The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Founded 1841 ISSUE 9 Destiny – Magazine of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Inc. Nisan – Elul 5768 / April – September 2008 Print Post Publication No. PP 318473/00005 From the Chairman’s Desk Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Established 1841 Cnr Toorak Rd & Arnold St (P.O. Box 372) South Yarra 3141 Ph: (03) 9866 2255 Fax: (03) 9866 2022 email: [email protected] Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Inc ABN 39 003 125 142 Registration No A0019856D www.melbournesynagogue.org.au Synagogue Office Hours Monday – Thursday 9.00am – 4.00pm Friday 9.00am – 12.00 noon. Rabbi: Dovid Rubinfeld [email protected] Outreach & Public Relations Manager: Ronny Kowadlo [email protected] DESTINY EDITOR: David Lissauer [email protected] Local Contributors: David H Sherr, Diane Jacobson, Freda Kaufman, Stephen Reynolds, Eric Cohen OAM, Ronny Kowadlo Leonard Yaffe International Contributors: Ted Roberts, Eliezer Segal, Ephraim Inbar, Hirsh Goodman, Sy Manello Shule Magazine Coordinator: Linda Williamson [email protected] Proofreading: Diane Jacobson, Karen Lissauer Design, Photography & Production: Photosynthesis Graphic Design Tel: 9877 4455 [email protected] Advertising Co-ordination: Jackie Somerville [email protected] Destiny Magazine is published by and circulated to members of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Inc © MHC 2008.This magazine is a copyright publication. No part of it may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher (Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Inc.). MHC – A Brief History he Melbourne Hebrew Congregation traces its history back to almost the beginning of British settlement in Melbourne. Established in 1841, it is Victoria’s oldest congregation and one of the oldest continuously operating orthodox congregations in the English-speaking world. Often referred to as the Mother Congregation of Victorian Jewry, its members have always been proud Australians who have positively contributed to the community. The original synagogue building was situated in Bourke St, Melbourne. In 1930 General Sir John Monash opened the current synagogue designed by noted Australian architect, Nahum Barnet. It has been described as the Cathedral Synagogue of Melbourne, and with its classical architecture, has become an iconic landmark. The auditorium seats over 1,300 people. The dome and clerestory features twelve magnificent lead glass windows, depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Many distinguished leaders have attended services here over the years including members of the Knesset, distinguished philosophers, two Presidents of the State of Israel and numerous Australian Governors General. T appeal not only to our members and their friends but also to students of art history and architecture, individuals interested in religious buildings and those in the arts with an appreciation of the beauty of leadlight artistry.. I acknowledge the efforts of David Sherr editor of the book who together with Stephen Reynolds and Stephen Freeman of Photosynthesis have worked tirelessly to ensure this publication will be a success. The Shule’s website is now in excess of 12 years old and is need of significant updating, one could say that it needed a facelift and a new heart to make it more user friendly and bring it up to date. In addition it requires a the necessary processes to ensure the site is continually updated and improved. I am delighted to announce that cardiologist, Dr Victor Wayne has agreed to undertake this task and we all look forward to reviewing the web site revamp and updates as they unfold. We are also pleased to announce that after many years we have decided to upgrade a number of the conveniences within the building. A contract has been let and construction will commence after Passover to ensure the construction works will be completed before the High Holyday period. The work undertaken will see major changes to the ladies conveniences located on the landing at the front of the building as well as the male & female conveniences located at the rear of the building. At this point in time due to the substantial costs associated with this project, we will not be upgrading the external male conveniences; however we hope that these can also be addressed in the not too distant future. Members who visit our Shule on a Shabbat from Pesach onwards will see a change to the main Shule. We have installed blinds under the perimeter of the ladies gallery that can be lowered or raised electronically. The main Shule area as we all know is a very large space and on a normal Shabbat when we attract 50 to 100 regulars these daveners sit on their seats spread throughout the auditorium. The Dear Congregants, welcome to the Pesach 2008 edition of Destiny. Since the New Year issue your Executive has been particularly busy and the results of much of this effort can be seen in this issue. Perhaps the largest and most complicated project nearing completion is publication of a deluxe hard cover coffee table art book entitled ‘The Architecture and Leadlight Windows of the Melbourne Synagogue’. At the time of writing the final touches are being made to the book and it is anticipated that printing of the book will commence during the later part of April. A personalised invitation will be sent to all members together with communal and other dignitaries to attend the official launch of this landmark publication and I hope