam Reinstein was inspired by which television programme. 21. Dukeh is a type of food eaten on Pesach by Yemenite Jews. What is the equivalent food eaten by Ashkenazi Jews? 22. In the song Who Knows One? Known in Hebrew as Echad Mi Yodea, sung towards the end of the Seder service, what does the number 11 represent? 23. How many of the following are real novelty haggadot – The Emoji Haggadah; The Zombie Haggadah; The Baseball Haggadah; The Trump Haggadah and The Hogwarts Haggadah? 24 .Chassidic Jews refrain from eating Gebrochts during Pesach. What does the word Gebrochts mean? 25. What was the name of the 1998 American animated musical adaptation of the Book of Exodus and the life of Moses released by DreamWorks Pictures? The voice cast included - Ralph Fiennes, Sandra Bullock, Danny Glover and Helen Mirren.
ANSWERS PAGE 18
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
CO NS I D E RE D
OPINION
RABBI DR BENJI LEVY The massacres in Ukraine are horrendous. The exodus of millions of displaced people is tragic. This war has exposed some of the worst in humanity and many responses have catalysed some of the best in humanity. With Passover, the most celebrated Jewish festival, almost upon us, I have seen many Jewish educators discussing the idea of utilising our unique story of redemption from subjugation and our exodus as refugees as an opportunity to dig deeper into the contemporary story in and around Ukraine. That is something I appreciate. Others are saying the current story is much more relevant and that’s where our focus should be as Jews this year. In essence, why go back thousands of years when we can discuss the plight of a people in the here and now? We can live in the present rather than revisit the past and transpose their story with ours. Beyond just relevance, by disconnecting from our own group and muting difference, it is thought that we can extend our empathy beyond the boundaries of a specific identity, creating a cultural melting pot of commonality. As John Lennon suggested: “Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion, too.” I admire this desire and imagine it is coming from a good place, but I also believe it is ultimately misguided. The biblical imagination offers a radically different approach: a more powerful way to appreciate the stories of others is to own our own stories first. The obligation to actively remember our enslavement as a persecuted minority is embedded throughout rabbinic literature and Jewish practice. There is a biblical mandate to remember the Exodus from Egypt daily and Passover focuses on just that. Yet, there are no festivals focusing on the reign of the great Hebrew monarchs. Times of powerlessness are emphasised in the collective Jewish imagination more than times of power. Days commemorating the destruction of the Temples and other traumatic events such as the Holocaust serve only to cement this. We do not have to forsake our heritage to connect to others. It is quite the opposite. When we truly embody our legacy, we realise that everyone has a legacy. The biblical story tells of our origins as “strangers in a strange land” and we are called upon to act. History can be academic – a sense of detachment as we recount “his story”. Modern Hebrew has adopted historia, but there is no indigenous word in the ancient language. The closest equivalent is in zachor, which literally translates as the command to “remember”. One possible explanation for this is that the biblical concept of history is not a fixation on the past, but an undertaking in the present to remember for the future. By reliving the hardships from where we have come we can learn
Connecting to ourselves to connect to others
to better appreciate the significance of the hardships experienced by others. The first night of Passover is one of the greatest tutorials in experiential education. We heighten our senses on our journey back in time in the here and now.
John Lennon’s dream was that “the world will be as one”. The biblical vision, however, is that the world will be big enough for billions … not by removing differences, but by dignifying diversity. Lennon, one of the great songwriters, understood that musical harmony
wrote the course of history and became a beacon for countless others. The same slaves who inspired the beautiful tunes of African Americans as they demanded, in the same words of Moses, “Let my people go” and in Nelson Mandela’s autobiography,
“The
Long
Walk
to
Freedom”. As Heinrich Heine famously
"The first night of Passover is one of the greatest tutorials in experiential education."
said, “since the Exodus, freedom has always spoken with a Hebrew accent”. I will tell my children that we must feel for those who are insecure by connecting
to
insecurities,
appreciate
our
own
people’s
how
much
we can be grateful for and make our We move from an intellectual subject to visceral memory. We taste the bread of affliction and the bitter herbs of hardships, and dip the hardboiled egg (a symbol of mourning) into the saltwater of tears. We rediscover freedom through the Exodus and sing the songs of praise at these jubilant moments as free people. By putting ourselves in the shoes of our ancestors and shrinking the distance between us and our past, we take a profound step in closing the gap between ourselves and others with similar predicaments, cultivating empathy in one of the deepest ways possible.
is predicated on celebrating, not removing, diversity. The same is true for social harmony. One of the myths of universalism in its purest form may mean that if everyone escapes their own history we broaden our humanity, but it is the other way around. Only through connecting to our distinct stories can we appreciate the stories of others. And when our particular story has universal themes, it has the capacity to inspire all. So on the night of Passover, my children and I will once again become a band of slaves – the same slaves that inverted society, re-
unique contribution to the world by understanding the unique world from which we came. Rabbi Dr Benji Levy is the founder of Israel Impact Partners, which provides philanthropic advice and support to leaders across the globe and Keshev, which offers mental health services to individuals and groups. He was previously the CEO of Mosaic United and Dean of Moriah College. He shares his thoughts at www.RabbiBenji.com and on social media @Rabbi Benji
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Eskal Gefilte Fish 570g $1.67 per 100g
Eskal Cucumbers Dill 540g 46¢ per 100g
Yehuda Matzos 454g $1.43 per 100g
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Yehuda Gluten Free Matzos Original 300g $3.50 per 100g
Yehda Original Gefilte Fish 679g $1.47 per 100g
Kinor Juice Grape Natural Rose 750ml 77¢ per 100ml
Available at Woolworths Bondi Junction, Double Bay, Eastgardens, Neutral Bay, Northbridge and St Ives.^
On sale until Tuesday 26th April 2022 unless sold out earlier at Woolworths Bondi Junction, Double Bay, Eastgardens, Neutral Bay, Northbridge and St Ives. Limits per customer may apply, trade not supplied. Specials are not available at Woolworths Online, Metro or at Ampol Woolworths co-branded fuel outlets. Woolworths Supermarkets: 1 Woolworths Way, Bella Vista, NSW 2153. ^Products and specials may not be available in all stores.
