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Adelaide Progressive Jewish Congregation
Beit Shalom Magazine
NOVEMBER 2014
CHESHVAN /KISLEV 5775
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Rabbi’s Column — The Progressive World come to Adelaide!
I'm filled with both anxiety and excitement at the prospect of 150
passionate Progressive Jews from around the world descending on
Adelaide in just a few short weeks. Will everything run smoothly? Will
the weather be okay—and is there really anything I can do about it? Will
there be enough food? At the same time that I'm feeling nervous, I'm so
thrilled that we in Adelaide will have the opportunity to experience the
breadth and depth of Progressive Judaism from around the world. Not
only will we be flooded with participants from Australia and New
Zealand, we'll also be joined by conference attendees from Israel, the
United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong,
Japan and even Indonesia!
I know many Beit Shalom members have been just as busy as me making
sure everything is shipshape and ready for the conference. The
Embroidery Committee is madly working away in the hopes of finishing a
new pelmet in time for the conference. The Catering Committee is calling
in all help to cater appropriately for the Kiddush lunch following services
on November 22, when as many as 170 people may be on hand. The
carpets will be cleaned, the library will be spruced up, and everything will
be gleaming!
As the conference approaches, I personally want to thank our two Beit
Shalom members who have worked so hard to organise the meeting.
Gerry Bloustien is co-chairing the conference with me and has been
amazing in her role as liaison with the Hawke Centre, which is kindly cosponsoring the conference. Kitty Goode as a member of the committee has
also given yeoman service as she has patiently scouted out locations for
different UPJ events, coordinated speakers, and has been a terrific
cheerleader for our community.
If you have not yet done so, I hope you'll book in at least for a day of the
conference. You'll be amazed at the enthusiasm and energy you'll
experience. I'll look forward to joining you on this journey!
Special points of
interest:
 Friday 31 October—
7:00pm BYO Oneg Dinner
 Saturday 1 November—
12:30pm BYO Lunch &
Singing Session with
Shannyn Gelbart
 Saturday 1 November—
7:00pm Teen Session &
Pizza with Shannyn Gelbart
 Monday 3 November—
7:30pm Talmud Study
 Sunday 9 November—
10:30am Sisterhood Book
Club Meeting
 Sunday 9 November—
3:00pm Rabin Memorial
Lecture
 Thursday to Sunday 20-23
November—UPJ Biennial
Conference in Adelaide
Inside this issue:
Congregational News
2
Yahrzeits
3
President’s Report
4
Yom Kippur in
Singapore
5&
6
Tot Shabbat on Friday 29 November
Please come along for another joyful celebration of Shabbat for young
children and their families. Starting at 5:15pm, we'll share the joy of
Shabbat together. It should be terrific!
Library News
6
Libcon Appeal 2014
7
Netzer Summer Camps January 2015
Holocaust Exhibition
9
Wedding Ring found at
9&
Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky
Sisterhood Report
Andrew Steiner’s
7
8&
Nazi concentration camp 10
Lally Katz in Adelaide
10
Rabin Memorial Lecture 10
Calendar
11
Directory
12
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Page 2
Congregational News
‫תרומות שהתקבלוּ‬
BIRTHDAYS
DONATIONS RECEIVED
‫ימי הולדת‬
Thank you to the following members who have made Yahrzeit donations:
Wishing a Happy Birthday
to the following members:
Donor
In Memory of
Ron Hoenig
Gizi Hoenig
Dorothy Staska
Rachel Sag
Ralph Barouche
Sue Musry
Annetay Henderson-Sapir
Viv Aarons
Trish Bund
Gail Baltman
David Eglinton
Michael Gold
Ella Pak Poy
Nicky Bolton
Kenise Jacobson
Helen Hanwit-Arney
Sue Wysoke
Brigitte Yallen
Chris Benjamin
Tanya Levin
Pam Rachootin
Albert Ades
Pam Eglinton
Vanessa Savic
Semara Bolton
Simon Eglinton
Esther Mayo
Joshua Nirens
Marie Lipert
Lewis Lipert
Marie Lipert
Jonah Kallech & Moshe Lubin
Ruth Dunn
Frank Jaffa
Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky proudly displays her new t-shirt commemorating her stand
against child detention. The cute teddy bear with the word “Free” encircled over its
heart echoes the message printed on the back: “Children don’t belong in detention”.