that many of our members will take the opportunity of attending what will be a very special event. A major part of the cost of this publication has been generously underwritten by two families – Mr Israel Rosenfeld & family together with Dr and Mrs Harry Perelberg. Both families are members of long standing and continue to be generous supporters of the Congregation. The Executive have decided that every member family of the congregation will receive (at no charge) a copy of this magnificent book as recognition of your ongoing membership and support of the Congregation. For those members that consider they would like to make a contribution towards this project, such of course will be welcomed and much appreciated. We also plan to release a "limited edition" leather bound version of the book that will be available at $250.00 and all interested in securing a leather bound copy will need to be early in contacting the shule office to reserve one. The Congregation is currently negotiating with a local bookstore to stock and sell the case bound book and this information will be onforwarded once final arrangements have been made. There is no doubt the book will 2 executive decided to look for ways to make the ground floor mens area cosier and the service more inclusive. The installation of the blinds will result in our regulars and guests sitting in a far more confined space closer to the Bimah ensuring their involvement in the service and their proximity to the Rabbi and Bahl Tefillah. .We realise this change may take some getting used to however, for the ultimate benefit of the service and the members who regularly attend we believe this is an important step that will benefit all and only enhance our services. Members should be aware that for events such as Wedding call ups and Barmitzvahs the blinds will be raised if and when required. Our thanks to the Bennie & Jeanette Borenstein & family for sponsoring the project. We certainly look forward to members attending on a service when the blinds are down and receiving your feed back. Friday evening and early morning services will continue to be held in the Herscu (minor) Shule. If any members have not attended a Friday night service in our minor Shule surrounded by the magnificent new Perelberg leadlight windows, you are certainly doing yourselves a disservice and I suggest that you attend one of these short services and see for yourselves. An integral part of the project to install the electronic retractable blinds are plans for the installation of a mechitza on the ground floor of the synagogue, and of course within the confines of the blinds, thereby bringing ladies who may wish to be seated on the ground floor, in closer proximity to the service. This will also have the added benefit for any who encounter difficulties in climbing the stairs to the ladies gallery. (Continued) On those weeks when the downstairs mechitza is in operation the Shabbat morning kiddush that follows the service will be held downstairs in the front foyer and not in the Winton Hall. Members are aware that our stunning building, constructed in 1930, requires constant maintenance. All buildings need regular maintenance and clearly the older the building the more that is required. Since the construction of the building however, the charter of the synagogue has somewhat changed. Yes the synagogue is used by its members as a house of worship but over time the building has been viewed by the wider Jewish community as the venue of choice for large communal events. These aren’t necessarily religious in nature and are as diverse as a venue for concerts or a function to honor a visiting dignitary. Furthermore the congregation now plays host to an ever increasing number of PROBUS and other visiting groups and to students from non Jewish schools as well as hosting our changing archival exhibitions that are open to the general public and not only to our members or the Jewish community.. The congregation being the mother congregation for Victorian Jewry also boasts a significant archival collection specifically related to Victorian Jewry and the role its members and others have played in the development of the State of Victoria and the Australian wider community. Both the congregation and the wider general community are part of an ageing population and as a result there is an increasingly important requirement that our building be made user friendly not only for the disabled but those that can no longer climb stairs easily. To ensure that we are in a position as we move forward to make the necessary changes to our building to enable a large number of urgent building upgrade works, including those as noted above, and to furthermore ensure we can appropriately house our unique archival collection, reputed to be one of Australia’s finest, the Congregation will require significant funding to meet the cost of this major project. After much consideration, the executive resolved that to move forward we firstly needed to prepare building plans that allowed for disabled and elderly access for the entire community and then to further develop and enhance our building to ensure its library and archival collection can not only be appropriately stored, but displayed and accessible in a manner that will enable use by not only members but researchers & historians from the wider community in Melbourne & throughout Australia. This plan needed to be carried out in line with the heritage characteristics of our building, the requirement to be as energy conscious