The Sydney Jewish Report - May 2021

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VOL. 76 Tuesday, 23 May, 2021 / 12 Sivan 5781

EMPOWERING

YOUNG

ADULTS P5 WHAT JOHN

OLIVER

A MODEL OF

P4

COEXISTENCE

DOESNT GET

P8

UFOS &

JEWS

P15

KOSHER KAPERS

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Keeping connected to Israel With UIA’s weekly Israel updates UIA

“We are thrilled by the overwhelmingly positive response from our community to our Israel Updates.

UIA’s weekly online Israel Updates have proven to be extremely popular with seniors in our Sydney community and those working from home. Attendees appreciate the opportunity to keep connected to the People of Israel while enjoying the interactive nature of the online sessions, since they were introduced when the pandemic emerged. UIA NSW Shlicha and Executive Director Jasmine Malul and UIA CEO Yair Miller OAM present the Israel Updates. They discuss and analyse the latest events affecting Israel internally and developments occurring with her neighbours. The audience also has the opportunity to ask questions live. The Israel Updates occasionally include special guest speakers live from Israel, including Dr Nachman Shai - Member of the Knesset, Major Ben Shukron - Senior IDF Officer and Giora Salz - Mayor of the Upper Galilee Region Council. Due to popular demand, monthly evening Israel Updates have been

introduced this year. “We are thrilled by the overwhelmingly positive response from our community to our Israel Updates. We invite you to join

UIA

is

currently

reviewing

the

reintroduction of its highly popular in person Israel Updates. UIA

Israel

Updates

occur

every

us, sit back and enjoy the latest Israel

Tuesday at 1.30pm and on the first

news!” UIA NSW Shlicha and Executive

Monday of each month at 8pm.

Director Jasmine Malul said. If you are interested in keeping

Join our weekly Israel Updates at https://zoom.us/j/783633425

and

our

abreast with Israeli affairs, we would love

monthly evening Israel Updates at

to welcome you at our Israel Updates

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84856948780

which are non-fundraising and free of charge.

For enquiries contact (02) 9361 4273, info@uiansw.org.au

There are more American Jews and they’re staying Jewish LEONARD SAXE

The sociological approach used by Pew to identify who is Jewish is imperfect, but yields a conservative estimate of the total Jewish population. The Pew Research Center released a report of its survey, Jewish Americans in 2020. The new study of the size and character of U.S. Jewry coincidentally appeared just as Jews around the world prepared to celebrate Shabbat Bamidbar when we read the Book of Numbers’ description of the census of the Israelites in the desert. A scientific survey is not a census but does serve a similar function of providing a portrait of a community and highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. Pew’s snapshot of the U.S. Jewish community indicates that it is growing in size and diversity, with its members finding different paths to express their cultural, ethnic and religious identities. Much of the discussion of the study will likely focus on how contemporary Jews differ from one another, but that framing misses a central finding. Contrary to the popular narrative of the “vanishing American Jew,” the U.S. Jewish population is actually

expanding. U.S. Jews exhibit a wide range of attitudes and practices, but they have not shed their Jewish identities. Pew estimates there are currently 7.5 million American Jews, made up of 5.8 million adults and 1.7 million children, representing 2.4% of the overall

U.S. population (roughly the same proportion since 1990). This estimate represents a double-digit increase since 2013, when Pew estimated the total Jewish population at 6.7 million, and a nearly 40% increase in the population estimated in 1990 by National Jewish Population Survey.

The estimate reported by Pew is corroborated by my own work with colleagues at Brandeis University’s American Jewish Population Project. Using data synthesis techniques, which TURN TO PAGE 6

Word Peace, No More Hunger, Poverty, or Sickness

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A Model of Coexistence During Turbulent Times MIRIAM PACANOWSKI How does a hospital at the crossroads of society with patients and staff from all races and religions cope with the tension of difficult times? Shaare Zedek Medical Center Jerusalem acknowledges that these are truly challenging times for communities across Israel. The hospital takes great pride in serving as a place of healing where everyone is treated with the same respect regardless of religion, ethnicity, politics or country of origin. It is proud to employ people of all

backgrounds and to serve as a place that proves that we can both work as one and live as one. A recent article in the Jerusalem Post by Rosella Tercatin, described how hospital workers across the country vowed to continue to represent an island of coexistence and asked the rest of the Israeli society to learn from them. The article described how as Covid-19 raged across Israel, the stories of Arab doctors or nurses helping Jewish patients to say Shema Yisrael or the prayers that accompany the departure of a soul had offered a ray of hope in a bleak time. Now, just a few weeks after the country appeared to have left the pandemic behind, medical staff have been watching with concern and sadness the violence and riots flaming up in many mixed cities, but also vouching that tensions will not affect their ability to work in harmony. From all over Israel, doctors and nurses offered testimony that coexistence is possible, and asked Israeli society at large to learn from what happens in hospitals. Prof. Jonathan Halevy, President of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem stated in the Jerusalem Post article, “Between 20% and 25% of our 5,000 employees are Arab, which is about the same rate of Arab patients we have,” said “I believe that our multi-ethnic, multi-

cultural group well represents our multiethnic multi-cultural city. “Shaare Zedek began operations 119 years ago. I have run it for 31 years. There have never been tensions among the staff on an ethnic basis. We are all united by the mission to work for the patients. I know it sounds very banal but it is true. Politics remains outside the hospital.” Halevy described these times as “very trying. I don’t think there is a single Israeli citizen today who is not worried for this unprecedented situation. “Medical staff is not different except that no matter what, they always report for duty.” Halevy pointed out that the head of Shaare Zedek’s corona department was an Arab doctor from East Jerusalem, while his head nurse was a haredi (ultraOrthodox) mother of seven. “They worked hand in hand,” he said. Chairman of The Australian Friends of Shaare Zedek Inc, Dr Allan Garfield notes, “We are proud of the fact that Shaare Zedek is an island of coexistence and sanity during these terribly challenging times. The AFSZ is committed to supporting the efforts of Shaare Zedek to bring healing and compassion to patients of all races and religions and we pray for peace and calm in Israel.” www.shaarezedek.org.au

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

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Empowering Young Adults JCA At 24 years of age Julia Sussman has embraced the opportunities that our community offers to young adults and has been instrumental in making a difference. “As a community, we create the most unbelievable empowerment opportunities for young adults. All you need is to want to be involved”. It was never Julia’s original intention to be in a young leadership role in the Jewish community. After HSC, she headed off to rural Namibia where she volunteered at an animal rescue and rehabilitation centre. That experience lit a fire in her – a deep feeling of emotional connection you get when you’re doing something to better others. When she came home she knew she wanted to do more and a door opened for her. She was invited to apply for the Susan Wakil Fellowship program which aims to empower a generation of Jewish leaders to make a difference in Australian society. As a teenager, Julia wasn’t deeply involved in the Jewish community at large. While she had been school captain at Emanuel School she had not gone on an Israel program or been part of the Jewish youth movements in Sydney. It was after returning to Sydney from Africa that she he began to focus on the community around her as the place where she could make a difference. “I can't work with cheetahs here but I can work with a community that needs more voices, more engagement, and more empowerment.” The 2018 Susan Wakil Fellowship gave her the practical tools to start making that happen.

Through the Wakil Fellowship, Julia, and fellow alumnus, Harrison Rosen, as well as Jesse Lenn, Joel Grunstein and Jared Engelman, founded Youth HEAR – an organisation dedicated to mitigating hate in society by connecting young Australians with the memory of the Holocaust. Creating a space for Holocaust commemoration that is specifically designed for young adults is paramount to the mission. Julia attributes the success of Youth HEAR to its team of 25 volunteer members, “the organisation is created by young adults, for young adults.” “The reach and engagement we’ve had in the community is unbelievable,” said Julia. At the end of 2019, in recognition of their ongoing community engagement, Youth HEAR was one of the prize-winning organisations at JCA Jumpstart’s annual Shark Tank event. Last year, like many other community organisations, they moved their activities online and their reach and engagement on social media platforms continued to grow. This year, in the lead up to their second in-person commemoration event for Yom HaShoah, Youth HEAR curated a series of personal video stories for the Six Million Project, available to view on their Facebook page. “We interviewed all our members and youth leadership from JCA, AUJS and the Jewish Board of Deputies, and asked ‘when did the enormity and the heartache of the Holocaust really hit home for you?’ They’re 25 powerful stories that all come back to the central realisation: the shellshock of what happened, the industrial process of wiping out an entire population.” Julia is also involved in cross-cultural advocacy in her role as a Director of the

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NSW Jewish Board of Deputies. It was through the Board of Deputies that she participated in the inaugural Jeremy Spinak Young Leaders Program 2019, established in honour of the late Jeremy Spinak, one of the youngest Presidents to lead the Board and an inspirational force in the broader community.

Photo by : Giselle Haber

Last year, Julia was asked to lead the 2020 Jeremy Spinak program. At the age of 24, whether she intended to or not, Julia has become a friend, a mentor, and an inspiration to a new generation of young leaders in the NSW Jewish community. Thanks to your support of JCA, young leaders like Julia are able to make a difference in our community and mentor others. To support the JCA 2021 campaign go to www.jca.org.au/donate

“As a community, we create the most unbelievable empowerment opportunities for young adults. All you need is to want to be involved”.

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MDA teams save precious lives under extreme circumstances TAMARA LOWBEER

, “We hear the blasts, feel them but don’t have time to take shelter. We know that the patient needs us at that moment and that is the most important thing.”

Israel is under attack and MDA is on the frontline. Our teams are stretched but we are continuing to do what we do best, saving lives whether from missile attacks or riots. Since the beginning of the “Guardian of the Walls” operation, 324 people have been injured, and received medical treatment by MDA EMTs and paramedics throughout the country. 10 people have been killed from direct missile strikes, explosions and shrapnel and 2 have died as a result of injuries received on their way to bomb shelters. Many more have been injured by flying glass and shrapnel and many are suffering from stress which required medical attention and sometimes hospitalisation. After over a week of more than 3000 unrelenting missile attacks around Israel, from Sderot to Tel Aviv and in particular in the Ashdod area, MDA has been in the thick of it all treating the injured. MDA EMTs and paramedics have operated under fire and have repeatedly rushed to affected communities assisting victims with physical injuries and those suffering from anxiety. MDA blood services teams are working day and night to maintain the

national blood supply and supplying blood to hospitals. MDA Blood Services provided more than 1000 blood units and components to all hospitals and set up blood drives around the country. Blood Services employees have worked for hours to move the laboratories which prepare blood components and blood classification to the safety of shelters to maintain the supply sequence to hospitals and the IDF. MDA teams from the Negev and Lachish regions are being backed up by teams and vehicles from all regions. Many of the MDA teams left their families behind, in shelters, to treat those in need. This requires emotional strength as they fulfil their mission to care for the injured often while sirens wail around them and in the direct line of fire. At one point, during tensions and riots in mixed Arab-Jewish towns, the teams treated and evacuated victims while having rocks and heavy objects hurled at them, damaging ambulances and smashing windscreens. MDA teams responding to buildings that had been directly hit continuously face complex and dangerous situations as they work to extricate the injured and provide treatment while projectiles continue to fall around them. Sometimes they hear the missile land before they hear the sirens but they

continue treating the victims. One EMT said, “We hear the blasts, feel them but don’t have time to take shelter. We know that the patient needs us at that moment and that is the most important thing.” In the middle of the constant barrage of rockets, the MDA National Call Centre received a call during Shavuot, about a multi-casualty incident in the Givat Zeev neighbourhood in Jerusalem. When they arrived they discovered that a grandstand in the huge synagogue had collapsed during prayers, resulting in more than 150 injured and two dead. The teams provided lifesaving medical assistance and carried out advanced operations in the field evacuating victims to hospitals by ambulances and helicopters for further treatment. Despite the gruelling conditions that MDA teams have had to endure, they continue to carry out their lifesaving work. We salute them, those gifted and dedicated workers and volunteers of Magen David Adom. Israel is under attack, our teams are under attack and we will do whatever it takes to help. For more information about MDA and how you can help, please go to www.magendadivadom. org.au or phone the MDA office on 02 9358 2521.