Rosters
WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES
‫יובל נישואים‬
Mazel Tov to the following couples who
celebrate a wedding anniversary this
month:
Mary & Grant Argy
Mai-Li Wong & Julio Licinio
Chris & Stan Benjamin
Rabbis Patti & David Kopstein
Belinda & Leslie Koopowitz
SHAMUS
BIMAH
November 7
November 8
R Gilbert
S Musry
November 7
November 8
S Knopoff
M Sag
November 14
November 15
J Henrie
P Main
November 14
November 15
A Dwyer
R Hoenig
November 21
November 22
TBA
S Musry
November 21
November 22
S Knopoff
K Goode
November 28
November 29
R Gilbert
R Hoenig
November 28
November 29
R Gilbert
R Hoenig
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Page 3
Yahrzeits ‫אכ ה ר ה‬
October 31 – November 1
Barbara Baltman
2 Cheshvan—26 October
Mother of David Baltman
Val Valentine
3 Cheshvan—27 October
Father of Roma Silver, grandfather of Graham Silver
Erik Rosenfeld
3 Cheshvan—27 October
Father of Ellen Rosenfeld
Roszi Sulan
7 Cheshvan—31 October
Mother of John Sulan
November 7 – 8
Ann Rosen
13 Cheshvan—6 November
Mother of Rachel Gillespie,
grandmother of Charlotte &
Louis
Sophie Bloustien
14 Cheshvan—7 November
Grand-mother of Mark
Bloustien
Caroline Bloustien
14 Cheshvan—7 November
Aunt of Mark Bloustien
November 14 – 15
Archie Jacobson
17 Cheshvan—10 November
Father of Colin Jacobson
Aidan Roberts-Katz
20 Cheshvan—13 November
Son of Jody Roberts & Daniel
Katz, brother of Mya & Karni
Samuel Millis
20 Cheshvan—13 November
Uncle of Dina Tversky
Sam Bor
20 Cheshvan—13 November
Father of Liz Bor, Anni
Delahaye & Peter Bor
November 21 – 22
George Griff
23 Cheshvan—16 November
Uncle of Ruth & Graham
Silver
Henny Barrett
25 Cheshvan—18 November
Mother of Steffi Barrett
Marta Rejto
26 Cheshvan—19 November
Congregant of Beit Shalom
November 28 – 29
Kate Solovitch
27 Cheshvan—20 November
Grandmother of Philip Sheldon
Ari Ades
28 Cheshvan—21 November
Son of Albert Ades & Merrilyn
Ades, brother of Karen & Janet
Marie Covitz
29 Cheshvan—22 November
Grandmother of Marianne Sag
& Pat Urban
Kurt Sulan
1 Kislev—23 November
Father of John Sulan
Albert Kaiser
7 Kislev—29 November
Father of Eva Phillips
December 5 – 6
Susan Kowald
8 Kislev—30 November
Wife of Neil Kowald, mother
of Joanna & Daniel, daughter
of Marie Lipert, sister of Karen,
Wendy, Pam & Annette
Miriam Hanzalik
9 Kislev—1 December
Mother of Michael Hanzalik,
grandmother of Jonathon, Sam
& Zachary
Lily Sag
11 Kislev—3 December
Mother of Tom Sag, grandmother of Rachel & Danny
Gene Maley
11 Kislev—3 December
Mother of Jeffrey Gerrard
Freda Fischman
14 Kislev—6 December
Mother of Karen Sheldon
May their memories be for blessing
December 12 – 13
Stanley Joseph Phillips
15 Kislev—7 December
Father-in-law on Eva Phillips
Nettie Washington
16 Kislev—8 December
Mother of Arthur Rudnick
Walter Ryder
18 Kislev—10 December
Father of Sue Musry
David Luber
18 Kislev—10 December
Congregant of Beit Shalom
Abraham & Sicha Kugel
19 Kislev—11 December
Grandparents of Kay Ronai
Jack Roberts
20 Kislev—12 December
Congregant of Beit Shalom
December 19 – 20
Abraham Tversky
24 Kislev—16 December
Husband of Helen TverskySteiner, father of Jonathan &
Suzie
Leila Naomi (Babs) Lipert
27 Kislev—19 December
Mother of Helen TverskySteiner, grandmother of
Jonathan & Suzie, Karen,
Pam, Wendy & Annette
Rosemary Bor
28 Kislev—20 December
Mother of Liz Bor, Anni
Delahaye & Peter Bor
December 26 – 27
Eileen Richardson
29 Kislev—21 December
Mother of Penny Richardson
Miro Morris Setton
3 Tevet—25 December
Grandfather of Bob Setton
Sarah Zetlein
5 Tevet—27 December
Daughter of Leslie Zetlein
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Page 4
President’s Report ‫י ד ימ ה מ י וש ב ה ר אש‬
I was 15 and it was a great evening.