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
RABBINIC
THOUGHT
Kadesh: the conscious control of time
RABBI LEVI WOLFF CHIEF MINISTER THE CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE The Pesach Seder commences with the same opening act as both our blessed weekly Day of Rest, our Shabbat, along with other festivals dotted through our Jewish year, with a toast of Kiddush – the Jewish benediction and prayer. This is recited over a cup of wine immediately prior to the meal, ritualistically identifying and sanctifying the holiness of the day. Intriguingly, the premier mitzvah given to the Jewish people – the ‘protomitzvah’ of all commandments – was not the necessity to keep our holy Day of Atonement, our Yom Kippur or Shabbat, in fact, it was not the instruction to adhere to the Ten Commandments. Rather, it was the directive to establish the Jewish calendar. This was bestowed upon the weary Jewish people in Egypt prior to the Exodus. G-d said, HaChodesh ha’zeh lachem, this month of Nissan shall mark the first month of the year, thus giving us the first mitzvah. Moses and Aaron then proclaimed this to the Israelites and it was instantly a radically different way to navigate their reality – honestly, a lot to process. Why was adhering to a structured annual calendar the first item on G-d’s To Do list for us? The difference between a slave and a free human being is not defined by how long or hard one works. People with liberty often work extended, arduous and gruelling hours.
The difference is stark when we examine who or what actually controls our time. A free person decides when to start and when to stop working. A slave is commanded when to start and stop, often with dangerous and dire consequences if any deviation from the oppressive schedule occurs. Therefore, control over time is the fundamental
difference between slavery and freedom. G-d communicated to the Jews in Egypt: “Until now you were slaves and others owned your time. You could do only what you were ordered to do, and only when the Egyptian slave masters told you to do it. Now at the dawn of your freedom, the first mitzvah I will give you will make you masters of your own
time, and therefore masters of your own destiny.” This important first commandment G-d gave to the fatigued Jewish nation is an essential prelude to freedom. It says that time is now yours to use as you will. So value it and infuse it with holiness. The great Chassidic master, Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, once looked out of his window, and watched the bustling crowds as they rushed about their business. He leaned out and enquired of someone, “Why are you rushing?” The man replied, “I’m running to work to make a living.” Levi Yitzhak said, “What makes you so sure that your livelihood is in front of you so that you have to rush to catch up with it? What if it’s behind you, running toward you? Maybe you should stop running and let it catch up to you!” The words of this great sage truly resonate. Sometimes, we can be so focused on working so hard to make a living, we forget to actually live! We become a slave to work, not allowing the blessings we have accumulated to catch up with us. Who in this modern frantic and frenetic world isn’t guilty of that? The take home: step off the incessant treadmill. Stop and smell the proverbial roses. This year, as we recite Kiddush and sing the Shehecheyanu prayer prior to our Pesach Seder getting into full swing, G-d is blessing us to take charge of our time. Let’s collectively and consciously fill each moment with goodness and simultaneously, pause to appreciate our many G-d-given blessings. Wishing all a happy and kosher Pesach!
Freedom from Pharaoh – a timeless message RABBI MOSHE D. GUTNICK THE KASHRUT AUTHORITY As we approach the festival of Pesach, war still rages in the Ukraine. We pray for a Ukrainian victory and for the safety of all the refugees and displaced persons of every age and stage. Does this harsh eastern European reality relate to Pesach? Yes, in the most profound way. The conflict in Ukraine originates from two competing worldviews which mirror the struggle of our forefathers. It was a struggle which symbolically culminated in the centuries-long Egyptian bondage. In ancient times, the king was the absolute ruler. He decided on the life and death of his subjects. All within his kingdom, especially his servants, were mere chattels, only worthy if they could adequately serve him. Appreciating the Nile was one of their deities, Pharaoh pronounced, "I am
the river and I made myself". One man changed all that: Abraham, our father. He recognised that there is a supreme being who is the creator of everything. He recognised that He is the sole king and everyone, including Pharaoh, is responsible to Him. Equality reigns as no person is better than another. When Pharaoh asked Moses who sent him, he answered, “G-d has sent me to free His people”. Pharaoh responded that he did not know G-d. When Moses exclaimed, “Let my people go!” this was not a one-time individual act to free the Israelites. Rather, it was an existential cry against dictatorships, despots, autocracies and g-dless monarchies. Against all who serve themselves rather than G-d in heaven. We witnessed this horror unfold last century with the fascism of Nazi Germany and the communism of Soviet Russia. Devoid of G-d, conscience, and value for human life. This is in sharp contrast to the values of Abraham and Moses. Every human being is created in the image of G-d. Every human being is responsible to that G-d and his law. Right and wrong are
not arbitrary, rather they are objectively decided by G-d within His law. Here’s a case in point: follow the unique journey of the kings of Judah and Israel. Every other king or queen in their epoch and region reigned supreme. Not so with the Jewish monarchs. At pivotal points they were forced to pause to address a pesky prophet - the personification of their conscience, delivering the word of G-d that every sovereign was obliged to obey. Think: Saul and Samuel; David and Nathan; Ahab and Elijah for starters. Every ruler brought to task by the word of G-d. This is the foundation of our western democracy, best reflected within the United States Declaration of Independence. “All men are created equal ... endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ... to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.” Moses sought freedom for his people from a G-dless tyrant. Upon liberation, he taught that true freedom stems from the word of G-d. What are the two worldviews that reflect the conflict between Ukraine and
Russia? The Russian dictator cares not for human rights or human life. He cares not for his citizens whom he effectively enslaves by removing basic freedoms. The population is there merely to deify and serve him. He desires to recreate the Russian Empire with the worst tools of the Soviet regime. Ukraine seeks one thing, which became clear during the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, the Maidan Revolution - to live as a democracy, permitting freedom for all and respecting the sanctity of human life. The horrific stain of Ukrainian collaboration during the Shoah remains, but I truly believe this is a different Ukraine, a product of its desire for freedom. Otherwise, how else did almost three-quarters of the population elect a Jewish leader? Yes, this conflict has everything to do with Pesach. One side representing slavery and the arrogance of Pharaoh, and the other the pursuit of G-d-given freedom and the equality of all. Then and now, this Passover message is timeless.