as possible and cognizant of the fact that the Australian population is an ageing one. Needless to say occupying the highly visible stature that we do, the public building security aspects also needed to be taken into account. Once the plan prepared and costed by Norman Faifer was in place the next step in the process was to register an application for the synagogue to receive status as a "deductible gift recipient" .This process was put into place and an application has in fact been lodged with the Federal Government. To date we are yet to hear if our application will be successful. Assuming we will be, donations made specifically to a building fund in line with the plans as prepared, will then become tax deductible. I will report back to you the members, once we receive the outcome of the application. The real work will them commence in raising sufficient funds to ensure works can be undertaken. The executive is of the opinion that the Melbourne Synagogue is a landmark building in Melbourne and belongs not only to our members and those ever increasing members of the wider general community that avail themselves of what we have to offer, in reality it, as are our members, a part of the very fabric of the city of Melbourne and of the State of Victoria. To that end the Synagogue is currently making applications to various government authorities to inquire as to whether financial assistance is available to realize the plans that have now very much now been formalised.. Once again I will keep you informed as to our success but have every reason to be optimistic that we will be successful in all our endeavors in this regard. All the above changes have required a significant input from our head of House, Norman Faifer in particular and together with other members of the congregation, I take this opportunity to thank them on your behalf. A further significant change has been the appointment of Ronny Kowadlo as the Shule’s Outreach and Public Relations Manager. We are delighted that Executive member Malcolm Brown has agreed to be a mentor to Ronny and work closely with him to pass on his wide experience in marketing and sales. All of you would know Ronny as our Bahl Koreh, he having occupied this position with our congregation for ten years, and he certainly knows many of those members who attend on a regular basis. He hopes over time to get to know all our congregants. In the meantime Ronny has been very busy organising our first ever Seder to be held on the first night of Pesach and as this edition is being finalised we are pleased to report that at least thirty participants have indicated they will be attending. Ronny will also be actively campaigning to increase our membership both from within the Shule as well as externally and we look forward to Ronny and his wife Natalie settling into the new role and adding significantly to the ongoing development of Toorak Shule. Ronny will also play an integral role in leading groups of school students and overseas visitors through the Shule as required. Congratulations are in order to the Kowadlos. Natalie and Ronny are expecting their second child later this year. We look forward to them and their growing family becoming a long term and important component of the Shule for many years to come. I am pleased to note that this years Batmizvah classes have commenced under the guidance of Yehudit Kazatsky. This year we have six girls participating. Their graduation is planed for late November 2008 and I look forward to reporting their progress in further issues of the magazine. To date I have heard that all participants are thoroughly enjoying the learning experience that is an important part of them completing their batmitzvah study year. This issue of Destiny contains a number of articles pertinent to 3 Pesach and we hope you find them interesting and enjoyable. It also covers recent Shule fuctions in words and pictures as well as travel, kosher food and contributions from our overseas correspondents. It would be remiss of me not to draw attention to the article referring to the 80th birthday of Eric M Cohen OAM. A life Governor and Past President of the Congregation, Eric has and continues to be a tireless worker on behalf of the Congregation.. It was a wonderful Shabbat in our Shule when we together with Eric’s family and friends joined together to recognize this important milestone. We wish Eric and Bev many more years of health and happiness together and we certainly look forward to their continued involvement in all aspects of Shule life An article of considerable interest is the review of the official launch of our latest archival exhibition entitled ‘With This Ring – the Mystique of Jewish Marriage – Rituals & Traditions’. Reaction from within the congregation as well as from visitors to the Synagogue has been positive and certainly is an endorsement of the Archival Committee & the decision of the Executive to enable aspects of our vast archival collection to be available for public viewing. If you have not visited the exhibition I urge you to do so. In February the congregation was delighted to host the first Sheva Brachot for long time supporters of the congregation, Amanda Mendes Da Costa and Michael Danby M.P. A full report with photographs can be found on pages 16 and 17. Whilst you are in the Shule spend a few minutes with Ronny or the Rabbi over a coffee – they’ll certainly welcome a chat with all members and visitors. On reflection it’s been a very busy and rewarding time for the executive and