I was at Melbourne High School –and we had just put on a
production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Sorcerer. The
school was boys only and we had not created links with
our sister school that we did in later years, so the boys also
played female parts.
As a third former – the lowest of the low – we got to do
the girl’s parts. So I played Miss Partlett, a 50 year old
pew opener (I have no idea what that is) and the mother of
a beautiful daughter that the male lead falls in love with.
So, while I was in drag, I wasn’t pretty – probably frumpy.
Anyhow, it was a great night and I was funny and
successful with a large audience of parents and friends.
And, it was a major turning point for me because it set me
on a path to acting.
And I kept on acting – mostly not at school. But in
university stuff. I was “killed” in a range of uni
productions of Shakespeare and the Greeks, while I was
still at school.
But, though I didn’t know it and only found out some 10
years later, I was a marked man. To many of my “friends”,
because I was good at acting and I liked it, I was a queen
and it was inadvisable to mix with me. So, though I didn’t
notice it, the number of boys who would be friends with
me markedly decreased.
It was 1965, and at a boys school in the sixties nothing
was worse than being thought gay. Nothing.
It was a strange school because it had a very strong
concentration on drama, and there were teachers who were
almost overtly gay and a sub-culture of boys who were
identified with them, but I wasn’t actually part of that subculture either.
But, as a boy who was interested in drama, the issue of
gayness was always something I thought of and
encountered – and worried about. Was I gay? Was I a
target of gay men in the theatre scene? Was there
something wrong with me?
The world changed a bit. I went to the US and did a
masters and came back and tried teaching, but I still
wanted above all to act. So I left teaching, came to
Adelaide and acted with Troupe, a very successful home
grown left-wing theatre group.
My world changed and I met this wonderful woman and
lived with her, and I was still acting but the company
changed and the group started to explore issues of
sexuality on stage. And for a while in the early 80s, I was
the only straight man in
a company of gay and
lesbian actors. Not a
problem.
A very close friend of
mine said I had no idea
of what it was like not to
be able to hold her
lover’s hand in public.
She was right. I didn’t.
Only fairly recently has
the rest of the world caught up and now gay relationships
are not remarked on and there’s every possibility that a
deeply conservative libertarian politician may be
responsible for Australian politicians catching up with the
rest of the community and many countries in the world
and legislating for gay marriage.
The question that arises for me here is what’s it like to be
gay or lesbian or “queer” in the Jewish community in
Adelaide? Is it really “don’t ask; don’t tell” as it was in the
US military for some years. And in this congregation,
what’s it like for gay people? Do you have to pass as
honorary straights?
We pride ourselves on being very embracing and
welcoming but I wonder whether young people in our
congregation, some of whom must be gay or lesbian or
“queer”, feel able to come out and be proud of who they
are and who they want to be with – and what we might be
able to do to ensure that we truly are welcoming to all our
congregation.
Ron Hoenig, President
New Board Members
Mazel Tov to the following members who were elected to
Beit Shalom’s Board of Management at the recent Annual
General Meeting held on Sunday 26 October, 2014.
President:
1st Vice President:
2nd Vice President:
Treasurer:
Honorary Secretary:
Board Members:
Ron Hoenig
Annetay Henderson-Sapir
Kitty Goode
Sue Musry
Steven Knopoff
Alison Dwyer, Heidi Limareff,
Larry Lockshin, Julio Licinio,
Marianne Sag, Nicola Zuckerman
Sisterhood Representative: Ruth Gilbert
Please note the Rabbi has a new email address: [email protected]
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Page 5
Yom Kippur in Singapore by Marion Hoenig
Our thanks to Marion Hoenig for sharing with us her story of how she spent this year’s Yom Kippur in Singapore where
one of her daughters lives. If you have experienced a service overseas or visited a synagogue during your travels, we
would like to hear from you.
One of my daughters, Linda, moved to
live in Singapore two months ago. From
the day she arrived she has urged me to
visit. The weather was driving her
crazy—but I soon discovered that her
great surges of sweat were not entirely
the humidity, but hormonal imbalance.
Once again Mum to the Rescue!
Before flying I contacted the United
Hebrew Congregation, and prior to their
giving me times and location I was
required to provide scanned passport,
my synagogue and Rabbi’s names and
$80.00.