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
Ensuring Holocaust survivors’ stories live on DANE STERN The theme of this year's communal Yom Hashoah commemoration is "Keeping Alive the Stories of Survival". In the past year, our community has lost many of its treasured Holocaust survivors, highlighting the reality of dwindling survivor numbers and how we must cherish those that are still with us. Survivors will be front and centre at this year’s commemoration. It will feature numerous survivors sharing their incredible stories, as well as their wishes for how our community can ensure their stories live on. One of these survivors is Olga Horak OAM. Olga epitomises the theme of “Keeping Alive the Stories of Survival”. She has shared her story at the Sydney Jewish Museum for 30 years – continuing well into her 90s. She has also written a book called Auschwitz to Australia: A Holocaust Survivor’s Memoir. I find Olga’s courage inspirational. Despite reliving memories of Auschwitz, a death march and Bergen-Belsen, and the loss of her entire immediate family, Olga has been
determined to educate Australians about the atrocities of the Holocaust. I am grateful that she has agreed to speak at this year’s Yom Hashoah commemoration. I look forward to joining hundreds of community members in honouring a person who has shared her story so widely and made such an enormous contribution to Holocaust remembrance. Attendees will also hear innovative ways that survivors’ grandchildren are learning to share their grandparents’ stories publicly. Many members of our community have relatives who survived the Holocaust, some of whom shared their survival stories in testimonies that have remained untouched for years. I hope that after attending this year’s commemoration families will be inspired to watch, hear or read their relative’s testimony together, ensuring they keep alive their own family’s stories of survival. Dane Stern is chair of the NSW JBD’s Shoah Remembrance Committee. The JBD’s annual Yom Hashoah ceremony will take place at Moriah College on Wednesday, April 27th and will be streamed online. Members of the North Shore community can also watch the screening at Masada College. To register, visit www.nswjbd.org.au/yomhashoah.
Sydney Jewish Museum – creating a legacy SYDNEY JEWISH MUSEUM 2022 marks 30 years since the Sydney Jewish Museum opened its doors. For three decades, the museum has served as a place for Holocaust survivors who came to Australia to tell their stories and share their testimony, so it is never forgotten. For 30 years, the museum has focused upon the six million Jewish people who were slaughtered during the Holocaust and kept alive their memories. For all this time, the museum has advocated for human rights and educated students and adults from all walks of life about the importance of tolerance and the dangers of hate. As the Sydney Jewish Museum enters into its fourth decade, many of the founding Holocaust survivors are no longer with us. Yet, their legacy continues to live on in perpetuity within the museum’s walls – through the vision of the major donors and benefactors who support the museum’s work. One such legacy holder is Holocaust survivor Emery Angles. As an 18-yearold, he survived forced labour camps, an escape and living secretly with false papers. Emery created an elaborate persona around Lazlo Horvath – a young Hungarian non-Jew – the anthesis of his own background. He even went so far as to wear a Nazi uniform, which enabled
him to save the life of his uncle and to act for the Resistance transporting arms and ammunition. Angles said he was playing a role and was determined to be the best and succeed. “I was young and maybe naïve, but I was never afraid.” It was this courage that carried him to Australia, where he supported the museum from 1995 until his passing in 2020. Angles understood the importance of leaving a legacy that promoted education through tolerance and kindness and even created his own Foundation to help future generations. A childhood family friend wanted to create a memento of such a courageous man. This year, he donated a plaque in the Sanctum of Remembrance to pay tribute and to share Angles’ legacy. Gifting a plaque and sharing family stories continues to connect people with future generations and keeps the voices of our Holocaust Survivors alive. As the Sydney Jewish Museum celebrates a milestone birthday, it asks what is your legacy?
Be the voice YOM HASHOAH for2022 their memory KEEPING ALIVE THE STORIES OF SURVIVAL Be the voice to live forever
for their memory to live forever
W it h H o l oc a us t S u rv ivo r Ol ga H o r ak OA M Honouring a loved one with a plaque in the Sanctum of Remembrance ensures their memory COMMUNAL COMMEMORATION lives on forever alongside the names of other Holocaust Wednesday 27 April, 7pm victims, survivors and Righteous Among the Nations. Live at Moriah College North Shore screening at Masada College Livestreaming online
Honouring a loved one with a plaque in the Sanctum of Remembrance ensures their memory lives on forever alongside the names of other Holocaust victims, survivors and Righteous Among the Nations. MEMORIAL SERVICE & UNTO EVERY PERSON THEREToISvisit A NAME the Sanctum or for details on dedicating a plaque, contact Rita Prager on rprager@sjm.com.au, Sunday 1 May, 10:30am Martyrs' Memorial, Rookwood 0416 252 526 or 02 9360 7999 Cemetery Registrations essential: www.nswjbd.org/yomhashoah Enquiries: suzanne@nswjbd.org.au
Photo: Katherine Griffiths for SJM
Be the voice for their memory to live forever
Honouring a loved one with a plaque in the Sanctum of Remembrance ensures their memory lives on forever alongside the names of other Holocaust victims, survivors and Righteous Among the Nations.
To visit the Sanctum or for details on dedicating a plaque, contact Rita Prager on rprager@sjm.com.au, 0416 252 526 or 02 9360 7999
14 AROUND
the sydney jewish report | April 2022
T H E
COMMUNITY
Seder in Antarctica
NOMI KALTMAN COURTESY: AISH.COM How one scientist celebrated a wintry Passover at the bottom of the world In 1995, David Hornstein, a Jewish environmental scientist originally from Australia, was living and working for IBM in Christchurch, New Zealand. He happened to come across an advertisement in a local newspaper seeking people to join New Zealand’s scientific mission to Antarctica. “I was immediately drawn to the ad and decided that I would apply to join the scientific team,” Hornstein told me. The position was located at Scott Base, New Zealand’s Antarctic research facility. Hornstein’s application was successful and he, along with nine others, was offered a one-year contract to live and work on the base as a science technician. He arrived in Antarctica in September 1995 and immediately got to work. “As part of my role I got to undertake amazing scientific experiments, including measuring ozone levels in the atmosphere, collecting atmospheric gases for analysis in New Zealand, radar experiments and looking at seismic waves going through the Earth,” Hornstein said. But Hornstein, who grew up in a traditional home, still wanted to observe Jewish holidays and that involved overcoming certain obstacles. For instance, the sun doesn’t set for six months in Antarctica, so Hornstein wasn’t sure when to observe Shabbat or other festivals that begin at sunset. (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, a New York City-based Chabad rabbi, best known for setting up the website Chabad. org, advised Hornstein to follow festival
Photo courtesy David Hornstein times based on the city he’d come from most recently: Christchurch.) But it was Passover in 1996 that posed the thorniest problem. During the Antarctic winter, which lasts from February to October, the average temperature plummets to between minus 18 and minus 40 degrees Celsius – too cold for planes to fly. So, for six months of the year, no flights can come or go. Knowing that Passover would fall during the Antarctic winter, Hornstein was still determined to celebrate on Scott Base. “I wanted to celebrate Passover … like my parents celebrate Passover and that is by having a traditional Orthodox Seder,” he said. Hornstein contacted some of his friends in Melbourne, asking for help in obtaining appropriate Passover supplies. Aided by financial support from Melbourne Chabad Jewish philanthropist Rabbi Joseph Gutnick, matzo and wine were shipped from Melbourne to Christchurch. “In our