There are more American Jews and they’re staying Jewish FROM PAGE 2

enable us to analyze individual data from hundreds of high quality surveys and nearly 1.5 million respondents, we estimate the 2020 U.S. Jewish population at 7.6 million. Our higher estimate is, in part, the result of our using more recent census data. The total population measure is based on two threshold issues concerning respondents’ religious backgrounds and current religious identification. Pew, like most who study American Jewry, identified Jews by asking two kinds of questions: “What, if any, is your religion?” and, for those who are agnostic, atheist, or do not identify with a religion, “Do you consider yourself Jewish in some other way?” All respondents were asked about their upbringing and their parents’ backgrounds. To be included in the Jewish population, they had to have a Jewish parent or had converted. Based on those responses, Pew classified one group “Jews by religion” (JBRs) and the other “Jews not by religion” (JNRs). Nearly 75% of the adult Jewish population was identified as JBRs and the remainder JNRs. The

share of the JNR population appears to be increasing, particularly among young Jews, although other research suggests that the proportion of the U.S. population who are JBRs has remained stable (1.9%). Raising Jewish children Pew’s estimate of the number of children is based on the report of an adult respondent. Children are counted as Jewish if they are part of the household of a Jewish parent and are being raised in some way Jewish. Of an estimated 2.4 million children living in Jewish households, 1.6 million were counted as Jewish. Most (75%) of these children are being raised exclusively Jewish by religion, and the remainder are being raised as Jewish in some other way. The sociological approach used by Pew to identify who is Jewish is imperfect, but yields a conservative estimate of the total Jewish population. The approach excludes nearly three million individuals of Jewish background who don’t consider themselves Jewish; some identify with another religion, others with no religion.

Along with natural population growth, immigration, and wider access to Jewish education, intermarriage is having a net positive effect. Compared to earlier generations, more Jews appear to be retaining their Jewish identity when they marry a non-Jew, and an increasing number of intermarried couples are raising Jewish children. All of these factors contribute to the expanding Jewish population. Undoubtedly, some will question Pew’s decisions about who should be counted as a Jew. Long before scientific survey research evolved, Jewish sages wrestled with the question of how to count Jews and assess our strength in numbers. Thus, last Shabbat, the Torah reading about the Biblical census was accompanied by a Haftarah reading from the Book of Hosea that teaches us that the “people of Israel shall be like the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted.” Jewish tradition reconciles the difficulty of counting with the necessity of assessing the strength of the community by allowing indirect counts. Surveys provide communal organizations with a sense of the

magnitude of their responsibility to the community and a yardstick with which to gauge the effectiveness of their efforts. The survey provides an objective way to assess the size of the community. Pew’s report should calm the fears of those who believed that Judaism in America would all but disappear. The study, buttressed by other data, affirms that Jewish identity remains important to the vast majority of an enlarged Rather

U.S.

than

Jewish

population.

vanishing,

American

Jews have constructed a multiplicity of ways to express their Jewishness. The challenge posed by the findings is how to provide a wide range of opportunities for the increasing number

of

individuals

seeking

meaningful connections within the Jewish world.  PJC Leonard Saxe, Ph.D, is the Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies and Social Policy at Brandeis University. This piece first appeared on The Times of Israel. Originally published: xxx

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Majority of Australians think the swastika should be banned VARSHA KUMAR • 62% of Australians want swastika banned • 62% have equal sympathies with Israel and Palestinians • 80% reject negative stereotypes about Jewish people A large majority of Australians believe action should be taken against antiSemitism by banning any display of the Nazi swastika symbol, a new survey of Australian attitudes towards Jewish people, anti-Semitism and Israel has found. The survey, Crossroads21, found 62% agreed with the proposition to ban the swastika, and just 12% disagreed. “This is a clear indication of support for action against anti-Semitism,” said survey co designer Emeritus Professor Andrew Markus from the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation. It also found that the level of antiSemitism in Australian society is low and a large majority of respondents have a positive attitude to Jewish Australians. Crossroads21 surveyed nearly 3,500

people, the largest survey on the subject in 35 years, as a response to shifts in political and religious currents in Australia and the Middle-East. It was commissioned by Plus61JMedia, co-designed by Professor Markus, and conducted by a leading Australian social research organisation, the Social Research Centre, a subsidiary of the Australian National University. Respondents were presented with six stereotypical statements about Jewish behaviour and a question about openness to friendship with Jewish people. Their responses “indicate a low level of anti-Semitism in Australian society”, Professor Markus said. The survey found Australians have balanced sympathies over the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, these views have not changed over the past five years, but their level of interest is low. In response to a question that asked: ‘Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, who do your sympathies mainly lie with?’, the largest proportion (62%) indicated ‘equally with both’,79% said these views have not changed over the past five years

66% were ‘not at all’ or only ‘a little bit’ interested in the Middle East and the conflict Of the 15% of respondents who said they ‘knew something’ or ‘knew a great deal’ about Australian foreign policy towards Israel, nearly half (47%) thought the Australian government was not critical enough of Israel. “There is a lot to unpack there,” John Oliver began his opening monologue of “Last Week Tonight” last Sunday, where he sharply criticized Israel for its crushing airstrikes on Gaza strip. “From the use of the phrase ‘tit for tat’ war in a conflict in which one side has suffered over 10 times the casualties, something that speaks to the severe power imbalance that played here.” Oliver’s conclusion: this power imbalance “often gets obscured by how we choose to talk about it.” Oliver is, of course, free to criticize Israel, and, although he himself attests to the great difficulty in judging “the latest chapter in a long story you haven’t read” regarding the conflict in the Middle East, he is also free to draw conclusions and formulate a moral position. But Oliver should do this with to the same standard he sets for others.

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“This is a clear indication of support for action against anti-Semitism,”

THE FUTURE OF OUR PEOPLE IN ISRAEL IS PARAMOUNT!

Keep the torch alight ……… Join UIA’s local and global family of donors who, beyond their lifetime, have committed to ensure Israel’s future Your legacy gift will bolster UIA’s major projects and reward you with a wonderful feeling of achievement and immense pride

For information contact Michael Jackson Director, UIA Gifts and Bequests 02 9361 4273 michael.jackson@uiansw.org.au

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How To Assure Repetition of Hamas Rocket Attacks ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ

"The real root cause of terrorism is that it is successful -- terrorists have consistently benefited from their terrorist acts.

This article was originally published in a slightly different form in 2009. Nothing has changed. There is one sure-fire way of guaranteeing that Hamas will continue to employ terrorism against Israel and that other terrorist groups will increase the use of terrorism against civilians around the world. That sure-fire way is to reward the terrorists who employ this tactic and to punish their intended victims who try to fight back. This is one of the most important lessons to be learned from the recent events in Gaza, but it is not a new lesson. In 2002, in a book entitled Why Terrorism Works, I made a point that is even more relevant today than it was then: "The real root cause of terrorism is that it is successful -- terrorists have consistently benefited from their terrorist acts. Terrorism will persist as long as it continues to work for those who use it, as long as the international community rewards it, as it has been doing for the past thirty-five years." Hamas has been greatly rewarded by the international community, by human rights groups, by the media, by many academics and by millions of decent people for its indecent double war crime tactic of firing rockets at Israeli civilians

from behind Palestinian human shields. Israel has been significantly punished for trying to protect its citizens from these rockets. Although Hamas suffered a significant military defeat at the hands of the IDF, it has gained a public relations bonanza. Its status in Europe has been enhanced, as it has at the United Nations and throughout the Arab street. It lost the battle on the ground in Gaza, but may have won the war in the hearts and minds of many decent, and many more indecent, people throughout the world. And it won this war with very little cost. Whether the death toll was 500-

600, as Corriere della Sera suggested, or 1300 as Hamas has reported, dead civilians serve the interest of Hamas, which considers them martyrs. They do not belong on the cost side of the ledger, according to the bizarre death culture that Hamas perpetuates, but rather of the benefit side of the ledger. So here, in simple terms, is the twelvestep program that Hamas and the international community should follow if it truly wants to see terrorism become the primary tactic used against CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

What John Oliver doesn’t get about the war in Gaza YUVAL YOAZ Specifically, he’d better avoid obscuring essential facts in the way he chooses to talk about them. The prism through which Oliver observes the latest flare-up between Israel and Hamas is that of power disparity. Israel has a strong and sophisticated army, fighter jets, and missile defense systems; Hamas does not. This much is true — there are huge, undeniable gaps in military power between Israel and Hamas. In fact, the common notion is that these gaps are the exact reason the State of Israel exists: had it not built from the ground up a stronger army force than those of its enemies in the region, it is likely that it would have been erased from the map long ago. But that’s not his main issue. Oliver’s primary failure stems from his complete disregard of three basic facts, without which it is impossible to even begin to understand the moral and legal significance of this round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Oliver maintains the erroneous assumption that if there are civilian casualties in a combat situation, it necessarily means that a war crime has been committed;