Twenty years ago (1991) a small group
of expatriate Jews from America,
Canada, Australia and UK met to
organize a few simple functions, first a
Shabbat dinner then a Yom Kippur
breakfast where ‘60 people appeared out
of the woodwork’.
In 1993 UHC contacted the Union of
Reform Judaism and asked if they could
find a Rabbi who would come for
the High Holidays for just expenses.
Rabbi Lennard Thal, then the
Regional Director of the Pacific
Southwest Council of the URJ
agreed to come with his wife Linda,
an expert in Jewish education.
Rabbi Lenny has travelled every
year since to Singapore to lead the
High Holiday services.
Another Rabbi who helped the early
development of UHC was John
Levi, from Temple Beth Israel. In
1995 UHC received government
approval and became the third
Progressive congregation in Asia,
after Bombay and Hong Kong.
There is a joint Reform and
Orthodox Jewish school for
children from 12 months to 7 years.
A Gesher committee with members
of UHC, Orthodox and Israeli
Communities arrange educational
and cultural programs, and last
March Joe Azoulay and Adam
Carpenter, leaders of Netzer
Australia spent a weekend
working with the community.
At the venue chairs were set out
for some 300 people. The
chubby Rabbi appeared with his
guitar and began singing “li li li”
for a joyous Shabbat. My legs
became restless, but Rabbi
Lenny deepened his playing and
singing as Yom Kippur
Rabbi Lennard (Lenny) Thal
continued. Some 70 people sat at the
far end away from the entrance, and
they sang Hebrew together with the
Rabbi and a sprinkling of people
around the edges of the room.
About 150—200 people came sitting
silently, listening and probably
praying. What a difference from our
congregation! They were all under
50! Average age about 35 is my
guess, which is not surprising as most
expatriates only go to Singapore to
work for their multinational company
prior to an even better placement
elsewhere. I noticed some five people
who could be old enough for
retirement. And that didn’t include
the Rabbi. The gentleman next to me
said that it is a high turnover
congregation with most people
Cont’d on page 6
Torah Portions ‫חלקים מהתורה‬
DATE
PARASHAH
TORAH
HAFTARAH
November 1
Lech-Lecha
Genesis 12:1—17:27
Isaiah 40:27—41:16
November 8
Vayera
Genesis 18:1—22:24
II Kings 4:1—4:37
November 15
Chayei Sara
Genesis 23:1—25:18
I Kings 1:1—1:31
November 22
Toldot
Genesis 25:19—28:9
Samuel 20:18—20:42
November 29
Vayetzei
Genesis 28:10—32:3
Hosea 12:13—14:10
SHABBAT
Machar Chodesh
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Page 6
Yom Kippur in Singapore
by Marion Hoenig (cont’d)
Library News
New books in the library this
month:
Cont’d from page 5
Thanks to Arthur Rudnick for
donating:
“The Jewish Year Book: An
annual record of matters Jewish
5658. 27th September 1897—16th
September 1898.”
Thanks to Vilma Gould for
donating:
“The World’s Best Jewish Jokes”
by Ben Eliezer.
Thanks to
donating:
staying a couple of years before being
moved on.
Presently they have someone willing
to teach and rehearse Torah readings.
The Rabbi said he much prefers
members of the congregation to read
the Torah in Hebrew than himself,
and he congratulated the three men
and one woman who read, two of
them for the first time.
Of course, in this age group there
were quite a few families with young
children. Whispered conversations
began as more people arrived. One
mother broke off her conversation to
say to her children: ‘Why is it you
only want me when I’m speaking to
someone else?’ I wondered if God
feels like that.
Membership is 200, they have two
Torahs on loan—brought out from a
highly polished cupboard where they
lay one on top of the other—and in
January 2015 they will employ their
first full-time Rabbi. At least five
people told me this, with great pride.
‘Finally we can afford our own
Rabbi.’
The Rabbi who was present said he
prayed that one day Jews and
Palestinians could live together
peacefully. He said Jews have very
high expectations of themselves, and
so does the rest of the world. ‘Why
else would they expect us to act
differently from other countries’?
My thanks to Rabbi Lenny Thal. I
left the synagogue very happy to
have attended, feeling past idiocies
were over my shoulder, like my
grandmother tossed any spilt salt, and
ready to face a New Start.
I forgot to say that Singapore is hot
and humid, 32 degrees and 87%
humidity most of the days I was
there. Air-conditioners are
everywhere and quite cool. UHC
advised me to bring a jacket as often
the room is cold. They were correct.