we hope that our endeavors on the part of you our members, are meeting your expectations. I take this opportunity on behalf of Karen and our family to wish all congregants Be-birkat chag kosher vesamech, may you all enjoy a happy Pesach David Lissauer, Chairman. Shule Notes Chief Rabbi’s Pesach Message 5768 This year as we prepare to celebrate Israel's sixtieth anniversary, think of the power of Pesach to shape Jewish history. Thursday Morning Services Held in the Herscu Minor Shule at 7.15am followed by a tasty breakfast. Tuesday Night Shiur Pesach was and always will be our way of remembering the miracles of the past: the journey from slavery to freedom, from Egypt to the promised land. But when Israel again went into exile, memory of the past became hope for the future. What had happened once would happen again. In the words of the prophet Micah (7:15), 'As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show you miracles'. So hope was born. Nowhere was this expressed so simply and powerfully as in the words with which the Seder opens: 'This year here, next year in the land of Israel. This year slaves, next year free.' That hope sustained the Jewish people through some of the darkest nights of human history, ages in which Jews knew all too well what is was to eat the bread of affliction and taste the bitter herbs of suffering. When, a thousand years from now, people look back on Jewish history, people will wonder, with genuine astonishment, how three years after the Shoah, the Jewish people was reborn as a sovereign nation in its own land. They will see it as a miracle not less than the original exodus. Pesach is not only about the past but about the present and future. Memory plus faith equals hope. Israel is the nation whose national anthem, Hatikvah, means hope. The Rabbi’s Tuesday night Shiur held for both men and women commences at 8.30pm. Location 33 Melby Avenue, East St Kilda. Bar Mitzvah Classes The classes the Rabbi holds for Bar Mitzvah are held at his home 33 Melby Avenue, East St Kilda every Tuesday night at 7.30pm. The state of Israel, testimony of the power of faith to triumph over tragedy, is a living symbol of hope. The State of Israel still needs hope. It has found its many offers of peace rebuffed. It is still surrounded by enemies, still at risk of terror. It still has to fight for what every other nation takes for granted, the right to be. It is at such times that we realize, all over again, that the fate of nations is as much determined by spiritual as by military strength, perhaps more so. Faith sustained Israel in the past. It will do so now. So important do I believe this to be, that together with the most wonderful support of some outstanding people, I have made a double CD which is being sent to all communities under my aegis for distribution. It tells the story of Israel from biblical times to today, together with contemporary music from or about the land, because song expresses emotion better than the written or spoken word. If I were to summarise the message, it would be in the words of Mallei:' This is the Lord's doing. It is wondrous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.' This Pesach, and this Yom Ha-Atzmaut, let us think about the chapter in the story of Pesach added by the modern state of Israel. It tells of how a people, ravaged by anti-Semitism, were inspired to undertake another exodus, another journey from slavery to freedom; and whether they knew it or not, G-d was with them, helping them do wonders. May He be with the land and its people, and with us, in these worrying yet wondrous times. Be-birkat chag kosher ve-sameach, Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks MHC Chanukah Service for Jewish Care n keeping with an MHC tradition, the Shule held its Chanukah Service for Jewish Care in early December. The 90 who attended included residents of the five special accommodation houses, their families, carers and MHC Congregants. The proceedings were conducted by Rabbis Rubinfeld and Kluwgant and finished with an individual candle lighting and refreshments. A presentation by the Synagogue was made of framed relief maps of Israel for each of the five special accommodation houses. I 4 Any questions feel free to contact the Rabbi at the Shule office or on mobile 0419 302 422. Bat Mitzvah Classes Hadassa Kessler holds Bat Mitzvah classes. Call Jackie Somerville on 9866 2255 for details. G.O.F. (Jeff) Panckow Painting & Decorating Home Maintenance Advice & Service 9707 5161 and 0417 408 592 Compliments and best wishes from Michael & Sara Kowadlo From the Rabbi’s Desk that some of my time away from Melbourne should be spent at this conference that was promoted as "THE ETERNAL JEWISH FAMILY". For those interested, I’m more than happy to chat about many of the themes discussed there – during the numerous lectures and informal discussion sessions. I did spend time with my children and grandchildren, however my wife the rebettzen, suggested that while in the USA, we should also attend the Agudah Convention, held annually in Connecticut and where over a thousand Jews encompassing rabbonim and communal leaders (among others) from around the world gather to discuss issues of importance – with an emphasis on KIRUV RECHOKIM, bringing people closer to Judaism. Maybe things did not work out exactly as I planned – but it was all well worth while. I learnt much from many of the lectures and gained a greater insight into the difficulties facing our people – on many fronts. On a personal note, I