Oliver makes no distinction at all between the legitimacy of Hamas’ actions and those of Israel; And he makes no attempt to distinguish between what is happening in the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip, in territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority, and in East Jerusalem, which is under Israeli governance. Going by Oliver’s logic, since innocent women and children were killed in the Israeli bombings, it is clear that Israel is committing war crimes. He therefore expresses anger at the forgiving attitude of the United States towards its “unwavering friend” Israel, instead of doing what Oliver expects a good friend to do — tell him that is committing war crimes. The assumptions embedded in Oliver’s argument can be seen, for example, in his critique of the demolition of highrise buildings in Gaza: “For the record, destroying a civilian residence sure seems like a war crime, regardless of whether you sent a courtesy heads-up text.” Well… that’s actually not true. It is unpleasant to say this, and it always sounds heartless, but in terms of international law, harming innocent people does not necessarily mean that

war crimes were committed. Combat operations can be conducted while adhering to international law, even if the result is that, during the operations, innocent people are harmed. The laws of war require that the purpose of military action be to strike a combat force. If Israel were to deliberately strike women and children (and all civilian population not involved in hostilities in general), its actions would have been deemed a serious war crime. But that is not what Israel is doing. The international law department in the IDF’s prosecution accompanies all combat operations in the Gaza Strip, in order to ensure not only that the targets of the operation are military hostiles, but that all necessary actions are taken to minimize the accompanying harm to civilians. Here, too — as in other cases — the rules of proportionality apply. The concomitant harm (it is hard to use such clinical words when talking about human life) should be proportionate to the primary military benefit of the concrete action. One can argue about how Israel applies the rules of proportionality in this context. Is the IDF really making every possible effort to gather intelligence on the presence of “uninvolved” people in

the houses and buildings where Hamas is located in the heart of Gaza? Are the guidelines to evacuate a building a few minutes before it is bombed really 100% effective? But it is not legitimate to argue that Israel commits war crimes simply by virtue of civilian casualties in the operations. Beyond the general, seemingly selfevident accusation that Israel commits war crimes, Oliver seems completely indifferent to the basic legal difference between Israel’s actions and those of Hamas. In Oliver’s words: “Both sides are firing rockets. But one side has one of the most advanced militaries in the world.” Well, Israel is a sovereign state and — like any other sovereign state — is allowed to protect its civilian population. Israel is part of the “family of nations” and operates, at least explicitly, in accordance with the norms of international law. Hamas, on the other hand, is a terrorist organization that has controlled the Gaza strip for 14 years. In fact, each of the rockets launched by Hamas at Israel — every single one of them — is a war crime, whether they hit Israelis or land in open areas or TURN TO PAGE 10

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Australian Jewish Community establishes A R O U N D T H E COMMUNITY stronger ties with Ariel University AUSTRALIAN FRIENDS OF ARIEL UNIVERSITY Leading the way in innovation and education, Ariel University is Israel’s fastest growing university, most notably with the establishment of their medical school and hospital in Israel’s Samaria region. The University has formed international partnerships with over 51 countries across the globe, and will be looking to establish stronger ties with Australia, including increasing strategic partnerships and exchange programs. Spearheaded by Tom Danos, OAM, the newly established Australian Friends of Ariel University, has been formed as the local link between the Australian Jewish community and Ariel University. Initially established in humble beginnings as a small regional college of Bar Ilan University in the 1980s, Ariel University had fewer than 300 students. After a period of accelerated growth, the number of students at Ariel in the 2021 academic year grew to over 17000 and is currently ranked as one of the top ten universities in Israel. The University boasts 7 faculties, 26 academic departments and over 29 research centres, placing a strong emphasis on life science and engineering research to meet the needs of global hitech industries. The University is proud to house the Shlezinger Family Centre for Compact Particle Accelerators, the world's leading such centre as well as the Samson

Family Wine research Centre which has brought the ancient wines of Kind David back to production. Ariel University's success and growth have created a tremendous demand for major development of its campus, and it has already been at the forefront of cancer treatment pioneering technology, most notably in their joint venture with Tel Aviv University on skin cancer diagnosis. When Danos OAM first visited the University back in 2013, he was immediately impressed by the student body, both in its fast growth and diversity. The University's culturally diverse community comprises of Israeli, Arab, Druze and Circassian students, and has the largest number of Ethiopianborn students out of any Israeli university. “Before I became involved with Ariel University, my parents made a donation to them, back in 2013 in honour of my uncle who died in the War of Independence, and is buried in Israel,” Danos shared. “I have seen the University grow in leaps and bounds over time at an astounding pace.” In the past month, Ariel University appointed Professor Yehuda Shoenfeld as its new President, who officially takes up his post in June 2021. A graduate of the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University, Prof. Shoenfeld is one of the world’s leading experts in autoimmune diseases. Prof. Shoenfeld also served as full professor at the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, and has published over 2000 peer reviewed medical articles. After his appointment Prof. Shoenfeld

remarked, “There is an amazing energy at Ariel University that ignited my imagination. I hope to help Ariel University grow as a centre of research excellence and creativity in science, healthcare, and the humanities for the benefit of Israel, the Middle East and the world at large.” In addition, one of Israel’s leading figures in Israel’s high-tech industries, Mr Adiv Baruch was appointed as the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Ariel University. He serves as President of the prestigious Israel Export Institute and as Chairman of the Institute of Technology and Innovation, and founded Ness Technologies, one of Israel’s earliest and largest information systems and technology service companies. The Australian Friends of Ariel University board consists of Mr. Tom Danos OAM, Mr. Danny Lamm, Mrs Harriet Warlow-Shill, Dr. Michael Gordon, Mr. Paul Nailand, Mr. Bobby Brown (Ariel University Senior Vice President of External Relations), and Mr. Adrian Treger (Ariel University Director if Donor Relations), with its members in the throes of planning speaker events for 2021 featuring some of its most sought-after academics. “Ariel University is pioneering technology in agriculture, science, and the medical fields, and we hope to establish a strong connection with the Australian Jewish and academic communities through exchanges, joint ventures and cooperative projects. Danos said. “We are just getting started, and the future looks very exciting.”

“Ariel University is pioneering technology in agriculture, science, and the medical fields, and we hope to establish a strong connection with the Australian Jewish and academic communities through exchanges, joint ventures and cooperative projects.

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What John Oliver doesn’t get about the war in Gaza FROM PAGE 8

John Oliver is an extremely talented and funny comedian and TV personality. Quite often, he also holds commendable moral grounds. And he’s right: a friend should be told when he’s being an idiot.

are intercepted in the air by the “Iron Dome” system. Hamas has no intention of harming military targets; it deliberately fires at civilian population, with the aim of harming them. That is the very definition of a war crime. Israel is doing everything in its power to minimize the harm to civilians in Gaza, as part of its war against a terrorist organization that has settled deliberately right within a civilian population. Hamas is doing everything in its power to increase the number of casualties among Israeli civilians; Israel is doing the opposite. True, looking at the region from across the Atlantic sometimes makes it difficult to discern nuances. The distance between East Jerusalem and Ramallah and between Ramallah and Gaza is really small, even when you don’t look from afar. But in terms of international law, there is a complicated system of agreements backed by international norms between

Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, and it bears no resemblance to the constant state of combat between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. And that is even before we discuss the immeasurably complex legal regime in East Jerusalem. Mixing all of these may give the impression that Israel controls all Palestinians in all territories that were part

of historic Palestine — Gaza, Ramallah, Sheikh Jarrah, they are all the same for the popular HBO host. But they are not the same. John Oliver is an extremely talented and funny comedian and TV personality. Quite often, he also holds commendable moral grounds. And he’s right: a friend should be told when he’s being an idiot. Originally published: Times of Israel

How To Assure Repetition of Hamas Rocket Attacks FROM PAGE 8

democracies by those with perceived grievances. Step 1: Use terrorism-rockets aimed at civilians, suicide bombings in pizza parlors and discothèques, bombs planted in school buses, shootings in classrooms... as widely as possible against your enemies, to the point where they have no option but respond militarily. Step 2: Make sure that the terrorists and their weapons, rockets, explosives... are hidden among civilians in densely populated areas. Step 3: When the inevitable attacks occur, employ human shields, the younger the better. Recruit them voluntarily, if possible, but commandeer them if necessary, even if they are babies or toddlers. Step 4: Be certain that your terrorist fighters are wearing civilian clothing. Recruit as many women and teenage youngsters as possible to become terrorists. Step 5: Be ready with video cameras and sympathetic journalists to videotape every single death and transmit the images as widely as possible to media outlets around the world. Step 6: Recycle images of dead civilians, especially children, and move them from media to media, thus multiplying the number of apparently dead civilians. Step 7: Be certain that sympathetic doctors and United Nations personnel overstate the number of civilians killed, counting every person under the age of

18 and every woman as a civilian, even if they are terrorists. Step 8: Circulate totally false reports about civilian casualties and their location by, for example, claiming that numerous civilians were killed at a United Nations school when you know none of the dead were actually inside the school. You can be confident that the media will put your exaggerated reports on Page 1 and when the truth eventually comes out, after careful investigation days or weeks later, it will be buried in the back pages. Step 9: Accuse the democracy of war crimes and bring cases against its leaders and soldiers in courts sympathetic to Hamas around the world. Bringing the lawsuits will create a presumption of guilt, even if the charges are dismissed months or years later. Step 10: Schedule various United Nations "debates" at which tyrannical dictatorships from around the world line up at the podium to condemn Israel for crimes routinely committed by these dictatorships but not by Israel. Step 11: Trot out the usual stable of reliable anti-Israel academics to flood newspapers and television shows with some of the worst drivel about international law, human rights and the laws of war -- drivel that would earn students failing grades in any objective law school course on these subjects. Step 12: Make sure that Hamas understands that if it repeats its double war crime strategy, it will once again be rewarded, and if Israel fights back, it will once again be punished.

These twelve steps are for use by terrorist groups, nations, and organizations, such as the United Nations, that seem determined to encourage terrorism. Now here are six steps for those democracies that would actually like to put an end to terrorist attacks against its civilians. Step 1: Never, under any circumstances, reward an act of terrorism or a group that employs terrorism to achieve its goals. Step 2: Always punish terrorists and terrorists' groups that employ terrorism against civilians. Step 3: Never punish democracies that seek to prevent acts of terrorism against their civilians especially when the terrorists hide among their own civilians in order to provoke democracies into killing civilians. Step 4: Never allow human rights, international organizations or war crime tribunals to be hijacked by the supporters or terrorism and the enemies of democracy to punish only those who seek to protect their civilians against terrorism. This is especially true when the democracies have been patient in responding and have no reasonable alternative course other than military self-defense. Step 5: Never manipulate the emotions of decent people by showing only the human shields who have been killed by military self-defense actions of the democracies, without explaining that it was the terrorists who caused these deaths. Step 6: Make certain that the cause espoused by the terrorists is set back by every act of terrorism.