prayers on Rosh Hashanah, we say God remembers all the good deeds we have forgotten,” Rabbi Gutnick told me, noting that this can also refer to “all the people that are forgotten about in faraway places.” Once a month, a U.S. Navy C-130 Hercules military helicopter delivers packages from Christchurch to Scott Base. “On the last flight out before the Antarctic winter began were the supplies for my Passover Seder, including matzo and wine,” Hornstein said. The New Zealand Antarctic scientific base is located about three kilometres from McMurdo Station, one of three American Antarctic scientific bases. While the American base usually has 150 to 250 people living on it over Antarctic winter, New Zealand’s base typically only hosts 10 to 20 people over the winter months. While there was one other known Jewish person on the American base who was invited to join the only known Seder in Antarctica that
year, they were unable to join Hornstein. “That did not matter though, as all my colleagues on New Zealand’s scientific base were very respectful and interested in undertaking the Seder with me and learning about Jewish traditions. That included one particularly devout Christian who was enthralled with the idea of celebrating Passover in Antarctica.” Hornstein’s journal from 1996 records his preparations for the Seder: “There we were: all 10 of us in the Scott Base bar. The Navy Chaplain had ordered kosher food just for this occasion. I had two chickens, some livers and heaps of canned matzo ball soup, so I had made chopped liver, chicken soup and matzo balls … just for the occasion.” With preparations for the Seder set, Hornsten recalls a particularly impressive feature of his Antarctic Seder. “We went to open the door of the New Zealand scientific base during the Seder to welcome Elijah the Prophet,” he said. “It was about 23 degrees Celsius inside the base, but outside it was absolutely freezing and when we opened the door, the outdoor temperatures caused sheets of white mist to fly into the room in front of my colleagues. I can assure you that we were the only ones in the world that year that invited Elijah to visit an Antarctic Seder!” More than a quarter of a century later, Hornstein recalls his holiday in Antarctica fondly: “I can assure you that my Seder experience in Antarctica was one of the most meaningful Passover experiences I have ever had.” This story originally appeared in Tablet Magazine (tabletmag.com) and is reprinted with permission.
Chag Sameach!
From left: David Schulberg and Ronen Cohen at One Voice (March 2022) Photo: Sean Meltzer
J-AIR broadcasting inside and out. Tapping into the Jewish community. www.j-air.com.au
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
Aged care forum
JNF – forging a better future
COA
JNF NSW
A highly successful special event took place at Bondi Junction on March 27th. That is when Jewish and non-Jewish notfor-profit providers and local councils from Sydney’s East and South East got together to showcase their services. They included Burger Centre, Wolper Jewish Hospital, South Eastern Community Connect, Holdsworth Community Centre and The Junction Neighborhood Centre. Seniors wandered from stall to stall at the Bondi Room at Easts Leagues Club asking questions of these service providers and gathering information. Panelists (three panels were assembled across the day) also talked about the successes and pitfalls of accessing the aged care system. The organisers were the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, COA Sydney and the Bondi & Districts Chamber of Commerce. The first panel comprised those currently receiving services for themselves or family members. They discussed their experiences navigating the system. That incorporated their experiences registering with My Aged Care and finding the services that have enabled them to continue living at home. High level representatives of aged care service providers constituted the second panel. They included the CEO of Montefiore, Robert Orie, the Executive Manager of JewishCare, Keith Brown, the CEO of Carers NSW, Elena Katrakis and COA’s Chief Operations Officer,
The JNF Blue Box has always represented hope and belief in an individual’s ability to contribute towards a better world. This Pesach, the Blue Box continues to represent that hope. Israel’s sustainable infrastructure, made possible through 120 years of donations from the diaspora, has placed the Jewish homeland in a position of strength structurally and financially. It has enabled the country to, thus far, absorb more than 5,000 Ukrainian refugees, send aid to Ukraine and establish a field hospital in Mostyska to treat war victims. JNF continues to raise funds to develop Israel’s southern periphery, creating a flourishing environment for its residents.
Jean Kittson and Associate Professor Peter Gonski Sabina Kovadlo. They spoke about their respective organisations and aged care service options. The third panel featured Jean Kittson and geriatrician Associate Professor Peter Gonski. Kittson is the author of “We Need to Talk About Mum & Dad”, which documents her journey helping her parents enter the aged care system. Associate Professor Gonski has been tending to the aged for almost 40 years. All panelists fielded questions and shared advice in an endeavour to find the best and most cost-effective solution for those who attended. Of course, questions about aged care will continue to be asked because the complexities are many. Do not hesitate to contact COA social workers on (02) 9389-0035.
Funds raised for JNF’s 2022 Pesach Blue Box campaign will be dedicated to Yerucham, a town that began as barren land in 1951 and is now a diverse and growing community of in excess of 10,000 people. Holocaust survivors from Romania, refugees from North Africa, Persia and India, and immigrants from the former Soviet Union have made Yerucham their home. The story of our land, like Pesach, is one of hope, freedom and vision. Blue Box donations will directly support the people of Yerucham. Development of the Yerucham Heritage Park will help grow the town’s economy, empower its community and provide an important venue for ongoing educational and cultural events. For more on this project, visit jnf.org.au/ blue-box
J N F B LU E B O X P E S A C H 578 2 / 2 0 2 2
Since 1951, Yerucham has been home to heroic pioneers. Today, Yerucham is a diverse and growing community of over 10,000 people. Just like Pesach, Yerucham is a story of hope, freedom, and resilience. Help us keep the story alive by supporting Yerucham Heritage Park. With your kindness, we hope to share the miracle of Yerucham to visitors for years to come.
DONATE NOW jnf.org.au/blue-box or 1300 563 563
www.jnf.org.au
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
F O O D I E S'
CORNER
Kosher KApers
RAMONA FREEDMAN THE KASHRUT AUTHORITY Before we take a deep dive into our Festival of Freedom, aka Pesach, we just wanted to fill you in on an exquisite new addition to our kosher landscape. We introduce you to the hero dessert of your next post-Pesach Shabbat table: the pareve Upper Heights Watermelon + Strawberry cake, which is an outstanding new layered aesthetic and gastronomic masterpiece. It is gluten and dairy free and keep in mind to enjoy this on your first Friday night after the festival. You’ll enter the Promised Land of terrific treats – guaranteed! We now talk all-things-Pesach and there are so many KA-certified products in the marketplace that are specifically Kosher for Passover. In a kosher Australian first, our local boutique distiller, Spirit of Bondi, with connoisseur Levi Menaker at the helm, has created a brand-new nectarinebased product that is 42% proof brandy called Nectarine de Bondi. This is an exceptional beverage that hits the kosher market before Pesach. It features undertones of almonds and is perfectly balanced. Each comes in a 250ml bottle that is also known to many eastern Europeans as a ‘chekushka’. The perfect novel gift for your Yom tov host!