just hope that those who take the trouble to read this message will take time to just sit down [or stand] and think about their lives, their future, and what goals and achievements they would like to attain. There is more to living than just eating, drinking, and working. We have to make changes by spending more time enjoying a Shabbat or Yom Tov, attending shule services as a first priority and making an effort to learn how to use a siddur. Then comes a familiarity with the Chumash and Talmud – knowledge and learning that bring you closer to Judaism. As an aside, for anyone interested in learning to read Hebrew, it will give me great pleasure to present you [with my compliments], a copy of an Aleph Bet reading book that I published. With my assistance or during your spare read through the book. It will be of great benefit to you and of course do not hesitate to call on me for any personal tuition. A number of years ago I was invited to chair an evening with a special guest speaker on the topic "IS IT FUN BEING JEWISH". As may be expected, this question was not answered with a simple "YES" or "NO". Before I introduced the guest speaker I offered my perspective – explaining to the audience about the persecutions and tsores [troubles] we Jews have always suffered for being Jewish, [even in many places until today]. Our two holy temples were destroyed in Jerusalem more than two thousand years ago and we continue to commemorate this tragedy in our calendar – called Tisha B’av – a day of mourning, fasting and depriving ourselves from comfort to commemorate those destructions. In addition to that we have other days in the year where we commemorate other unfortunate incidents that occurred many years ago. What about the Spanish Inquisition and the atrocities of the Holocaust which we should never allow any of our children or the world to forget. I would interrupt myself during my talk by asking, "NU, is it fun being Jewish"? I then continued on and on [as usual] until it was time for the guest speaker to address the crowd and of course, we both agreed with the same outcome. Passover [Pesach] is a very enjoyable festival [yom tov] where families gather together for the Seder; children and grandchildren asking the four questions (of the ‘Ma Nishtanah’) and the father or grandfather sitting at the head of the table discussing the exodus from Egypt. This is a beautiful time in a Jewish family’s life. So I ask a fifth question "is it fun, when the first Seder happens to occur this year on a Saturday night – necessitating all the preparations for the Seder being completed before Saturday ?" And a final thought – So, I would like to write a few lines explaining – Ma Nishtana – why this year is different to other years. Mazel tov, you finally bought the Saab you had your eye on for a long time. Leather seats, sun roof, the right colour and has all the extra gadgets you could think of. Of course let us not forget the cost of the car, very expensive. You are sitting in the car not going anywhere just sitting and enjoying the comfortable leather seats, inviting your friends to have a glance at it making sure they don’t lay any finger marks on your new and beautiful shiny silver Saab. Suddenly, you are giving yourself a tour around the car and you nearly faint when you discover a tiny scratch on the side that no one would even notice except when you stop and stare at it. You are devastated, you don’t believe that you really saw that tiny scratch – but it is not a dream – you really saw it. It is such a disaster that you feel like saying kaddish over this horrible unfortunate sight. The first seder night may fall on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. If it falls on a weekday evening, the cleaning and burning of the chametz [bread] is all completed at its normal time. The night before the Seder you carry out the obligation of searching and cleaning out the bread from your house or any other property that belongs to you, and the next morning which is the eve of the Seder you burn it. But what happens when the first Seder falls on Saturday night and you cannot search and clean your house the night before (ie. Friday) for chametz and of course let alone burn the chametz the eve of the Seder (which is Saturday) ??? This is why the search, clean and burn procedure is completed a day early, commencing on Thursday evening, and burning the chametz on Friday morning. The difficult part is to eat bread on Shabbat which is an obligation while being forbidden from eating matzah – that cannot be eaten until the Seder night. But we Jews manage just like we manage with everything else in life !! Well by now you are wondering where this is leading to. Be patient I am working through an analogy. A wedding day is a very happy and special celebration, a day when a man and woman decide to get married in anticipation of sharing their future lives together. By celebrating this occasion you want to make sure that everything is perfect. You may have even engaged a wedding planner to ensure that the flowers are matching, the bridesmaids looking beautiful, the groomsmen handsome, the music in tune and the photos and video sharp. Everything perfect – or is it ?? Your big day and special event will develop that dent and scratch by having non kosher catering at your simcha ! From my experiences I can assure you that having a kosher function will be of great benefit to the families of the simcha and to the rabbis officiating. This applies not only for a wedding but for all your