The Singaporean government is
strict. It is forbidden to chew gum, or
even to import it. No eating or
drinking on the trains. Posters on the
railway station encourage children to
be quiet on the train—and they are.
The fabulous ‘boat’ hotel, The
Marine Bay Sand was designed by an
Israeli—Moshe Safdie.
Ruth
Gilbert
for
“Sipping from the Nile: My
Exodus from Egypt: A Memoir”
by Jean Naggar.
Also new in the library this month:
“Diaspora: Homelands in exile: An
exhibition at the Jewish Museum
of Australia 2007” —photographs
by Frederic Brenner
Penny Richardson
Librarian
A Story of Defiance
from the Holocaust
On pages 8—10 of this newsletter you
will find an article about Andrew
Steiner’s Holocaust exhibition and an
extract from the ABC’s 7:30 Report
about a wedding ring found at the
Nazi concentration camp of Sobibor.
If you have 8 minutes to spare, here is
the link to the story that ran about
Regina and also about Andrew's
exhibition. Spectacular! Please take
the time to view it!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-1024/a-story-of-defiance-from-theholocaust/5840888
Views or opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent
the views of the Beit Shalom Board of Management or community.
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Page 7
Libcon Appeal 2014
Thank you to the following members who have made contributions to this
year’s Libcon Appeal for our Rabbinic Support Fund:
Abrahamson
Brian & Val
Abrahamson
Shirley
Ades
Jack & Lydia
Ades
Merrilyn
Argy
Edwin
Bailey
Margot
Baltman
David & Gail
Barouche
Ralph & Denise
Barrett
Steffi
Belleli
Rina
Bloustien
Mark & Gerry
Bund
Richard & Jody
Bund
Trish
Cohen
Bernice
Culshaw
George & Ilana
Dreyer
Rosemary
Dunn
Ruth
Eglinton
Pam
Fanok
Mirek
Feldheim
Sarah
Galletta
Marie
Gilbert
Ruth
Gillespie
Rachel & Callum
Gold
Michael & Mandy
Goode
Matthew & Kitty
Gould
Vilma
Gubbay
Jack
Hall
Jill
Hanzalik
Michael & Evon
Hocking
Billie
Hoenig
Ron & Marion
Jacobson
Colin & Kenise
James
Danielle
James
Wendy & Chris
Katz/Roberts
Daniel & Jody
Kipperman/Fitzgerald Andrea & Ben
Knopoff/Noble
Steven & Jill
Koopowitz
Leslie & Belinda
Lenga
Pesa
Levy
Jonathan & Lorena
Licinio
Julio
Limareff
Heidi & Andrew
Lipschitz
Allen & Mary
Lockshin/Henrie
Larry & Janet
Marcus/Cozens
Alison & Matthew
Marshall/Muecke
Ruth & Tim
Mayo
Raya
Musry
Joe & Sue
Newall
James
Ninio
Henry & Lynette
Pak Poy
Ella
Pearlman
Robert & Linley
Peisach
Ron & Jill
Peisach
Uri
Phillips
Eva
Pincus
Hermina
Richardson
Penny
Richardson-Pearn
Nicola & Daniel
Ronai
Kay
Rudnick
Arthur & Beverly
Sag
Rachel
Sag
Tom & Marianne
Schueler
Norman & Carol
Sheldon
Philip & Karen
Sisterhood
Beit Shalom
Somers/Rachootin
Ron & Pam
Stevens
Judith
Sulan
John & Ali
Temple
Eva
Tuckfield
Eva
Tversky
Jonathan & Dina
Vyshovsky
Maya
Waddell
Myra
Zetlein
Leslie & Teresa
Zielinski z”l
Regina
Zuckerman
Lorre
Save the Date!!
Talmud study returns in November!
Due to its great success, the Talmud study class returns starting
on Monday 3 November
at 7:30pm
in the Rose Harrison Hall
No background in Talmud and no Hebrew knowledge is required.
Just an openness to a fascinating learning journey. Hope to see you there!
Sisterhood Report
Dear all,
As the weather improves, there’s
the opportunity to sit outside with
a good book. Our next Book Club
meeting will be on Sunday 9th
November at 10.30am. We'll be
meeting at the new home of Lorre
Zuckerman
and
we'll
be
discussing The Invisible Bridge
by Julie Orringer.