KA PRODUCT UPDATES • The following McVitie’s biscuits are now kosher certified Dairy (not Chalav Yisrael) only when the batch code beneath the Best Before Date begins with the letter ‘H’: o Digestives Dark Chocolate o Digestives Milk Chocolate o Digestives Original o Hobnobs Dark Chocolate o Hobnobs Milk Chocolate o Hobnobs Original
PESACH PRODUCT UPDATES • The following 11 DJ&A products are all
Upper Heights Watermelon + Strawberry cake - Not Kosher for Passover What a blessing to have our well known and loved Solomon’s Kosher for Passover range in our midst. Initial supply chain delays have now all been resolved and varieties of matzah meal are available at selected Coles supermarkets, along with Krinsky’s; selected IGA’s; Parisi’s Rose Bay and more. There’s a large nut range, desiccated coconut, matzah, condiments and spices. For something sweet, enjoy Superbee honey when bearing a numbered Diamond KA Kosher for Passover seal, and the Verity Prunes are always helpful to have on hand too. Solomon’s products are enjoyed year-round but there’s
something so nostalgic and equally comforting about their presence in the pantry during Pesach! The KA is so proud of all caterers offering many and varied Pesach menus, from sweet to savoury, modern and traditional, the wide arc of tastes and time are embraced. Our hard copy Pesach Guide 2022/5782 is available in a plethora of locations around town. Stay tuned for updates via our KA website and KA Facebook Group. Enjoy a L’Chaim with the outstanding KA-certified Harkham wines. From our KA Family to yours, we wish you a Happy and Kosher Pesach!
Here’s a snapshot of kosher news around town: • After Pesach, to place an order for the Upper Heights Watermelon + Strawberry cake, call Zohar Barda on 0450 545 194 ($52 for 10 portions) Note: not Kosher for Pesach. • Visit www.belokawater.com.au to place your order for mineral rich and pristine water this Pesach. Use code: KOSHERVIC10 for a 10% discount & free shipping for 6 cases or more or a flat rate fee of $72+GST for below 6 cases. Use code: KOSHERNSW10: 10% discount & free shipping for 6 cases or more or a flat rate fee of $72+GST for below 6 cases. Use code: KOSHERBONDI10: 10% discount and no shipping fee for any quantity. Instead, items can be picked up from 58A Hall Street Bondi Beach NSW 2026 on the 13th of April between 11am-5pm. • To order Kosher for Passover hampers, visit www.thekosherhub.com. • For information about where to purchase the KA-certified for Passover Nectarine de Bondi, call Levi Menaker on 0407 226 602.
• The KA offers a kashering service for Pesach, please email office@ka.org.au or call 02 9365 2933 to book a day/time. • To order KA-certified Kosher le Pesach fish, email Harris Farm Markets-Rose Bay: rosebay@fishinthefamily.com.au. Please make sure to include the word ‘Passover’ in the subject heading; The One That Got Away is also offering KAcertified KLP fish, including minced fish. The final date to place orders will be Wednesday, April 13th for pick up on Thursday April 14th. • KA-certified Kosher le Pesach BBQ chickens will be on offer at both Coles Westfield Bondi Junction and St. Ives from Tuesday, April 12th. • IN2FOODS – Pre-prepared fruit and vegetables: The KA is supervising an extensive production of peeled and washed fruits and vegetables. If kosher consumers are interested, orders must be placed by 3pm Friday 8 April. Email: orders.nsw@in2food.com.au. Orders must be a minimum of $300 (join with friends and/or family).
• The Grunfeld’s team will not be catering this Pesach and will be on a short-term hiatus while on the hunt for a new Grunfeld’s HQ. In memory of Mrs. Grunfeld z"l, there is a chessed initiative at Jewish House called Esther's Fund. It provides kitchen staples to those in crisis accommodation. Gifts are also given to those in need at festival times (via Tikvah: www.givenow.com.au/tikvainc) Visit www.jewishhouse.org.au to donate. • Positions for KA mashgichim (kosher on-site inspectors) are now available with flexible hours offered. All interested are invited to contact The KA office on 02 9365 2933 for more information. • Looking for a fresh fruit platter of fruit gift basket? Call The Fruit Man on 0403 258 921. • Final date of operation at Pita Mix and Poke Mix pre-Pesach will be Thursday April 14th. Please note: for the fortnight post-Pesach, Pita Mix will be operating as take-away only. Poke Mix will be open usual hours immediately after Pesach.