simchot as well. So, let us try and avoid the dents and scratches of life and have a perfect Saab [simcha]. May we all be blessed to enjoy good health and many simchot; together with my wife Miriam, I extend a Chag Pesach Kasher v’sameach – a happy and joyous festival of Pesach to you all. Maybe now you can understand how much fun it is to be Jewish ! On the other hand, [whether fun or not] our Jewish culture, heritage and tradition is unique and no other nation is able to comprehend our way of life if all they think we stand for are war and politics. Those people who read and understand what really is the purpose of our being here, [to keep the torah and its commandments] look at us differently and with respect. Have you ever experienced an incident where things did not work out as planned? Well, that is what happened to me on my recent trip to the U.S. in November. My intentions were to visit my family in New York and New Jersey, however this all changed after I received a telephone call from my son-in-law in New Jersey informing me of a special "GEIRUS" convention in Washington D.C. – a convention dealing with conversions and intermarriage. Being an issue that I am constantly quizzed about and often need to become involved in at the Irequest of members and others, I considered it only appropriate Rabbi Dovid Rubinfeld, Chief Minister 5 Meet Ronny Kowadlo – The Shule’s Outreach & Public Relations Manager Recently Ronny resigned as Operations Manager from a large safety company to take up his new full time position at Toorak synagogue. He is dedicated to reaching out to those members who come to shule rarely and involve them more in synagogue life. “The synagogue is a living feature of Jewish life”, he said, “and it is there for them”. Describing some of his strategies for the immediate future, Ronny outlined several attractive concepts, and the fundamental streams soon emerged – informality and camaraderie. He plans to visit members – go for coffee – chat and get to know them, targeting a social and relaxed relationship. Ronny is also very keen to attract new members to our congregation. He would like to see more Shabbatons at shule so that families can join together for food and fun. To begin the new directives, a Seder will take place in Winton Hall on the first night of Pesach – amazingly, a first for our shule, and may it be a harbinger for the future. Ronny is a Collingwood supporter and a keen sportsman with ambitions to qualify for the squash team in the 2009 Maccabee Games. “I’m happy to take on a challenge from any of our members”, he quipped. Please ring Ronny at the synagogue office on 9866 2255 to say hello or with any ideas you may have to keep our beautiful and historic shule a viable Beit Knesset for the Melbourne Jewish community. A new, exciting appointment has been made at Toorak Shule. Ronny Kowadlo is the new Outreach and Public Relations manager at our synagogue. If you are envisaging a corporate style, high flier office bearer, you will be disappointed, for 31 year old Ronny is softly spoken, with a disarming smile and quiet, yet authoritative personality. He is no stranger to the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation as he has been the Baal Koreh since 1998, a position he still retains. Ronny is the son of Sarah and Michael Kowadlo with a sister, Natalie. Together with his wife, (the new) Natalie, he is founding his own little dynasty with 16 month old son Lior. Many mature members of the congregation will remember Reverend Kowadlo from the St Kilda Hebrew Congregation in the 1940’s. Ronny explained that the Reverend was his grandfather’s brother, in a word, his great uncle! Ronny was educated at Yeshivah College, followed by a year in Israel on the B’nei Akiva program, which also included a learning period in a Yeshivah. On his return, he studied a Sales and Marketing course and has had related work experience since that time. Something Is Fishy Freda Kaufman. FOOTNOTE: Ronny and Natalie are expecting their second child in October. According to Thoreau, “Time is but a stream I go fishing in.” How philosophical! How existential! How literary! ot to depricate a great American author, let us instead fixate on the prominence of fish (and other denizens of the deep) in our everyday conversation. With water being such a large component of our earth, it should not be surprising that we have so many expressions that entail references to “fish.” Who among us has never felt like a fish out of water? Take us from our secure element and often we are at a loss. Then, if you sense others studying you, you may feel as if you were living in a goldfish bowl. Sometimes we encounter someone who will not just get on with the things at hand and we want to confront this person and challenge him with, “Just fish or cut bait!” After all, you cannot waste so much of your precious time when you have many other fish to fry. Have you ever done something and craved recognition for it? You may have been said to be fishing for compliments. Don’t, however, succumb to those who are easy with their flattery or you may find yourself falling for something hook, line and sinker. If you find yourself having a whale of a time, you may later concoct a whale of a tale. If friends do not believe you, then seek others; there are many fish in the sea. If someone gives you the fish eye, then clam up. It may be that they are just baiting you. When an activity comes to you with ease, you may think that it is like shooting fish in a barrel. (The