This book is set in Paris in 1937
when Andras Lévi, a Hungarian
Jewish
architecture
student,
arrives from Budapest with a
scholarship, a single suitcase, and
a mysterious letter he has
promised to deliver to C.
Morgenstern on the rue de
Sévigné. It’s a lengthy but
rewarding book, and I look
forward to discussing it with some
of you on the 9th.
I’d also like to announce that Janet
Henrie has kindly agreed to be
Acting
Treasurer
for
the
Sisterhood as Pam Vroom
recovers. Thanks a lot to her and
her ongoing help and advice.
Hoping to see you all at the AGM
and also at the UPJ Conference,
which is coming up soon.
Regards
Ruth Gilbert,
Sisterhood President
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Page 8
Andrew Steiner’s Holocaust Exhibition at Beit Shalom
During the month of October, the Rose Harrison Hall was transformed into a lecture theatre and art gallery as hundreds
of high school students visited Andrew Steiner’s exhibition entitled “Remember the Holocaust—Art and the Holocaust”.
Our thanks to Andrew and his team, Eva Temple and Penny Main, for mounting this exhibition and fielding all the
questions. The official opening took place on Tuesday 14 October when Christopher Pyne addressed over 100 people,
the Beit Shalom Choir performed and the Catering Committee provided the nosh. Here is Andrew Steiner’s speech.
Andrew began by acknowledging
the Guarna people.
influence and
immeasurable.
Shalom—Salam. Peace be with you
all.
Regina will live on in perpetuity as
an inspiration, her flame will keep
shining brightly as a beacon of
hope.
His Grace, the Archbishop Phillip
Wilson, the Hon Christopher Pyne
and distinguished guests, Andrew
Zielinski is unfortunately unable to
represent Regina who was initially
going to be our guest of honour.
Within this commemorative
exhibition, man’s inhumanity
against man is portrayed. The
emphasis is much more on the
irrepressible human spirit, man’s
defiance, compassion and nobility
against all odds.
I am representing one and a half
million innocent children. Some of
those victims were my cousins, my
school mates.
At dawn on 16th October 1944, I
was given a second life. Friends
across the road from us were not so
fortunate. The entire household of
the Baron family, some 14 souls,
were lined up in front of their house
and gunned down.
There are always choices.
We are totally responsible for our
actions and lack of actions.
All of you here are participating by
choice. Your support and giving up
your precious time is greatly
appreciated.
Regina is a shining example of the
Power of One. All of us possess this
wonderful innate quality. Regina has
touched thousands and her huge
legacy
is
Some survivors have been eye
witnesses, purely by fate, to
unimaginable and incomprehensible
horrors and suffering. Afterwards,
they decided to bear witness to tell
the world.
Macintyre Reeves is accompanied by
Matthew Cozens at the Opening of
Andrew Steiner’s Holocaust exhibition
Although our souls are scarred and
often weep within, we do not hate.
Indifference is the most essential,
insidious component in tyranny,
bullying, injustice and
discrimination. To be a bystander is
not acceptable.
Hon Christopher Pyne gives his
address to the invited guests on
Tuesday 14th October
Christopher Pyne, I would like you
to commend my Virtual Exhibition
of Holocaust Education to all State
and Territory Ministers of
Education. With all the talk about
the budget, cost cutting, savings
and efficiency, my link is readily
available, free.
My dream is to set up a Centre of
Compassion to study, research,
teach and overcome xenophobia.
The areas of activities will be:
 Holocaust,
Genocide, Ethnic
Cleansing, Women’s Rights,
Human Rights instead of
tolerance, compassion.
This would be another South
Australian first, and in Colonel
Light’s footsteps, a Light to all
Nations.

Andrew Steiner pictured with team
members Eva Temple & Penny Main
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Page 9
Andrew Steiner’s Holocaust Exhibition at Beit Shalom
(cont’d)
The following article by Christian Kerr appeared in The Australian on Wednesday 15 October 2014 with the photo taken
by James Elsby. Its caption read: “Sculptor and Holocaust survivor Andrew Steiner at his exhibition in Hackney, South
Australia”.
We must confront anti-Semitism,
says Pyne, as Holocaust
remembered.
Australians must call out antiSemitism and reject moral
relativism, Education Minister
Christopher Pyne has warned.
His call came at the opening of an
exhibition of Holocaust material
and Holocaust-inspired art curated
and created by Adelaide artist
Andrew Steiner, a survivor of the
massacre of Hungarian Jews in the
closing phase of World War II.