KA-certified Pareve for Passover & are available @ Krinsky’s and online www. dja-au.com (with free standard shipping for all orders over $90): o Three Chefs Almond Choc Cookies 100g o Three Chefs Chocolate Macaroon 100g o Three Chefs Hazelnut Chocolate Cookies 100g o Three Chefs Date & Walnut Cookies 100g o Three Chefs Choc Peach Almond Clusters 100g o Three Chefs Choc Banana Hazelnut Clusters 100g o Three Chefs Coconut Chocolate Pineapple 60g o Three Chefs Chocolate Pineapple Almond Clusters 60g o DJ&A Potato Chips Par Fried & Baked 70g o DJ&A Sweet Potato Chips Par Fried & Baked 70g o DJ&A Taro Chips Sea Salt 70g • Bard Valley Natural Delights Whole & Pitted Fresh Medjool Dates 340gm are Kosher for Passover with the United States K Kosher for Passover logo and KMD Mexico Kosher for Passover logo • Bundaberg Demerara Sugar and Muscovado Sugar are both KA-certified for Pesach. • The KA advises that two varieties of Pana Chocolate: Mint & Sixty are not acceptable for Pesach • Huon cold smoked salmon with no added flavours is not acceptable, however Huon raw salmon with no added flavours is Kosher for Pesach • Nectar Cold Pressed Apple, Orange and Tropical juices are Kosher for Pesach at Harris Farm only when bearing the letters KLP after the Best Before Date. Bulk orders must be placed by 5pm Sunday April 10th, e-mail jacinta@ nectarcoldpressed.com.au
From left: DJ&A Three Chefs Coconut Chocolate Pineapple, Sweet Chick Kosher for Passover Rich Flourless Chocolate Cake, Spirit of Bondi Kvint Shekar OU-P and Lightly Sparkling Beloka Water - KA-certified for Passover
the sydney jewish report | April 2022
CHANGING
DIRECTION
Leaving Hollywood
NES BLAU COURTESY: AISH.COM I started acting at the age of eight. I was in shows like The X-Files, Everybody Loves Raymond, Malcolm In The Middle and Martial Law. When I was a little girl I wasn’t asked to dress in an inappropriate way, but it wasn’t long before those requests began to come. “Short skirt … crop top … bikini … bra … see-through … nothing …” Hollywood is extremely competitive and the more you comply to their requests, the more likely you are to get the roles. It surprised me when actresses walked into an audition and they weren’t “dressing the part” as instructed by the casting director. Waiting to go in for an audition, I once frantically asked the girl sitting next to me, “Is that the outfit we were supposed to wear?! I was given different instructions.” “No, I just wanted to wear this,” she said. “This outfit expresses my individuality. It helps me stand out.” She came out seconds after she entered the audition room in tears. “They said I can’t follow directions. I didn’t dress the part!” In the beginning, I decided to hold my ground and be unique. I wanted to make it to the top of Hollywood my way. I refused to be stripped of my individuality. But in Hollywood, competition gets fiercer with age. The most monumental time in an actress’ career is 18 to 24. This time frame could make or break you. It is no secret that wrinkles, weight gain and all sorts of bodily changes happen as you get older. I felt the pressure of
F O O D I E S'
CORNER
ageing and was afraid of my youth fleeing me. The older I got, the more submissive I became to what was asked of me. I wouldn’t eat for a week just to wear “The Dress” that I wouldn't be caught dead in. I was willing to let go of being me in order to pursue my dream of being someone else. I kept telling myself, “It’s only acting. That’s not who I am. I’m original, modest, sensitive, empowered and intelligent. I’m a diamond.” It was only a matter of time before “It’s only acting” became, “It’s only a movie, filming for three weeks … it’s only one scene in the movie … it’s only a premiere… a business party … a meeting … a luncheon … a public appearance.” Who was I kidding? I allowed myself to succumb to the pressures of Hollywood that increasingly objectified me. Before every audition, your agent will receive a thing called a “breakdown”, which is a description of the role. Here’s a typical Hollywood breakdown for an
audition: Aria: Lead. Caucasian, 18, really attractive and skinny, with attitude. The kind of girl that’s not afraid to show off her body. Hottest girl in school. Everyone wants to be her and every guy wants to be with her. No baggy clothes. Come with sex appeal. Series Regular. Some people dream of getting into Hollywood. I lived my dream by leaving it. The longer I stayed as a working actress, the more I felt like I'd never escape. The less I felt like my own being, making my own choices in life. When you have a dream, it’s easy to get lost and do whatever it takes to reach you goal, even if it means compromising your values. I often think back to that eight-year-old girl who was so naive going to auditions and acting in TV shows. I think back to all those times I wore outfits, delivered lines and acted in ways that just weren't a true representation of who I really am. It’s hard to believe that was me. I'm now married and a mother. Would I want my daughter to misrepresent
herself? Would I want my daughter to dress in revealing clothing and do inappropriate things? It’s my job to be her role model. I spent so many years watching movies and dreaming, pretending to be someone else. I can finally say that real life stories don't happen in the movies. They happen in real life. Since I left Hollywood, I'm now writing my own story and hopefully my experience will set an example for others. Women are born leaders and true mentors. We can set an example and take a stand. We need to teach the world that it’s not okay to objectify women because we are not going to objectify ourselves. It’s our job to realise how much control we truly have and to walk around life with dignity and preservation of our beauty. It was so hard to go against society, but the payoff was huge. I felt so much better about myself. I discovered that inside I really am a diamond. Just as every diamond is unique, God created every human being unique. And it’s up to me to live my life with integrity and dignity befitting of my true internal value. Nes Blau (formerly Vanessa Elgrichi) decided to leave her career in Hollywood and start leading a more spiritual life. She studied at Neve Yerushalayim in Jerusalem. Today she is married, living in Los Angeles and has built a Jewish home.
Matzah latkes 28 flat tablespoons of coarse matzah meal (e.g. KA-certified Solomons Coarse Matzo Meal) ¼ tsp salt 3 tablespoons sugar ½ cup of milk (or water, if you’d prefer they are Pareve rather than Dairy) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
LEWIS’ CONTINENTAL KITCHEN At first glance, this recipe title may seem a touch oxymoronic – after all, matzah equals Pesach and latkes equals Chanukah, right? Well, this recipe is only made on Pesach and is a family heirloom - it beautifully fuses the two! Judith Lewis has generously shared the following recipe, handed down from her mother, Faye Gilovitz, z”l, who was known far and wide as an outstanding cook. Clearly it runs in the family! Judith and her loyal Lewis’ team have been in the kosher catering game for over half a century. Respect! With Lewis’ we are witness to a rare dose of longevity, continually offering delicious and wholesome kosher fare to our hometown. KA-certified airline meals have also been provided since 1991, and despite major interruptions due to the pandemic over the last couple of years, simchahs; family gatherings; Shabbat dinners, milestone birthdays and so much more have been enhanced by all-things-Lewis’! KA-certified Lewis’ is at the heart Sydney’s kosher landscape and its traditional, heimishe Pesach foods are treasured and effortlessly link the generations. Pesach orders are being placed by so many from the extensive menu. Within you can order so much
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including the legendary matzah balls and gefilte fish done four-ways: boiled, fried, baked and gluten free! Some of Faye’s original Pesach recipes are still found within the Lewis’ Pesach menu, including the charoset and the lovely, light inimitable chocolate cake. Back in the day, on Chol Hamoed mornings through this eight-day festival of freedom, Faye (who Judith adorably still refers to as ‘Mummy’) would make mounds of these matzah latkes. Faye’s
kids would delight in the taste and texture, coupled with the independence of adding their favourite topping-ofchoice. Memories and moments that Judith shares with valued Sydney Jewish Report readers to contextualise how much Pesach means to her family. INGREDIENTS 7 eggs, beaten 1 tsp cinnamon
METHOD Combine all ingredients except the milk (or water) and mix well. Add milk (or water) and allow to sit for at least one hour or overnight. Depending on your preference, opt to shallow fry or deep fry. Heat desired quantity of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a frying pan and measure a dessert spoonful of batter to place in oil for each matzah latke. Turn when golden. Drain well. Toppings: Sprinkle with sugar and cocoa powder or cinnamon sugar. Choose to eat with berries and/or sliced banana. Pairs perfectly with raspberry coulis too and grated lemon rind. The options are endless! To contact Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, call 02 9365 5421. Lewis’ is located at 2 Curlewis Street, Bondi and has been proudly serving the Jewish community, Kosher for Passover and all-year round since 1971.