unfairness of such a situation never seems to bother many; hmmm.) Daily problems we may encounter involve being packed in like sardines or fending off someone who drinks like a fish. Other creatures we may meet on a daily basis are those who are sharks (ferocious in their pursuit), bottom feeders (the scum of the earth) or shrimp (nonentities). There is also the one who does bad things and is hard to catch; he is slippery as an eel. If the person has a rather hard exterior and is often snappish and sharp in his discourse, he may be described as a crab. For those of you who cannot distinguish between mussels and muscles, I have little to say other than you should be more devoted readers of my columns. For those who question the porpoise of my writing, let me say that I do it just for the halibut. N Sy Manello – With Compliments – – With Compliments from – – With Compliments – THE PARTNERS AND STAFF OF MORRIS COHEN, GLEN & CO. Dinah Krongold CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS and Family Commercial Industrial, Retail, Fitout, Health, Restoration www.kaneconstructions.com.au or ring Tony Isaacson on 9428 8888 6 CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS 18 CAMBERWELL ROAD, HAWTHORN EAST, VIC 3123 PHONE 9804 0888 9804 0322 FAX EMAIL [email protected] Eric M Cohen OAM – 80th Birthday ric Cohen’s life has been a lifetime of dedication and devotion to family and community service. It is fitting that we acknowledge and celebrate Eric’s 80th year in this shule as Eric has been an integral part of it for as long as I can remember, and I am 68. Eric has been involved in the management of the shule for many years and was one of the members responsible for the rejuvenation of the shule and the congregation in the mid 80s. Eric was president for two years during 1987 and 1989 but his active involvement in the shule pre-dated and post-dated that term for many years. E A few statistics: • Eric was born in January 1928. • He stated university just after his 17th birthday doing a commerce course • After university he joined the accounting practice established by his late father Morris. • He and Beverley married in 1953 – he was only 25. • Eric and Beverley have 3 children and 8 grandchildren aged 14 to 24. But statistics don’t tell about the real man – As Beverley has put it: "For as long as I have known him he has been doing something for someone else" His accounting talents acted as a magnet for many organisations and institutions over the years, both Jewish and non Jewish. As Beverley again noted: "Being an accountant, someone always wanted him to be Treasurer" The list of organisations and institutions who have been the recipients of Eric’s guidance, wisdom and talents is endless, but let me list just a few of them: • United Jewish Education Board • The Heart Foundation • Bethlehem Hospital • Numerous accountancy committees and tribunals • He has been actively involved with the Jewish Museum from its inception in the early 1980s and was its Treasurer for 12 years. • The Historical Society, both State and Jewish • The Genealogical Society I should interrupt my list for a moment to say that over the years Eric has developed a passionate interest in history and the preservation of archives. He has been substantially responsible in recent years for the preservation and protection of the archives of this Congregation which date back to the earliest days of the establishment of the Colony of Victoria. That’s not surprising considering that Eric’s greatgreat- great-grandfather, and mine, Michael Cashmore was the founding President of this Congregation, established in 1841. • Eric and Beverley are active members of the B’nai B’rith and Eric has been auditor of B’nai B’rith Australia, B’nai B’rith Victoria and their units as well as being involved in the Anti-Defamation Commission and its important work. • I must not forget the Orphans and Aid Society which is concerned with the integration of children into Jewish schools. Eric has been its Treasurer for many years. I could go on, but the list is endless of organisations and institutions to whom Eric has rendered substantial and ongoing honorary service. Eric is the quintessential communal honorary worker. That is why he was recognised by being admitted to the Order of Australia, receiving an OAM for communal service. Eric we salute you, we are humble in your presence. We congratulate you on achieving your first 80 years and look forward to Davening with you in this shule for many years to come. This is the full text delivered by Alan Goldberg at the Shabbat service, 1st March 2008. ERIC & BEC COHEN FAMILY WEDDINGS AT MHC – FIVE GENERATIONS Morris J COHEN married Isabella JONES .............................20th December 1857 Joseph M COHEN married Esther ABRAHAM ............................23rd March 1898 Morris J COHEN married Esther COHEN .........................................14th April 1927 Eric COHEN married Beverley JOSEPH ..............................................9th April 1953 Robyn COHEN married David WINOGRAD...................................1st August 1982 Also Henry COHEN married Esther CASHMORE..............................5th February 1868 Hyman JOSEPH married Sarah MARKS ...........................................25th June 1856 Joseph D JOSEPH married Esther SOLOMON .................................11th April 1883 Let me continue my list of organisations and institutions with which Eric has been involved: Note: Henry Cohen was Eric’s Great Grandfather Hyman