As I wrote in 2002: "Not only must terrorism never be rewarded, the cause of those who employ it must be made -- and must be seen to be made -- worse off as a result of the terrorism than it would have been without it. The manner by which calculating terrorists define and calibrate the cost and benefits may be different from the way common criminals decide whether to rob, cheat, or bully, but society's response must be based on similar considerations. Those who employ terrorism have their own criteria for evaluating success and failure, and in implementing the immutable principle that those who employ terrorism must be worse off for having resorted to this tactic, we must make them worse off by their own criteria." The international community, by and large, has been doing the opposite. The message it has been sending has been: keep it up. It will only help your terrorist cause and hurt your democratic enemy. No wonder Hamas, and other terrorist groups, regard their war crimes tactic as a win-win for terrorism and a lose-lose for democracy. Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School and author of the book, The Case Against the New Censorship: Protecting Free Speech from Big Tech, Progressives and Universities, Hot Books, April 20, 2021. His new podcast, "The Dershow," can be seen on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute.x

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Is there a better way to counter Hamas? YITZHAK SOKOLOFF For the past 15 years, the Hamas leadership has repeatedly proven that it cares not a whit for the pain and carnage that their tactics inflict on the Palestinians of Gaza, or on their own fighters and families. It is as if Israel and the Hamas are playing by two sets of rules: Israel does everything it can to protect its own population and limits its attacks to minimize destruction to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, while Hamas targets Israeli cities with glee and does everything possible to provoke Israel into killing more and more Palestinians. The time has come for Israel to change its strategy. Were it realistic to destroy Hamas without generating a bloodbath in Gaza, then a full-scale military invasion might well be a pragmatic policy for Israel. At present, an invasion is the only way to free the Palestinians who actually live under Hamas’s rule. Morally, such a move would be totally justified. Perhaps one day Israel will find itself with no other choice. Of course, it would be even better if the United Nations would take it upon itself to disarm Hamas and try its leadership for crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, the targeting of Hamas missile launchers, commanders, antitank squads and tunnels is necessary, but not sufficient. All of these are assets

that Hamas knows it will lose in any conflict and is clearly willing to sacrifice. Therefore, on a strategic level, Israel’s military response is largely irrelevant. At best, it stands to gain a few months or even years of quiet until the next round when Hamas will not only be more lethal. But the likelihood of a general conflagration involving Hezbollah and Iran will be that much greater. Instead, Israeli strategy should be based upon a deeper understanding of the ultimate and intermediate goals of Hamas. No matter how many wellmeaning observers argue that one-sided concessions by Israel will lead Hamas to moderate its positions, the reality is that Hamas is a fanatic, ruthless movement willing to inflict any cost on its followers and the 1.5 million Palestinian hostages under its control, in order to bring about the destruction of Israel. Other revolutionary movements and leaders have successfully transitioned from terrorism to responsible government (Nelson Mandela, Gerry Adams and Menachem Begin come to mind). Neither Hamas nor its Iranian benefactors fall into that category. However, fanaticism and rationality are not mutually exclusive, and Hamas is a rational movement that carefully and logically plans its steps. One needs, therefore, to ask, What was its objective in provoking a full-scale military conflict

with Israel that it could only lose? To answer that question, one must ask, What is new in its latest aggression and why now? Hamas itself attributes its attack on Jerusalem to its desire to protect al-Aqsa Mosque against Israeli policy, and most international media has taken this at face value. However, the real objective of Hamas in this round has much less to do Jerusalem than with elections in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. UNTIL THIS WEEK, an Israeli offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the United Arab List (Ra’am), was on the verge of actually supporting an Israeli government; the first Arab party to do so in Israeli history! Like Hamas, the UAL has ideological roots in the Muslim Brotherhood. However, it argues that Israeli Arabs must use the political potential granted them by Israel’s political system to address their actual needs in the here and now rather than squandering it on fruitless rhetoric in support of Israel’s enemies. With this pragmatic approach the UAL became the largest Arab party in the Knesset almost overnight. On the eve of the Hamas attack, its leader, Mansour Abbas, was actually on the verge of determining the identity of Israel’s next prime minister, in exchange for a long list of benefits for the Arab community! TURN TO PAGE 12

A sweet mock wedding@EWP EMANUEL PRESCHOOL Today there was so much excitement @EWP as we all secretly prepared for the "mock wedding" of Nat Adler ( cubs teacher) to her fiancé Sam Weiss. They will be getting married next Sunday, but today the preschool celebrated together with them and their families a gorgeous wedding with all the children in her class coming dressed as flower kids. Enjoy the photos attached and please share with your children. It was truly an epic affair and down to the fine details such as the wedding rings, plastic glasses for breaking of the glass and the sweet chuppah designed by one of our very talented teachers. Layered cupcakes were the wedding cake with 2 vegan cupcakes on the top ( Nat is a keen vegan ) . A huge thanks to Jodi and Gena, the cubs class mums for helping us put the wedding together. the wedding was also officiated by Rabbi Raf and his mini me son, our very own little Rabbi, Jordan Kaiserblueth.

P OL I T I CAL

CROSSFIRE

No matter how many wellmeaning observers argue that one-sided concessions by Israel will lead Hamas to moderate its positions, the reality is that Hamas is a fanatic, ruthless movement.

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IS R AE L

NEWS

Arab nurse reunites with jew he saved from acre lynching NICKY BLACKBURN An Israeli-Arab nurse who saved the life of an Israeli Jew who was being lynched by an Arab mob, met in an emotional reunion at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya yesterday.

“I do not care about religion or skin color, we are all human beings,”

Fadi Kasem, a nurse in the Internal Medicine Department at the Galilee Medical Center, saved the life of Mor Janashvili, on Wednesday 12th May, when rioting broke out in Acre (Akko). The two reunited one week later on

the surgical ward of the medical center in Haifa where Janashvili, who still has light injuries, is a patient, and hugged and spoke about their experiences. “You saved my life. I do not know what I would have done without you,” Janashvili told Kasem. The attack happened when Janashvili was driving to his mother’s home in the Wolfson neighborhood of Akko and was set upon by a mob of Arabs with sticks, stones and knives. The mob continued to assault him as he got out of his car and tried to escape on foot. Kasem, 28, arrived at the scene with a sheikh from Akko, and several other Arab residents from the neighborhood, hoping to calm the situation. “As soon as we arrived, I saw [Janashvili] lying on the floor. The only thing that stood before my eyes was to save him. I didn’t think about whether he was Jewish or Arab,” says Kasem. Kasem shielded Janashvili with his body to protect him, washed his face and tried to keep the rioters at bay. He also began bandaging his wounds using his own first aid kit. Mor lost consciousness for a few minutes, and when he came round did not understand what had happened. “I told him he been in a car accident because I wanted him to try to be calm

and not get into a big emotional state,” says Kasem. Mor’s mother who arrived at the scene, fainted when she saw her injured son. At the meeting a week after the incident, Kasem told Janashvili: “I did what I needed to. I was not alone. There was also other people who helped you.” Kasem also encouraged Janashvili, who is to be released from hospital soon, to stay positive. “Even in 2008, when there were severe riots in Acre, people did not believe coexistence would return, and everything went back to normal. Overall, most Acre residents are good and sane people, who advocate for coexistence,” he said. “I do not care about religion or skin color, we are all human beings,” Kasem added. The two men vowed to stay in touch. “We are like a family,” Kasem said. “My home is your home.” This is not the first time during this period of conflict that an Arab Israeli has stepped in to save the life of a Jewish resident. Last Friday, we reported on Dr. Muhammad Awad, a Muslim doctor from Bnei Zion Medical Center in Haifa, who was injured when he went in to help save a Jewish man stabbed in the neck during a riot in Tamra, in the Galilee.

Is there a better way to counter Hamas? FROM PAGE 11

The Hamas attack was intended to derail what its leadership saw as religious heresy and political treason on the part of Ra’am. In that it may yet succeed irrespective of what happens on the battlefield. The second set of elections that served as a catalyst for Hamas’s aggression were originally scheduled to take place in the Palestinian Authority on May 22. These were then canceled by PA President Mahmoud Abbas when it became clear that Hamas was likely to defeat the old-line Fatah leadership. The rioting on the Temple Mount and in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem simply provided Hamas with an opportunity to discredit Fatah and cast itself as the “sword and shield” of the Palestinians. The rocket attacks last week on Jerusalem were insignificant from a military perspective, but they were enormously important gestures in terms of Palestinian politics. As expected, Israel responded with air strikes; Hamas rained down thousands of rockets on Israeli cities and in turn is now being pulverized by the Israel Air Force. All as expected. Thus far, the total damage to Israel has been less than that of a single wellexecuted suicide bombing. Hamas has lost dozens or perhaps hundreds of its fighters and commanders and as intended, Palestinian civilians in Gaza

are once again caught in the crossfire. Israel takes whatever steps are possible to avoid causing casualties to Palestinian non-combatants, but Hamas doesn’t care, and in fact its strategy is based on causing as much damage as possible to the cities and people of Gaza. What then, might serve as an effective strategy for Israel?The answer can be found in a eulogy given for a number of Jews murdered along the road to Tiberias during the Arab Revolt in 1936. David Ben-Gurion, later to become Israel’s first prime minister, spoke at their gravesides and spoke the words below. “PEOPLE SAY to us that if the Arabs do such and such, so should we. But we say to them, the means should reflect the end. If our ends were like those of the Arabs, then their means might become ours as well. But in fact, the means of the Arabs serve their ends rather than ours. What is their purpose? To destroy any possibility of building up the land. And what is ours? We want to change the status quo, to bring multitudes of immigrants, to build and be built. We need to plant, to work the land, to produce. If we act as the Arabs do, we will not accomplish this. I believe that those who today murdered our people in an ambush were not only trying to kill a few Jews, but they intended to create a provocation, to force us into a trap, so that we would act as they do and turn this country into a blood bath.... Should we assist these destructive

conspiracies?” The best way to defeat Hamas and the nihilistic hatred it embodies is to build Israel. Menachem Begin once called this “an appropriate Zionist response.” What would that mean today? It would require a policy based on exacting the ultimate price of Hamas aggression not in blood, a price Hamas is willing to accept, but in land, which it is not. Israel should act to extend its sovereignty to the territories that it is committed to keeping in the West Bank under any scenario and to launch a building program that lends permanence to that decision. At the same time Israel should reinforce its sovereignty in Jerusalem by issuing automatic citizenship to Arabs living there and by radically improving the infrastructure of the Arab neighborhoods. Israel should not annex the Palestinian cities in the West Bank, where the vast majority of Palestinians reside. They should be able to live under their own rule in peace and prosperity. Therefore, the possibility of a Palestinian state of some kind should remain on the table, but subject to conditions that guarantee that it could never turn into a version of Hamasland. Ultimately, it is in the interest of both Israel and the Palestinians to reach a workable solution. However, those who time and again adopt a strategy of violence against the Jewish state must come to understand

that rockets, riots and suicide bombs are counter-productive to Palestinian aspirations. With such clarity, the Palestinians will hopefully be wise enough to reject Hamas and their ilk and embrace a pragmatic leadership in both Israel and the West Bank. There is a clear precedent for such a policy. Until 1988, the position of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) toward Israel was very similar to that of Hamas today. That changed in response to a notable expansion of settlement activity by Israel in the West Bank. Suddenly it became clear that an allor-nothing policy would lead to nothing. Then came the Oslo Accords, wherein Israel and the PLO met for the first time to speak rather than to shoot. For the past two-and-a-half decades, the PA has based its negotiating strategy on all or nothing in the West Bank and Jerusalem, while Hamas has never had a negotiating stance at all. With its latest provocations, Hamas has reminded us that the status quo is bad for both sides. Let Israel build a better future for everyone. The writer is a political analyst and educator. He is a senior fellow of MEPIN, the Middle East Policy and Information Network.