“When something is wrong it should be called for what
it is,” he said. “The danger often in the West is this idea
that as all voices need to be heard somehow they might
all have some kind of moral equivalence.”
Mr Steiner said the exhibition, which features posters
displaying Nazi edicts, as well as his own sculpture,
was unique. “I’m not showing any horror illustrations,”
Mr Steiner said. “I don’t believe in that.”
Wedding ring found at Nazi concentration
camp might have Adelaide connection
Archaeologists have made a
remarkable find at a former Nazi
concentration camp more than seven
decades after an Adelaide woman
hid her mother's wedding ring from
Nazi guards.
Instead, he hopes the material speaks for itself. “With
all the horrible things going on around us it is more
relevant than ever,” he said, adding that hundreds of
school children were expected to see the two-week
exhibition in Adelaide.
Regina Zielinski, now deceased,
was a teenager when she hid the
ring and just days after that she was
part of the largest breakout of
Jewish inmates from a death camp
during World War II.
As well as marking the 70th anniversary of the
massacre of Hungarian Jews, the exhibition marks the
anniversary of Mr Steiner’s escape from the Nazis.
Just recently, the anniversary of the Sobibor camp's mass
escape was marked with an exhibition in Adelaide, the
city where Regina eventually made her life after the war
years.
“At the very last phase of the war, when the Germans
knew fully well they had lost it, all their efforts were
concentrated on annihilating Hungarian Jewry,” he
said. “Some 435,000 were sent straight from Hungary
to Auschwitz, straight to the gas chambers.”
On October 16, 1944, Mr Steiner and his family were
hauled from their house and taken to a nearby building.
Expecting to be killed at any moment, they were
suddenly abandoned by their captors as the local Nazi
authority crumbled. “We set out against all odds,” Mr
Steiner said. “We picked ourselves up and started our
new lives and did our utmost individually to make a
better and more compassionate world.”

Young Regina
Zielinski z”l
Holocaust expert Peter Monteath said Sobibor was less
widely known to the public than camps such as
Auschwitz, because it was smaller and the 1943 mass
escape gave the Germans a powerful incentive to destroy
the camp and evidence of its grim purpose.
He thinks about 60 people survived after the escape.
While captive in Sobibor, Regina had been forced by Nazi
guards to sort through the clothes of people sent to the gas
chambers and found her mother's jacket.
"The jacket had a breast pocket and she hid her wedding
ring there but I didn't give up the ring. The floor boards,
they were not together [there were gaps]. They were lying
Source: 7:30 Report
Cont’d on page 10
BEIT SHALOM MAGAZINE
Page 10
Lally Katz in Adelaide
Rabin Memorial Lecture
“Stories I Want To Tell You In
Person” is the story of what Lally
on Sunday 9th November
at 3:00pm
in the Rose Harrison Hall
Katz was doing instead of writing a
play.
Guest Speaker: Ittay Flescher
She was commissioned to write a
play about the global financial
crisis. The thing is—and this is a
true story—Katz spent her
commission (and then some) going
to see a fortune teller. In New
York. More than once.
“From Hatufim to Homeland:
The legacy of war on ordinary
families”
The show features Lally, on her
own, as herself, embroiled in a tale
of art, love, money, shoes, and the
apocalypse (of course).
was recently presented in Adelaide
by the State Theatre Company of
SA.
Lally Katz was born in Trenton,
New Jersey in 1978, and her
family moved to Canberra when she
was a teenager for her father’s
work. While her father is Jewish,
descended from Russian Jews who
fled the pogroms around the turn
of the 20th century, her mother is
not Jewish. She is one of
Australia's most prolific and
respected young playwrights. Her
award winning play “Neighbourhood
Watch” starring Miriam Margolyes
“Stories I Want To Tell You In
Person” can be seen at:
Presented by Brink Productions,
The Bakehouse
(255 Angas Street, Adelaide)
29 October—8 November at 8pm.
Wednesday—Saturday at 8pm.
Plus matinee: Sunday 2 Nov 4pm.
$38 full, $32 Concession.
Tickets are available
BASS or at the door.
through
For further information head to:
brinkproductions.com
“Hatufim” (Prisoners of War) is an
Israeli TV series which tells the story
of how three Israeli soldiers struggle
to integrate back into society after
17 years in terrorist captivity. When
it was screened on Israeli TV, it was
the highest rating show of the year,
with its American spinoff “Homeland”,
achieving equal popularity and several
Emmys. The oration will explore the
contrast between the two shows, with
a specific focus on what this
difference can teach us about Israeli
society.