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
B'nai B'rith unique event B'NAI B'RITH In a first for the Australian Jewish community, B’nai B’rith NSW has hosted a Kabbalah Exhibition at its centre in Kensington, adjacent to the UNSW campus. The exhibition ran as a three-week event celebrating the social history of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. It featured presentations, workshops and other community events. The sessions were geared toward Jews of all backgrounds and affiliations. The exhibition open day included a roundtable highlighting different Jewish perspectives. Among those participating were Rabbi Dr Orna Trigubuff (whose ideas were rooted in the spirituality of Jewish
renewal) and Rabbanit Judith Levitan, the first ordained Orthodox woman in Sydney (with views influenced by modern Orthodox thought). Exhibition curator Dovi Seldowitz drew upon his dual experience of rabbinic training in Hasidic Crown Heights and academic training in sociology and anthropology at the University of New South Wales. The panel discussed the meaning of mysticism in Judaism, key symbolism in Kabbalah, the potential of sharing spiritual practice in a Jewish day school setting and inspiration from Jewish mystical tradition. Another highlight was a musical Havdalah ceremony for teens, organised by B’nai B’rith Youth and led by Rabbi Zalman Goldstein from Maroubra Synagogue.
B'nai B'rith Havdalah ceremony
Judaica quiz answers 1. Because the Book of Exodus says that the Angel of Death ‘passed over’ the houses of the Israelites during the time of the tenth plague 2. False. Pesach Sheni (The Second Pesach) is a minor festival one month after Pesach. It was instituted by Moses to allow Israelites, who for various reasons, could not celebrate Pesach on the correct date to make it up to some extent one month later. 3. Song of Songs (Shir Hashirim) 4. Jeremiah 5. Mitzrayim, the son of Ham, was Noah’s grandson 6. Ezekiel 37: ‘The valley of the dry bones’ 7. True. Shabbat HaGadol (literally The Shabbat of the great … ) possibly refers to the great miracle by which the Israelites were permitted to slaughter a lamb in preparation for the Exodus in spite of the Egyptians venerating this creature 8. The liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto which led to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 9. 2009 10. Next year in the White House 11. Two zuzim. (According to some modern writers this would amount to about A$50 in today’s currency) 12. One of the oldest surviving Ashkenazi illuminated manuscripts, The Bird's Head Haggadah, produced in Southern Germany circa 1300, takes its name from the birdlike human figures illustrated in its margins. It is preserved in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem 13. Martin Luther King Jr. in a speech delivered in Memphis, Tennessee generally known as The Promised Land Speech. He was killed the following day on April 4, 1968 14. 17th century. Guido Reni was an Italian painter who lived from 1575 until 1642. Experts believe that the painting Moses with Pharaoh's Crown was one of his last, painted circa 1640 15. Dew – Tefillat Tal is recited on the first day of Pesach 16. Yul Brynner 17. 1923. The Ten Commandments was an American silent religious epic. The film was divided into two parts: a prologue recreating the biblical story of the Exodus
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and a modern story concerning two brothers and their respective views of the Ten Commandments. Lauded for its "immense and stupendous" scenes, use of Technicolor process, and parting of the Red Sea sequence, the expensive film proved to be a box-office hit upon release 18. The exact translation of Maot Chitim is “Wheat Money”. This is an ancient religious obligation whereby more affluent members of the Jewish community raised funds to ensure that every Jew was able to purchase matzah and celebrate Pesach in the correct way 19. Elijah The Prophet, known as Eliyahi HaNavi. Elijah is said to be the forerunner of the Messiah and Pesach was regarded not only as a time of past redemption but also of future salvation. Hence Elijah was to be on hand to announce the coming of the Messiah 20. The Haggadah About Nothing: The (Unofficial) Seinfeld Haggadah features the whole Seder service, commentary and parody connecting the Haggadah, the Exodus story, and other Jewish texts to the nine seasons of Seinfeld 21. CHAROSET. Dukeh included pomegranates, apples, dates, almonds, raisins, walnuts, ginger, wine and sesame seeds that had been roasted and seasoned with cinnamon. Dukeh was the original name for Charoset as preserved in the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi, Pesachim 10:3) 22. The eleven stars in Joseph’s dream 23. All of them 24. Gebrochts means BROKEN. Many communities, Chassidic ones in particular, have the custom to refrain from eating gebrochts on the first seven days of Pesach. Gebrochts is a Yiddish word that refers to matzah that has come into contact with liquid. It literally means “broken,” and it has come to mean “wet matzah” because matzah is usually ground or broken up into crumbs before it is mixed with liquid 25. The Prince of Egypt
CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES Friday, Apr 8, 2022
5:24 pm
Shabbat ends, Apr 9, 2022
6:17 pm
Friday, Apr 15, 2022
5:15 pm
Shabbat, Apr 16, 2022
6:09 pm
Shabbat ends, Apr 17, 2022
6:08 pm
Friday, Apr 22, 2022
5:06 pm
Shabbat ends, Apr 23, 2022
6:01 pm
Friday, Apr 29, 2022
4:59 pm
Shabbat ends, Apr 30, 2022
5:54 pm
Friday, May 6, 2022
4:52 pm
Shabbat ends, May 7, 2022
5:48 pm
Friday, May 13, 2022
4:46 pm
Shabbat ends, May 14, 2022
5:43 pm
Friday, May 20, 2022
4:42 pm
Shabbat ends, May 21, 2022
5:39 pm
Friday, May 27, 2022
4:38 pm
Shabbat ends, May 28, 2022
5:36 pm
the sydney jewish report | April 2022
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M O V IE
Man’s best friend takes some convincing REVIEWS DOG (M) ALEX FIRST The parents of a soldier traumatised by the horrors of war Riley Rodriguez (Eric Urbiztondo) who subsequently died want the specially trained dog that worked alongside him to take pride of place at his funeral. That means a 2,400 kilometre road trip with the canine – a Belgian Malinois named Lulu – that through eight tours and seven years on the front line has been left equally shell shocked. Lulu’s “vicious” nature means he is constantly muzzled. And the man chosen to make the journey with him is another combat veteran, Jackson Briggs (Channing Tatum), who has been left with a brain injury, for which he takes medication. Briggs is desperate to get back into the fray, but that needs a sign off by his commanding officer, Ranger Jones (Luke Forbes), one he is not willing to give. That is until the job of transporting the volatile work dog comes up. Now the word is that if Briggs can successfully complete this task, the captain will seriously contemplate allowing him back in. It is as that point that it is clear that Lulu will be quite a handful, just as she proves to be … and for much of his time it is Briggs doing the chasing, trying to remain in control.