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the sydney jewish report | may 2021

TORAH

THOUGHT

The Power of Perspective RABBI LEVI WOLFF CHIEF MINISTER, THE CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE

“Tracht gut vet zain gut – think good and it will be good!”

Depending on our disposition and point of view, two people can look at the exact same circumstances, analyse the exact same data and emerge with opposite conclusions. It all depends on their individual perspective. So, what are our biases? How are we programmed to perceive the world around us? If we have a negative bias, then that is the prism through which we filter most of our experiences. Whereas if we have a positive bias, we may sieve every situation, distilling the good and feel empowered to ride the waves – even when they become choppy. The good news is that we can always reset and reprogram our biases and perspectives. I learnt this from my mentor, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory. He was the quintessential optimist. Positivity was not just a facet of the Rebbe’s modus operandi; it was the large window through which his entire worldview was witnessed. This is evident within his theology, his views about humanity, history and is also linked to his approach toward adversity, loss and challenges. Even in the face of tragedy and difficulty – and he suffered many on a personal level – the Rebbe’s take was that it was not events within our lives that shape us, but rather the meaning we assign to those events. “Tracht gut vet zain gut – think good and it will be good!” Time and again, the Rebbe would

counsel optimism and reinforced that trust in G-d was just as important to one’s healing process as medical treatment. Intriguingly, this is something that has been backed by medical research. Numerous studies have found that among patients suffering from the same illness, those with a positive attitude healed faster and stayed healthier longer than those with a negative attitude. Embracing the positive isn’t easy because in many ways we are working against nature. From the days of primordial humans, our brains have been programmed to immediately register negative experiences, so that we can instinctively respond appropriately to potential dangers or threats to our well-being. This natural evolution comes with a serious side effect: If we are constantly on guard for the negative, the positive aspects of our lives naturally get less airtime. For this reason, so much of Jewish ritual and tradition is designed to help train our minds to focus on the good. The first thing we do in the morning – even before getting out of bed – is recite the Modeh Ani prayer, thanking G-d for giving us another day of refreshed life. Before we put a piece of food or a drink of water in our mouths, we pause and say a blessing – expressing gratitude for the simplest thing in our lives. Before we go to bed at night, we recite the Shema, reflecting upon the ups and downs of the day, beckoning us to not only see the good in our lives, but to become that positive force in the world. Talmudic sage Reb. Yochanan Ben Zakkai once gave his students a task: “Go out there and find for me the best advice for living a good life”. His student Rabbi Eliezer returned and commented, “I have searched and

have found that the best advice is to develop an ayin tovah a good eye.” It’s all about perspective. It is all about what we see when we look at people, when we assess the local layout of the land, when we look at the world-at-large. We attempt this by trying to become ‘other-centered’. Whenever we replace thoughts about our own wellbeing with thoughts about the wellbeing of others, we open the portals of our souls that allow light and blessings to shine in. As we stand before G-d, we can relate to Him as our King or our Father. We can have HaShem treat us as His subject or His child. It is up to us. If we treat other children as our own, then He will treat us as His own. Yet if we detach ourselves and look at issues destabilising others as ‘someone else’s problem,’ that will frame the dynamics of our interactions with the Almighty. How do we counter this powerful pull and make our world warmer and our connection with G-d more personal? We need to take steps away from focusing solely on the small swirling space we inhabit and proactively take steps toward our spiritual home with our communal family. When possible, join synagogue services, classes, programs and events - become part of the life-enriching blessing that is a kehillah – a thriving Jewish community. The door is always open. Above all, it will enable and empower you to view all and sundry with a brighter and broader perspective – through a clearer and more compassionate lens. Thereby making everything not only look better, but indeed, be better. After all, what you see inhabiting that realm is what you will become. It is healthy, it is happy, it is home.

Jewish stars as Short+Sweet returns! SIRMAI ARTS MARKETING Short+Sweet (“the biggest little theatre festival in the world”) has always featured a slew of established and emerging Jewish artists both in Australia and in its many satellite seasons around the world. This year’s 20th year in its Sydney home is no exception – and, as always in this popular international festival, the only rule is that each play is no longer than 10 minutes. Next Week, in Week 2 "Coogee" stream (Thurs 27 and Sat 29 May 7.30pm plus Sunday 30 May 2pm), Short+Sweet veteran and prolific writer of dozens of internationally produced short plays, ADAM SZUDRICH sees his hilarious play "Two Psychics Meet on Tinder" directed by Gina Cohen. (“They already know how their relationship will play out… so is there any room for mystery?”) Week 3 "Fairlight" stream (Friday 11 June 7.30pm plus Sat 12 June 2pm and Sunday 13 June 6pm), sees Bar Silverstein direct his own play "Friendship" – about four friends gathering to eat drink and shoot the breeze… but one of them – Sarah – has a wild storm going on in her head. Israeli-born Bar graduated from New York’s Atlantic Theater Company before founding the Bluebird Theatre Company. Its members – mostly graduates of Atlantic - hail from the US, Australia,

Russia, New Zealand, Italy and Portugal. They coped through the lockdown of theatre last year with virtual and radio plays but this performance (which unites the cast back in Australia) will be its first live one in over a year. Week 8 "Clovelly" Stream (Thurs 29 July 7.30pm; Sat 31 July 7.30pm and Sun 1 Aug 2pm) sees high profile Sth Africanborn Jewish Australian actor/director Jonny Pasvolsky direct American writer John Levine's hilarious play "Cyrano, No, No!" Jonny is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts with a slew of stage and screen credits to his name including Proof and Storm Boy for the STC, Picnic at Hanging Rock (Amazon) and Logie Award nomination for his work on Mcleod’s Daughters. He stars in the film Ascendant (to be released in July in the US as Rising Wolf) and is recently returned from LA where he lived for 7 years until Covid… Short+Sweet is also the regular theatrical playground of Dan Graham who - as a writer, director and advocate for neurodiversity - this year is also a proud contributor as part of the festival’s new Diversity and Inclusion committee! Don’t miss Short+Sweet Sydney 2021. With around 10 tasty theatrical ‘bites’ per show, there’s something for every taste! For full festival details, visit www. shortandsweet.org/sydney

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the sydney jewish report | may 2021

A Tale of Two Mountains RABBI MOSHE D. GUTNICK THE KASHRUT AUTHORITY

This month in the Jewish calendar, during Sivan followed by Tammuz, we shine a spotlight on two of the most important mountains in Jewish history. On Mount Sinai, G-d gave us the Torah and Mount Moriah is where our two holy temples stood (and where the third will be rebuilt with the coming of Moshiach). Yet there is a profound spiritual difference between these two elevated portions of the Earth’s crust - firstly, Mount Sinai received only one solitary mention spanning our entire history - at the time of the giving of the Torah. From there it geographically slides into obscurity; despite the assurances of modern day enthusiastic tour guides, we have no real notion as to where it is. It seems impossible that our intergenerational memory would somehow erase the exact locale of the only place where G-d revealed Himself to our entire nation. Yet this is the reality as no inherent kedushah, or holiness, is attached to it. In sharp contrast we have Mount Moriah – our Temple mount, which has been at the centre of international attention since the time King David liberated it from the Jebusites. It is the focal point of all our dreams and aspirations and without doubt, the holiest place on Earth. In two thousand years no call has electrified the Jewish People as much as Har Habayit B’Yadeinu, the Temple Mount is in our hands – never to

be lost again. What is the difference between these two mountains? My father, of blessed memory, taught me a threefold answer to this question. Firstly, we learn that Moses and the elders ascended Mount Sinai, yet the youth were nowhere to be found. On Mount Moriah, a father and his son ascended the mountain - Abraham and Isaac. For there to be continuity, it is not enough for senior communal members to ascend, the young must accompany them. Only via the power of a parent and child passed down from generation to generation, with the declaration as recorded in the Bible: “The two of them walked together”, can an idea and dream be transmitted and become eternal. Secondly, what transpired on Mount Sinai was a one-time event. Albeit with dramatic lightning and thunder and the voice of G-d. But when HaShem left from that location, its holiness disappeared. Not so Har HaMoriah. Commencing with Abraham and Isaac, with Jacob and his dream, it became a place of worship for the Jewish People. Finally, King David liberated the city and purchased the threshing floor of Aravna, cementing our right to that land for all eternity. His son, Solomon, built the Temple on that land, and for almost a millennium it stood and we worshipped the one G-d there. Despite nearly two thousand years of exile, all our prayers, no matter where in the world we were located, ascended heavenward from that mountain as a conduit. Each act of worship on that mountaintop over thousands of years has infused it with a holiness that transcends any human-made building that might have been on it, and has filled it with a sanctity

that can never be erased. Thirdly and most critically, on Har HaMoriah a father and son were both ready to sacrifice themselves for a G-d and an idea that was to revolutionise the world. The final secret of the holiness of the mount, is that Jews have been prepared to make sacrifices throughout all of history for our G-d and His Torah. We have sacrificed just for being Jews. We have sacrificed because that is what it means to be a Jew. There are some things that uniquely inspire a person to have faith in the future of the Jewish People and indeed, faith in our promised redemption. Personally, one of those moments is witnessing a swearing in ceremony of Tzahal soldiers that frequently takes place at the Kotel – the foot of Har HaMoriah. Young men and women, with a gun in one hand and Tanach in the other, make an oath to defend our land and our people. With great sacrifice day in, day out, year after year they are ready to give up their lives in our defence and for the protection of our Holy Land. They are the embodiment of the mountain at whose feet they are sworn in. Seeing them, and the miracles that have been wrought through them, I don’t just believe, I know that all the prayers and all the sacrifices of parents and children for thousands of years will bear fruit. Theirs is not the sacrifice of a people persecuted and oppressed but of a nation that has risen from the ashes never to fall again. As my father taught me – so I teach you. Together we will witness the ultimate miracle - all of us dancing with joy on the Temple Mount with the coming of our righteous Messiah. May it be speedily in our days. Amen.

ASK

T HE

RABBI

What is the difference between these two mountains? My father, of blessed memory, taught me a threefold answer to this question.