Israeli born Ittay Flescher has been
exploring & observing Jewish life for
as long as he can remember. He
currently teaches in Melbourne at
Mount Scopus Memorial College & the
Jewish Museum of Australia’s Adult
Educators Program.
Wedding ring found at Nazi concentration camp might have Adelaide connection (cont’d)
on sand so I just dug with my shoe,
with my toe, a little hole and I
dropped the wedding ring in. I didn't
give it up."
The young woman was given
someone else's identity papers after
the escape and then made her way
through Poland.
She became part of a flood of
labourers taken to Germany and
worked with a family outside
Frankfurt.
After the war, Regina found a new
life in Australia.
In recent weeks, archaeologists
uncovered physical evidence of the
horrors of Sobibor, including the
foundations of gas chambers and
items of jewellery, including a ring
which might well have belonged to
Regina's mother.
Mr Andrew Zielinski thinks the act
of hiding her mother's wedding ring
best illustrates his mother's
determination. She urged her son to
use that trait in the fight he now
wages with multiple sclerosis.
As a historian, Peter Monteath said it
did not matter precisely which wedding
ring belonged to the Zielinski family.
Regina, at 89, was due to open the
Adelaide exhibition but instead it
became a celebration of her life after
she died on September 12, just days
before the jewellery at Sobibor was
found.
"I think what matters are the memories,
the recollection of this act of defiance,
that Regina was determined the ring
she found in her mother's jacket was for
her and not to fall into the hands of the
Nazis," he said.
The Sobibor camp was razed by Nazis
10:00am Cheder
10:00am Cheder
10:00am Cheder
23
10:00am Cheder
UPJ Conf
Mitzvah Day Picnic
10:00am Cheder
3:00pm Rabin
Memorial Lecture
16
9
2
30
Sunday
24
17
10
3
7:30pm Talmud
Study
7:30pm Talmud
Study
7:30pm Talmud
Study
7:30pm Talmud
Study
Monday
25
12:30pm JCS Lunch
18
11
4
Thursday
Upcoming Events for your Diary:
Wednesday
26
19
12
5
7:30pm Board
Meeting
14
7
6:00pm Kabbalat
Shabbat Service
6:00pm Kabbalat
Shabbat Service
Friday
27
5:15pm Tot Shabbat
6:00pm Kabbalat
Shabbat Service
28
6:00pm Kabbalat
Shabbat Service
20 UPJ Conference 21 UPJ Conf
13
6
Tuesday 16 December—Erev Chanukah
Wednesday 17-24 December—Chanukah
Friday 19 December—Chanukah Oneg Dinner
Tuesday
Saturday
10:30am Shabbat
Service
10:30am Shabbat
Service
29
10:30am Shabbat
Service
10:30am Shabbat
Service
22 UPJ Conf
15
8
9:30am Meditation
10:30am Shabbat Service
& BYO Lunch & Singing
1
November 2014 Cheshvan / Kislev 5775
Beit Shalom Calendar
Adelaide Progressive Jewish Congregation
DIRECTORY
‫מדריך‬
PRESIDENT:
RABBI:
Ron Hoenig ........................................................ 8272-1971
..................................................... [email protected]
Shoshana Kaminsky ............................................. 8362-8281
Mobile .............................................................. 0435-050-415
............................................ [email protected]
TREASURER:
Sue Musry .......................................................... 8293-5845
.......................................................... [email protected]
SISTERHOOD:
SECRETARY/MAGAZINE EDITOR:
Marie Galletta ....................................................... 8362-8281
...................................................bshalom@bshalomadel.com
Ruth Gilbert ................................................... 0421-008-981
......................................................... [email protected]
LIBRARIAN:
JUDAICA SHOP:
CHOIR CO-ORDINATOR:
Merrilyn Ades ..................................................... 8362-8281
................................................. [email protected]
Janet Henrie ......................................................... 8362-8281
ARCHIVIST:
Ron Hoenig, Janet Henrie, Sue Musry,
Ruth Gilbert, Penny Main ...................................... 8362-8281
Ilana Culshaw .................................................... 8362-8281
Penny Richardson ................................................ 8362-8281
HONORARY SHAMUS:
REMEMBER THE HOLOCAUST:
Art and the Holocaust
Please visit the Virtual Exhibition devised, curated
and funded by Andrew Steiner, artist, historian
and Holocaust survivor at:
www.youtube.com/user/andrewsteinerartist
Remember:
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