The dog snarls, attacks, bites, runs away … and so on. In other words, she is generally recalcitrant. Through the road trip, we get to learn more about Briggs, Lulu and the deceased soldier. And, in spite of what Lulu puts Briggs through, an unmistakable bond develops between the pair. There is a great deal of onus on Tatum (who also co-directs alongside screenwriter Reid Carolin) to carry the movie … and he does so readily. He is easy to warm to, expressing humour and frustration, though I
struggled to believe his character had brain damage. Dog is a journey movie in which the outcome is all but a foregone conclusion, but it is the episodes along the way that count. We – the audience – are, of course, privy to the highs and lows, both human and animal. It is those scenes and the snippets of information that flow from them that build the full picture. Here you have a couple of loners (though it wasn’t always so) that need one another to move forward.
Some of the scenery shot by Newton Thomas Sigel is striking. It is picture postcard stuff. Underpinning a generally light approach is the trauma of war and the devastation it brings, which are consequential for so many who serve, their loved ones and comrades. Still, Dog, which borrows from the likes of Turner and Hooch, has widespread appeal, pitched as it is to include large dollops of feel-good entertainment. Rated M, it scores a 7 out of 10.
In fact, it is largely light and fluffy, notwithstanding its sad undertone. Jim Broadbent revels in his starring role – his timing is exemplary. Helen Mirren is convincing, too, in an uncharacteristically downbeat role, probably best described as representing tough love. Kempton is painted as basically a good guy caught up in a bad system. There is an air of unrealism about what we are seeing, so much so that even time in the clink doesn’t seem like a big deal.The courtroom scenes, in particular, seem like opportunities for levity and wit –
the chance to deliver some choice one liners. And the longer the film went, the more light-hearted the picture seemed to get, so much so that I found it hard to take The Duke as a reflection of reality. In short, while pleasant enough, I thought the movie could have been done immeasurably better had the filmmakers reduced the comedy and upped the drama. The gentle gloss or hue over the movie is likely to suit some, but I wanted a heavier edge. Rated M, The Duke scores a 6½ out of 10.
Brazen, but true THE DUKE (M) ALEX FIRST Based upon fact, The Duke is the story of a 60-year-old old British man who in 1961 allegedly stole a painting worth 140,000 pounds (at that time) from the National Gallery in London. He did so because he was against a law which saw people charged a licence fee simply for owning a TV. The painting in question was Francisco Goya’s Portrait of The Duke of Wellington, from where the film’s title is drawn. The feel-good comedic drama sees Kempton Bunton (Jim Broadbent) as part of a somewhat dysfunctional family. He is a man prone to investing his time and energy into causes. He stands up for injustice when he perceives something is not right. He is a prolific writer too, though nothing he has written has resonated with the outlets to which he has sent the manuscripts. Nor can he seem to hold down a full-time job. Meanwhile, his less than impressed wife, Dorothy (Helen Mirren), is a cleaner … to make ends meet. At home is a younger son, Jackie (Fionn Whitehead), who dotes on his father. His eldest son Kenny (Jack Bandeira) – who isn’t averse to unlawful practices – has taken up with a separated woman, much to his mother’s chagrin. But the real elephant in the room is their daughter Marian, who died in a tragic bicycle accident at 18.
Kempton visits her grave regularly and has written a play about that, but his wife can’t bring herself to talk to him about her. After Kempton gets into trouble for refusing to pay for a television licence, he decides to take drastic measures. Richard Bean and Clive Coleman wrote the screenplay, with director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) in the chair for the final time (he passed away at the age of 65 last September). With a noteworthy twist, The Duke is played for laughs.
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the sydney jewish report | April 2022
AROUND
T H E
COMMUNITY
Stand Up joins JCA such as Vinnies NSW, Island Care South Australia and the Rural Fire service.
JCA JCA has added a 25th supported organisation to its extended family, the first such occurrence in 10 years. JCA president Ian Sandler welcomed Stand Up. “By broadening the scope of our engagement, connection to the global world and giving, we are ensuring that as Jewish people we take care of others as well as our local Jewish community,” Mr Sandler said. Leading the way in the area of social justice, Stand Up was established in 1994 in response to the Rwandan genocide. It embraces the philosophy of Tikkun Olam and provides a collective Jewish response to broader humanitarian issues. It has been operating in NSW for more than eight years. Stand Up’s inclusion as a supported organisation was approved by the Board of Governors and JCA’s Status Committee. Co-chair Mel Schwartz said Stand Up’s work engages a young, energetic and passionate sector in meaningful work that resonates with its Jewish identity and broader community beliefs. “We believe that this group should have a home within the JCA family. JCA
During COVID-19, in NSW alone, Stand Up engaged more than 200 B’nei Mitzvot students in 2020 and 2021. It has led 90 participants from NSW (out of 220 volunteers nationally) through its Derech Eretz Indigenous program. As a newly supported JCA organisation Stand Up will continue to enhance social justice awareness and inter-community collaboration with an aligned vision for a thriving and inclusive Jewish community. JCA member organisations provide support in the areas of aged care, community
care,
engagement
and
culture, education, history and heritage, social justice and outreach, and security and advocacy Mel Schwartz pointed out a future path for JCA. Stand Up works with refugee and First Nation communities
“This year, a membership subcommittee of the Status Committee will be looking
looks forward to supporting Stand Up so that it can focus on running programs and achieving its goals in NSW.” Stand Up CEO Courtney Winter-Peters said he was extremely grateful to join JCA. “Becoming part of the JCA family will enable us to reach even more people in the NSW Jewish community. I can’t wait
to share our exciting plans in the near future,” Mr Winter-Peters said. Stand Up’s programs include Step Up (for 12 to 13-year-olds), School Programming (13 to 17-year-olds) and the Stand Up Fellowship (18+). During the 2021 bushfires, Stand Up coordinated an effort that raised almost $1 million for organisations on the ground
at ways that JCA can support innovative and grassroots organisations in a more structured manner. “This
project
that
will
see
the
committee bring together those with a long history of communal involvement with young people that have fresh ideas about future directions for JCA,” Ms Schwartz said.