UFOs and Jews Living on a Different Planet RABBI EFREM GOLDBERG Every few years, someone claims to have seen a UFO and the suspicion of life on other planets is raised, only to disappear as quickly as it came about. This time, however, seems different. It isn’t just golfer Bryson DeChambeau, basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, and quarterback Baker Mayfield who claim to have recently seen UFOs. Sightings have soared during the pandemic. Indeed, instead of just the usual attributions to conspiracy theory, a unit of the Pentagon has been established to investigate sightings, and UFOs are the subject of a Congressional inquiry whose report is due in the next few weeks. Even former President Barak Obama said in an interview this week, "What is true, and I'm actually being serious here, is that there are, there's footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don't know exactly what they are. We can't explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so, you know, I think that people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is." The upcoming report from Congress likely won’t conclusively settle the question of the existence of UFOs, but is Judaism even open to the possibility? In his Sefer Ha’Ikarim, Rabbi Yosef Albo (1380-1444) rejects the concept of life on other planets. Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz (1765-1861), in his Sefer Ha’Bris, says that Rabbi Yosef Albo is wrong; but while he believes there is life on other planets, they do not have free will in the sense of human beings. Rav Chasdai Crescas of Spain (1340-1411) writes that nothing in the Torah negates the possibility of believing in extraterrestrial life. He quotes the words of Psalms (19:2), “The

heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims His handiwork,” as potential evidence that praise of God can come from inhabitants of the heavens. He has an entire chapter in his work, Ohr Hashem, on the possibility of life on other planets. Rabb Aryeh Kaplan argues that the basic premise of the existence of extraterrestrial life is strongly supported by the Zohar, Judaism chief mystical work. He writes, “The Midrash teaches us that there are seven earths. Although the Ibn Ezra tries to argue that these refer to the seven continents, the Zohar clearly states that the seven are separated by a firmament and are inhabited. Although they are not inhabited by man, they are the domain of intelligent creatures.” Rav Soloveitchik (“The Rav Thinking Aloud,” p. 93) was asked about alien life and said: “It is possible that Hashem created other life forms on other planets. It is no problem to Judaism. The reason man likes to think he is the only created being in the entire universe is because of his egotistical nature. Even the concept of am ha’nivchar, chosen nation, may only be relative to our world, our small section of the universe. The Torah is written from the viewpoint of our sun, moon, and stars. It would not detract from our being the am ha’nivchar of this region of space if there were other am ha’nivchar in a distant galaxy.” Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, on the other hand, is reported as having said that there may or may not be living creatures in outer space but there cannot be human like creatures with free will. The Torah was given only to the Jewish people on planet Earth, and God would not have created creatures with free will but without a Torah to guide them. Shortly after the first moon landing, the

Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, argued similarly. While acknowledging that there is support in Torah for the notion that life exists on other planets, he argued that life could not be intelligent or similar to human life. If they were, they would need Torah to guide them. They couldn’t have the same Torah, since it was only revealed on Earth. They couldn’t have a different Torah, since there is only one truth. Therefore, while there might well be life elsewhere, it is not intelligent life similar to humans. So, do UFOs and extraterrestrial life exist? Maybe. But while we may be curious, how much of a difference would it really make to our lives? On the other hand, there are a group of people who live with us here on Earth, yet it feels like we are living on different planets. And there is something we can and must do about it. While over the last two weeks 4,000 rockets have rained down on innocent Israeli civilians, If Not Now, a group that describes itself as “a movement of Jews to end the Israeli occupation and transform our community,” tweeted this: “We can show the world that Jews don't need Israel in order to keep us safe. We're creating thriving, flourishing, safe Jewish lives here in the diaspora by building strong communities and working in solidarity with other marginalized people against white supremacy.” Reacting to a group of Jews being attacked in L.A., popular comedian Sarah Silverman posted, “Jews in the diaspora need allies. WE ARE NOT ISRAEL. And we… aren’t the Israeli government.” Perhaps most disturbing is a public letter signed by dozens of American rabbinical students accusing Israel of apartheid and calling on American Jewish communities

to hold Israel accountable for the “violent suppression of human rights.” Inexplicably, the letter does not mention Hamas or Israeli civilians. Am I really living on the same planet as those who signed this letter? Are we looking at the same reality? Do we come from the same history and do we really share the same destiny? How can we expect nonJews to stand with the Jewish state while a growing number of our own people are expressing sympathy and support to the perpetrators of evil, rather than the millions of innocent victims being terrorized? When it comes to these attitudes and philosophies, there is no speculation or inquiry necessary. To me, they come from a different universe. Our brothers and sisters in Israel are facing a harsh battle, running in and out of bomb shelters and executing missions to eliminate terrorists. But the battle doesn’t end on Israel’s borders; it is continuing online as well as offline right here in America where elected members of Congress are condemning Israel and calling for cutting off funding and support. This is no time for silence, indifference or inaction. For a year and a half our Israel activism was suspended as we, Israel and the world focused on a common enemy, Covid-19. It is time to re-activate, to set the record straight, to speak truth to power, to demand of elected leaders that they have a strong moral voice, to stand with justice and to give our greatest ally in the Middle East more than lukewarm support or a tepid statement that Israel has a right to defend themselves. While UFOs and extraterrestrials are uncertain, let us stand up and leave no doubt that there is strong pro-Israel life here on Earth. Originally published: aish.com

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the sydney jewish report | may 2021

MOVIE

REVIEW

Dancing to her own beat ALEX FIRST

A bold and striking drama about love and loss, resilience, fear, escape, pyromania and dance,

FOO D I E S

CORNER

A bold and striking drama about love and loss, resilience, fear, escape, pyromania and dance, Ema excites. Beautiful platinum blonde Ema (Mariana Di Girolamo) is a complex character. She and her husband Gaston (Gael Garcia Bernal) – who is infertile – adopted a Colombian child, but were far from the ideal parents and the youngster acted up. He set fire to Ema’s sister, leaving her face permanently scarred. Ema took the fateful decision to give him up and has regretted it ever since. Ema and Gaston blame each other for what happened, but they continue to have a love-hate relationship. Now is the time for me to mention that Ema loves lighting fires and watching them burn. I speak of traffic lights, fairground equipment, monuments and more. Ema is a dancer and works in the company where Gaston is choreographer. She is particularly friendly with five other girls in the group, who hang out together and watch Ema torch things, even resorting to taking selfies in front of the deeds. Ema approaches a psychologist from Child Services – the one who helped her secure their adopted son in the first instance – to try to find out where the now 12-year-old is. The psychologist doesn’t take kindly to the approach and has nothing but disdain for Ema and Gaston. Ema engages a lawyer, Raquel (Paola Giannini), to start divorce proceedings

and begins flirting with the lawyer, telling her she doesn’t have the money to pay her. The lawyer who isn’t in the happiest place in her marriage is equally drawn to Ema, who swings both ways and loves sex. At the same time, Ema befriends a firefighter, Anibal (Santiago Cabrera), called to the scene of one of the blazes she lit and starts an affair with him. Through proceedings, Ema and her dance troupe perform a series of spectacular routines, Ema particularly drawn to what is called reggaeton. That is a form of dance music of Puerto Rican origin, characterised by a fusion of Latin rhythms, dancehall and hip-hop or rap. To say any more would be to spoil the surprise, other than to note that all the disparate threads come together in the end. I loved the Latin vibe of the movie. The music and dancing are spectacular, the choreography of the latter noteworthy. The sets, settings and production values of the picture are also worth mentioning.

The meandering storyline requires concentration to follow, but patience is rewarded. That is not to say that Ema will suit all tastes. It won’t. It is, after all, an eclectic arthouse film. I particularly appreciated Mariana Di Girolamo’s uncompromising performance (her first film role) as Ema – a mixture of intrigue, street smarts and vulnerability. It is her film. Everything gravitates around Ema and Di Girolamo ensures she is front and centre throughout, so much so that you dare not look away. She is out to shock and delight and succeeds in doing so. Sex and sensuality have a significant role to play throughout Ema. Multiple sex scenes, including a lesbian orgy, are head turners. Co-writer and director Pablo Larrain’s (Jackie) unique sensibilities are stamped all over Ema. In less accomplished hands it may have been a complete disaster, but in his it is an unbridled success. Rated MA, it scores a 7½ out of 10.

Rebbetzin Esty Gutnick: My Roast Chicken with Potato/Sweet Potato Stuffing REBBETZIN ESTY GUTNICK In this edition, Rebbetzin Esty shares a recipe of a fabulous fleishig dish relished by her gantse mishpochah – her entire family! This can be served as a mid-week dinner or equally, all are delighted to savour the flavour as a hearty Shabbat meal. Admittedly, a perfectly seasoned and stuffed roast chicken may not have the artful photographic appeal as some dainty, delicate desserts – yet as the weather cools, this will warm you up and all at your table will feel satiated in the most comforting way – guaranteed!

"Mid-week dinner ... or savour the flavour as a hearty Shabbat meal"

Ingredients: One whole chicken 2-4 medium-sized potatoes 2-4 medium-sized orange sweet potatoes 3 onions 1 egg ½ cup vegetable or canola oil 1 teaspoon paprika (adjust amount to taste) 1 teaspoon garlic powder (adjust amount to taste) 1 teaspoon onion powder (adjust amount to taste) 1 cup of sweet red wine Salt/ground pepper (to taste) METHOD: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Dice two onions then sauté in a frypan in a liberal amount of vegetable or canola oi. (Note: do not discard the residual oil as it will be used in the stuffing)

In a separate pot, boil diced potatoes and sweet potatoes. When the potatoes are soft, drain all water. With a potato masher, mash potato/ sweet potato until mixture has a smooth consistency. Stir in the sautéed onions and remaining oil from the frypan. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Add one egg to mixture and stir through with a fork (Note: make sure to check the egg doesn’t have any blood spots prior to adding – crack into a clear glass first – this additional step then ticks the kosher preparation box!) Stuff the cavity of the chicken with your seasoned stuffing.

In the chicken roasting dish, thinly slice the remaining onion, then place at the bottom of the pan. Season chicken with paprika, onion, and garlic powders. Place stuffed chicken in baking dish on top of the thinly sliced onion layer. Pour the one-eighth cup of sweet red wine over chicken (or apply more liberally). Bake at 180 degrees Celsius covered for one hour, then uncover to brown. Any extra stuffing can be baked in a separate small dish – instantly transforming it into a bonus tasty side dish! Enjoy with your family and friends!

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the sydney jewish report | may 2021

ChaiFlicks is now streaming in Australia JEWISH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ChaiFlicks, the first streaming service devoted to Jewish and Israeli entertainment and culture, is launching throughout Australia and New Zealand. The service will launch at a monthly subscription price of $7.70, with a free 1 week trial accessible for new users. ChaiFlicks can be streamed on Apple TV, Apple iOs, Chromecast, as well as on the Android mobile app and Android TV app. Supporting Jewish and Israeli culture and learning, ChaiFlicks is a streaming platform dedicated solely to Jewish and Israeli movies, tv series, documentaries, short films, theatre, and all varieties of entertainment media. Subscribers can see films like awardwinning Hungarian drama 1945, Cannes-premiering Gett: the Trial of Viviane Amsalem, and beloved Israeli black comedy The Farewell Party, amongst many others. There's plenty for documentary aficionados too: Heinrich Himmler doc The Decent One, the Amos Oz-narrated award-winner Censored Voices and mouth-watering film In Search of Israeli Cuisine are just some of the non-fiction fare on offer. In Australia and New Zealand, ChaiFlicks is presented by the Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF). Beloved by the Australian Jewish community, JIFF

is one of the largest and most successful Jewish film festivals globally, presenting the best of Jewish-themed and Israeli films and series in its annual festival. JIFF will bring its decades-long expertise in programming to the ChaiFlicks platform. Alongside the ChaiFlicks platform, JIFF will continue to deliver its annual and beloved in-cinema festival showcasing Australian premiere features and series from across the globe. The 2021 edition of the festival will screen in cinemas across Australia in October and November. The Jewish International Film Festival is a global partner on ChaiFlicks. “The launch of a dedicated quality

Jewish streaming service in Australia and internationally is exciting and will provide Jewish Film Festival content all year round.” — Jewish International Film Festival directors Eddie and Lindy Tamir ChaiFlicks will provide its subscribers with a single destination to engage, learn, laugh, cry, be inspired and be exposed to the world’s renowned actors, directors and filmmakers in a wide range of genres and languages for a multi-generational culturally-aware audience through a Jewish lens.

AR OU ND

T HE

COMMUNITY

www.chaiflicks.com www.jiff.com.au

Quiet Terror ALEX FIRST The wait has been well and truly worth it. The outbreak of COIVD-19 significantly delayed the release of A Quiet Place Part II and it is now difficult to watch this film without drawing parallels to the world on a precipice. How we have missed quality Hollywood fare of this ilk. Tension personified is the best way I can characterise the movie, which picks up where the first one left off. A sequel wasn’t intended until the A Quiet Place became a hit. Now John Krasinski, who wrote himself out of the initial instalment, has crafted a second sure fire cracker. And, yes, in spite of dying in Part I, he is back – albeit briefly – in Part II. The follow up starts with a backgrounder on how ferocious, take no prisoners, horrible preying aliens arrived from the sky, intent on destroying all who dared make a sound. After 474 days these fast moving, powerful, insect-like creatures have laid waste to humanity and there are seemingly very few survivors. Among them are Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) and her three children – deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), fearful son Marcus (Noah Dupe) and a baby. Their home is no longer safe, so they pack up whatever belongings they can carry and slowly and carefully set out (shoeless) to a location in the distance, where smoke has appeared on the horizon. There they find a former friend and

neighbour, Emmett (Cillian Murphy), whose wife died 11 weeks ago … and aliens listening out for even the slightest of noise. While Emmett reluctantly gives the Abbotts shelter for the night, he is intent on seeing them out of there the next day, until Evelyn reveals her concealed baby. Thereafter, a resourceful Regan discovers what may be a way out of this mire – an island that could hold the key to their survival. But getting there is another matter

altogether – one that involves a great deal of risk and many hairy moments. Major problems, too, for Evelyn and her son and baby. A Quiet Place Part II follows twin story threads as Emmett and Regan go off in one direction and the rest of the Abbott clan another. The sound design and production values (production design is by Jess Gonchor) on this movie are exemplary. It is gripping, chilling and oh so exciting from start to finish. The first film was devoid of dialogue

for a significant portion of the beginning and this also is done with a minimum of speech, rather relying upon natural sounds and music by Marco Beltrami. These devices are just as effective second time around. The cinematography (particularly the close ups) by Polly Morgan is evocative. The performances of all of the key players are first class. Emily Blunt is impressively expressive. The terror in her face says it all. A blood curdling scream from Noah Dupe is among his highlights as his character – like the rest of us – tries to grapple with the unknown terrors that await. Millicent Simmonds’ credibility in her role is based around her persona’s smarts and bravery, which she channels effortlessly. Cillian Murphy transitions Emmett from morally ambiguous to life saving. Krasinski has done a great job providing a series of cross over moments of heightened anxiety as the two storylines are woven together. Like the best horror thrillers, there are a number of jump out of your seat moments and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Like A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place Part II is high quality entertainment that lives up to expectations. Put simply, I didn’t want it to end. on its own, to refresh your memory of the original and to maximise the experience, why not watch Part I again (or for the first time) before seeing this sequel? Rated M, it scores an 8 out of 10.

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the sydney jewish report | may 2021

HE ALT H

&

FITNESS

How To Stop Negative Self-Talk FRANCES BRIDGES Life is inherently filled with obstacles that are outside our control: the circumstances we are born into, events that are unforeseen, emergencies we are unprepared for, etc. But there are some things we have control over and among them are our thoughts and how we care for ourselves. Life has enough obstacles, we do not need to make things more difficult for ourselves and inflict more pain than life inherently brings. One thing you can do for yourself that does not cost one cent and pays huge dividends is to give yourself a break. Negative thoughts and feelings do untold damage, visible and invisible, so it's important to keep them to a minimum. That's much easier said than done, but here are several ways to help halt negative thoughts and self-talk: Breathe Some big reasons people beat themselves up and feel badly about themselves are because they are overwhelmed, they have recently failed or they are paralyzed by fear. It's important in these moments to pause and take a deep breath. It will help slow your increasing heart rate by calming you down and giving you some clarity. If you start thinking

negative thoughts, and you are feeling overwhelmed and upset pause and breathe. Acknowledge It When you know you're starting to spiral and succumb to your negative thoughts, acknowledge them. You're not going to stop negative thoughts by ignoring them. You have to acknowledge them before you can confront them. It's not easy to admit you have doubts, that you are afraid or have reasons to be concerned, but you will never put them to rest in a meaningful way until you acknowledge them. Consider The Cause What are the roots of these thoughts? Are you afraid? Are you experiencing selfdoubt? Have you had a big failure recently that has bruised your self-confidence? Are you depressed? Why are these thoughts creeping in and why are they stopping you? Take some time to consider where these thoughts come from and confront them. If you're afraid, assuage your fears. Chances are, they are only in your head. If you're experiencing self-doubt, tell yourself everyone fails and the only way to prove to yourself that you can do this is to start working. Consider the roots of these thoughts so you can address them and work toward silencing them. Stop Expecting Perfection Don't expect perfection when you are just beginning. If you are starting over after a major failure, or you are suffering from self-doubt, try telling yourself it's OK to fail. Don't expect perfection when no one is perfect. Flaws and failure are part of life, and once you embrace them, and move forward in spite of them, you will become happier and more self-confident. If you make mistakes it's OK, get back in the saddle and keep going. Surround Yourself With Positivity Surround yourself with things that give you energy and motivate you: put on a playlist that gets you moving and in a good mood, play a podcast or a YouTube video of a coach, writer or speaker that motivates and validates you, or a movie that inspires you, or call a friend or family member that always knows what to say when you're having a bad moment,

www.cherylthesleepcoach.com.au

exercise, etc. When you are feeling down, raise yourself up. Know what helps improve your mood and your mindset so you can change it. Your thoughts are not out of your control, know what steps you need to take to change them when they are not serving you. Build A Routine If you create a routine, then your day takes less thought, therefore less time and energy. The best way to get past negative thoughts is to work through them, and it is easier to work through them if your day is planned and you do not have to think about how to start your day. If you wake up at the same time every day, and make the same breakfast and workout at the same time, and walk out the door and arrive at your office at the same time you are not overthinking anything and not getting stuck in your own head. If you treat things like getting to work at a certain time, working out and meals like appointments you will naturally rise the occasion of every day. Even if you are suffering from selfdoubt, or fear, having a routine helps your press on in spite of them, so build a routine that will help you get your day started and put negative thoughts to the side. Make A Conscious Choice To Silence Those Thoughts At first, it will be difficult. The negative voices and thoughts will want to creep in the way they always have, and it will be tempting to let them have their say, but choose to confront them, and create a counter-narrative that's on hand in your head. If you're filled with doubt and feeling like you cannot do something, remember to breathe, to surround yourself with positivity and to remind yourself of the progress you've made every day. Francis Bridges is a twentysomething freelance journalist, writer and blogger in New York City. She writes about everything she has done wrong as twentysomething woman here in the trenches.

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the sydney jewish report | may 2021

Kosher KApers RAMONA FREEDMAN THE KASHRUT AUTHORITY

For many years now, many flavours of world-class Alpino Gelato – Australia’s first ever gelato company - have been KA-certified as Dairy and Pareve. Every flavour is created utilising traditional Italian artisan knowhow and quality, ensuring each is both refined and uniquely refreshing. The KA is pleased to announce that Alpino Gelato now offers Frozen Celebration Cakes, adding to its kosher offerings. Two gelato cakes are available: Chocolate/Vanilla (Dairy, not Chalav Yisrael) and Mango/ Strawberry which is conveniently Pareve and therefore, perfect to serve after a meat meal. These gelato cakes are currently made in a square shape (30cm*30cm) and other options will be introduced shortly. Each serves approximately 15 people and the Alpino team appreciates that the uniqueness of each star-of-the-day is celebrated and reflected in every cake. If kosher consumers opt to adorn the cake with non-edible decorations such as a birthday plaque, or candles – all can be affixed. Each is a collaboration for the loveliest reason – family and friends joining to celebrate a special someone – no matter their age or stage. As for edible decorations (as seen in the photo) they are all included in the price. We are taught never to eat dessert first, but we will stick with this initial ice cream theme a little longer. For the first time ever, The Kashrut Authority, in collaboration with Serendipity Premium ice cream, worked closely to produce

a batch of Chalav Yisrael ice creams in four flavours: Salted Caramel; Double Chocolate; Madagascan Vanilla Bean and Boysenberry. These were a huge hit over Shavuot and are now available in two sizes – one litre and smaller individual pots (120ml). These can be found exclusively at Krinskys Kosher Supermarket and with communal support – more flavours will be added to this CY range in the future. If you’d prefer to celebrate with a creative, classic cake (at room temperature!) KA-certified Mila’s Catering now offers an incredible array of choices – the attention to detail and vibrancy of each creation is certain to bring joy to so many at your upcoming simcha. The Mila’s team has expanded to include a professional cake decorating expert and it is a fantastic opportunity for all to really shine a spotlight on the gastronomic hero-du-jour … the cake! Jesse’s baked goods are widely available around town and two new locations have recently been added to make kosher artisan bread shopping even easier. You can now find Jesse’s breads at two Jack & Co. convenience stores on the Upper North Shore, located in Northwood and Pymble. In addition, they can now also be found at the new Locali by Romeo’s IGA in the heart of Sydney. This is so helpful to kosher consumers who work or are visiting the city. It is the first of its kind offering a unique, sophisticated supermarket experience, likened to Harrod's in the United Kingdom. For that reason alone, it is worth popping in. The KA advises that the OMG! Decadent Donuts market stall located within the Bondi Junction mall is now kosher every Wednesday. The premixes are certified by Kosher Australia and

as a service to the local community, The KA has a positive arrangement with Margaret Morgan, who runs OMG! Decadent Donuts East Sydney. Moving forward, The KA will kasher the necessary utensils at the beginning of every Wednesday to ensure the kashrut of the stall for that day, as indicated by a dated sign confirming this status. These donuts tick so many boxes – they are vegan, gluten, egg, nut and wheat free. Overarching all that, they are also delicious. Embracing all things clean and green, The KA is pleased to advise that all cut fruit and vegetables at Harris Farm markets are now acceptable (all Pareve with no symbol required on the packaging). The full listing can be found within the adjacent KA Product Update panel and includes Zucchini Zoodles; Shredded Kale; Beetroot Noodles; Cauliflower Rice and you can even purchase a Roasting Tray which is a selected vegetable medley. There are also lovely pre-cut and arrange fruit combinations (subject to seasonal availability) such as a Fruit Salad; Melon Trio; Watermelon; Mango Cheeks and more. To quench your thirst in a novel and healthy way, you can also now purchase KA-certified Harris Farm coldpressed juices including Green Detox; Carrot Shield; Roots Cleanse; Orange Jamu; Tropical Paradise – all outstanding options. Just a reminder to use your NSW Dine vouchers before June 30th – take advantage and try something new on the menu at four KA-certified eateries: Simply Hummus Bar; The Bagel Co. Rose Bay; Jesse’s Café & Mendy’s – a welldeserved treat for all.

Here is a snapshot of kosher news around town: Alpino Gelato – for a full listing of KA-certified flavours, visit The KA’s Kosher Product Directory (www.ka.org.au) – to liaise with an Alpino team member about ordering a new gelato cake and delivery options – call Laura Nobile on 0410 515 838, or the Alpino office on 02 9569 3667. Please note: Alpino requires the order to be placed one week in advance. Each gelato cake costs $80 and delivery is optional. Reminder that the opening hours for KA-certified Oakberry Acai located at 82-92 Gould Street, Bondi Beach are now 7:30am-6pm and will remain so during the cooler months. Orders for Mila’s stunning decorated Simcha cakes must be placed one week prior, call Vicki Ryvchin on 0478 297 237. To check if additional kosher trading days have been added to the OMG! Decadent Donut market stall in Bondi Junction in addition to each Wednesday, visit The KA’s Facebook Group “The Kashrut Authority of Australia & NZ” for regular updates. For new locations selling Jesse’s baked goods on the Upper North Shore, you can now visit: Jack & Co. located @ 7-9 Northwood Road, Northwood & 1103 Pacific Highway, Pymble. For Jesse’s baked goods at Locali by Romeo’s IGA, visit 388 George Street (corner of King Street).

KOSHE R

KApers KA PRODUCT UPDATES • Lime Mint Voss Norwegian Flavoured Sparkling Water (OU certified) is available at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets • Bubbeleh Baked Pita & Flatbreads are now KA-certified and on offer at Harris Farm Bondi Beach; Westfield Bondi Junction; Rose Bay; Broadway & Randwick. Five products can be purchased: Za'atar Flat Bread; Pita Pockets Classic; Mini Pita Classic; Mini Pita Wholemeal and Mini Pockets Wholemeal • Oatly Organic Creamy Oat is now KA approved. This product is Pareve, plantbased and can be used as a cooking cream in both sweet and savoury dishes. This is now the fifth Oatly product listed within The KA’s directory, in addition to four varieties of Oatly milk. • Serendipity Chalav Yisrael range requires our KA logo and the words ‘Chalav Yisrael’ on the container label. Four flavours include: Boysenberry; Double Chocolate; Madagascan Vanilla Bean and Salted Caramel. • Boston Buns are now KA-certified and available from the Coles Westfield Bondi Junction bakery. These are fruit loaves iced with fondant and sprinkled with coconut on top. • Two new flavours of Harris Farm yoghurts are now KA-certified: Vanilla Bean & Acai Blueberry (there are now one dozen kosher flavours within the kosher Harris Farm yoghurt range). • Absolute Natural’s Nutritional Yeast Flakes are now KA-certified (Pareve) • Westgold New Zealand Full Cream Milk Powder (1kg, KA-certified Dairy, not Chalav Yisrael) sold at Woolworths supermarkets. • Queen Meringue & Pavlova Powder Mix – Pareve and KA-certified • Five varieties of the Back to Basics Shiitake Mushroom Jerky is now certified by The Kashrut Authority. These include: Original; Smoked Chilli & Garlic; Middle Eastern; Mustard & Herbs & Texas BBQ. You can find them at Krinskys, order online at djaproducts. com or contact 02 9666 8797 for more stockists around town. • The following cut fruits are KA-certified (Pareve) at Harris Farm – Watermelon; Pineapple, Rockmelon, Coconut, Papaya, Melon trio, Berry mix; Premium berry mix; Mango & Berries; Mango Cheeks; Fruit Salad; Mango & Berry Fruit Salad and Mango & Cherry Fruit Salad. Please note: subject to seasonal availability. • Harris Farm markets now feature a selection of KA-certified Cold Pressed juices including: Tropical Paradise; Orange Jamu; Roots Cleanse; Carrot Shield & Green Detox • Harris Farm markets now also offer the following KA-certified vegetable products: Mixed Capsicum Trio (300g); Mixed Florets (320g); Roasting Tray; Shredded Kale; Zucchini Zoodles; Beetroot Noodles (400g); Carrot Batons (200g); Carrot Curls (400g); Cauliflower Rice (350g); Celery Sticks (200g); Diced Pumpkin (500g) • Liaise with Margaret Morgan on 0437 272 073 about delivery options of OMG! Decadent Donuts from the Bondi Junction market stall. They come in the following twelve varieties with the first ten flavours below listed as Pareve and two designated as Dairy Equipment (premix certified by Kosher Australia): • Lucious Lemon • Strawberry Patch • Eve’s Undoing • Choc Mint Bliss • Berry Sinful • Toast My Berry • Dusty Queen • Cacao Delish • Coffee Coffee Yum Yum • OMG Cinnamon • Spicy Ranga (Dairy Equipment) • Beet-a-licious (Dairy Equipment)

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the sydney jewish report | may 2021

Eurovision Semifinalist Eden Alene Is the Israel You Don’t Know About

EITAN CHITAYAT I’m an Israeli father of two young boys here in Tel Aviv. I love them to bits. I know that across the border in Gaza there’s a Palestinian father with kids who feels the same way about his. I know we both want to protect them more than anything. Like me, I’m sure he tells them this awful conflict will be over one day, with today’s ceasefire being a welcome first step in that direction. The rockets have been flying — thousands hurled at Israel by Hamas, the Islamic fundamentalist group hell-bent on our destruction which has masterfully managed to garner sympathy from around the world. We view it as a hijacking of the Palestinians who most of us here see as innocent victims of a terror group. A people with whom, we personally have nothing against and would love to live with in peace, were it not for Hamas. It’s all-consuming. It’s violent. It’s exhausting and sad. Unless you look beyond the conflict and see people. The youth are the future of this region and the generational keepers of its traumatic past. And as the sirens wailed across this tiny area of land, there is one 21-year-old giving us hope in the midst of the chaos. Her name is Eden Alene, and she’s representing Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest, currently taking place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. As the 2020 Will Ferrell movie “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” brilliantly illustrated, Eurovision is the largest international song competition in the world organized annually by the European Broadcasting Union which

features participants representing primarily European countries. Israel has competed since 1973 and won four times, most recently in 2018. Eden made it through the semi-finals and the finale takes place this Saturday, May 22. Eden is not how one might picture a typical young Israeli. She’s a woman of color — Black and beautiful — whose otherworldly five-octave voice made her a musical sensation in the country she calls home. At the same time, anyone would recognize instantly that she’s representing Israel by looking at the bodyguards surrounding her — ones she didn’t ask for but has to accept due to death threats against her by antiIsrael activists. This is her story. The highlights, at least. Born to Ethiopian-Jewish immigrants, she was raised in Katamon, Jerusalem which is a culturally diverse neighborhood in the city that’s home to a multitude of religions and holy sites. She participated in her school choir and studied ballet for 11 years but also grew up as a fan of soul music and pop artists like Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson and Chris Brown. As comes through in her vocal style, she found inspiration in many different genres, ranging from Arabic folk music to gospel to opera. Eden served, as is mandatory, in the Israeli Defense Forces and participated in the military band, cultivating her singing in Hebrew, English and Ahmharic. She also competed and won the Israeli version of “The X-Factor” in 2018 before going on to first place on “Rising Star,” another televised singing competition, in 2019, which earned her a spot to represent Israel in Eurovision. The coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 edition of Eurovision. The song Eden was meant to

sing was called, “Feker Libi,” which means “I love you” in Ahmharic, and the song’s chorus, as well as its accompanying video visuals, showcased that sentiment in Arabic, Hebrew, English and Ahmharic. It made all Israelis, from every religion and walk of life, proud to be Israeli. This is the third time a Black act has represented Israel in the competition. In 1998, it was a group (ironically) called Eden, and in 2006, it was Eddie Butler. In addition, Dana International, a trans woman of Yemenite-Jewish descent, represented Israel and won the competition back in 1998. Coming from Tel Aviv, which is regarded the world over as a welcoming hub for the LGBTQ community, she helped pave the way for trans talents to loudly and proudly express their true selves. Eden is an inspiration. To everyone here. But her background is also a pretty common one in Israel. Here is a child of immigrants — Jewish parents for whom freedoms were restricted in their birth country of Ethiopia — embraced by society at large, nurtured to learn and encouraged to develop her talents. At Eurovision, which delights in outlandish costuming, hair and makeup, she wears a veritable throne atop her head — proudly, because in Israel it doesn’t matter what you look or dress like; It doesn’t matter where you come from; It doesn’t matter your sexual orientation; your political views; your gender or ethnicity. It’s one of the most noble facets of Israeli democracy and it’s what makes our society great. Sure, I understand that those reading this might perceive Israel solely as a military powerhouse. Or — wrongly — that it doesn’t extend equal rights to Arabs living within its borders. Arabs make up 20 percent of our population and are

cherished doctors, teachers, mechanics, farmers, lawyers, IDF commanders, and even sit on our supreme court. This is another aspect of Israeli society that I love because they, too, can aspire and achieve. It’s all of us together that have made Israel a world leader in medicine, agriculture and sustainability technology, not to mention disaster relief aid, gay rights, social entrepreneurship, informal education, cuisine, Judo and even windsurfing. Eden, too, has already broken records: for hitting the highest note in Eurovision history — a B6 whistle — during her performance of “Set Me Free” on May 17. It’s in Eden that I see everything that is beautiful and true about Israel. We strived to reach the high notes of humanity in building this nation, and my hope is that we live long enough to see it through. From where we sit, I can’t help but wonder how many Edens there are in Gaza and whether their voices and high notes will be heard one day without the sound of rocket fire as an underlying beat. It’s my profound wish that one day we all get to see and hear their Edens, too. Because I’ll be right in the front row cheering them on. Eitan Chitayat is the founder and Creative Director of Natie Branding Agency based in Tel Aviv. He created the viral video “I’m That Jew” and gave a TED talk on the genesis of the project. He also co-created “She’s that Woman,” a celebration of all women, and hosts the I’M THAT podcast. Eitan is happily married with two wonderful children and is doing his best to try and make the world a better place. Orginally published: aish.com