Joseph was Bev’s Great Grandfather Joseph D Joseph (A past president of MHC) was Bev’s Grandfather) “60 Days for 6 Million” – Reactions to our DVD from the United Kingdom I’m Mike Lyons and I run the website for the Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation in England. Every week I highlight a couple of synagogues from around the world and a few weeks ago I chose, at random, the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and sent an email informing them of this. David Lissauer kindly sent me a copy of the 60 Days for 6 Million DVD and asked me to let you know what I thought of it – and I don’t know! I’m not finding it very easy to describe how I feel simply because I’m not too sure how I feel. As we go through life we tend to pigeonhole things and everything is classified and catalogued even if it’s only in our minds. A book, for instance, is either good, bad, okay, exciting, boring or silly but now I’m standing here with your DVD in my hand and I don’t know which pigeonhole I should place it in. I’ve only experienced this once before and that was after the film Schindler’s List which of course was also about the Holocaust. Normally when a film finishes and reality regains control people start chatting and laughing and carrying on with their lives, but not after that film. You could almost hear that pin drop as the audience filed out, stunned by what they had just witnessed. It must be the same after visiting the sites of the concentration camps but I don’t wish to find out. I think I’ll have to file your DVD under ‘Numb’. It is obvious that a huge amount of organising and work went into the making of this DVD. To those people who put so much thought and effort into producing it and especially to the person who originally thought of the idea – thank you. Mike Lyons, Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, UK. www.communigate.com.uk/sussex/bhhc/ 7 A Pesach Visitation Did your rabbi ever tell you the tale of the thirty-six Tzadiks who circulate in our world? Outside, they look like me and you. Inside,they glow with righteousness. To put it plainly, they are the spies of G-d; their mission is surveillance of the human heartscape. Filed directly with the Creator, their annual report determines the world’s fate the following year. If all is ethically well; the fruit trees bow low with their harvest, the S&P 500 index zooms, the Winter is mild and the Summers are balmy. But the Berg family at Mt Hotham Road, Ascot Vale had no time for rabbinic tales. They were busy planning their Passover. They would have a guest this year, they decided – some homeless stranger. A real Mitzvah it would be. The next morning found Sarah Berg dialing around to several Jewish agencies until she found her man. Sure, they had a candidate. A young, rootless fellow passing through town. What a glorious Passover it would be, thought Sarah. A sumptuous meal, the Seder ceremony, and the added Mitzvah of the indigent guest. Just as the Hagaddah says; "let all who are hungry come and eat". But so much preparation and post-meal cleanup. She cringed at the thought of dirty dishes piled in the sink, crusted with the remains of five courses. She'd get a maid. A small luxury. Now, it's Seder night. The doorbell rings. It's him, the guest. He's in torn jeans, plaid shirt, and a Collingwood sports cap. He smells of stale beer. A derelict, with an attitude. And a vacant look in his watery eyes. But the Bergs welcome him into their home with smiles. Uncomfortably, they make small talk as the stranger sits stiffly at the table. They proceed with the Seder, but he seems to have no understanding of the service and his face reflects distaste at the ceremonial blessings. He's the rejected suitor at the wedding feast. Nor is he interested in Daniel Berg's Passover anecdotes directed at both him and the children. "When do we eat?" he says as they pass the matzoh and moror sandwiches around the table. The guest eats steadily as the family participates enthusiastically in the service. They talk of ancient miracles as he enthusiastically devours the brisket and roast chicken. The children swing their heads from the derelict to their parents in silent wonder at the sullen guest. In the middle of this tension there is a horrible crash of china from the kitchen. The floor is littered with the shards of Sarah Berg's wedding china; a gift from her mother, who had died the month before. The maid had slipped and upset the card table holding the dirty dishes. She stared down at her clumsy handiwork. A silent tear ran down the old lady's cheek as Sarah looked at her mother's heirloom, now splintered china, all over the kitchen floor. A great sadness seized her heart. The failed holiday, the memory of her mother, this Succoth with the Rubinfelds… s he has for a number of years the Rabbi and rebbitzen hosted a catered Succah party. This year’s event was attended by 60 members of the congregation and as the attached photos attest a great time was had by all. An added bonus this year, the rabbi’s children and grandchildren were here from the states allowing those members present to get to know them. If members get the chance next year drop in to the Rabbis Succot function. It is always a great night and one the kids really enjoy A 8 incompetent human being who couldn't even clear the table without disaster. But she swallowed the lump in her throat when she saw the remorseful tears in the eyes of the old lady. “That's OK, that's OK." She patted the shoulder of her Passover helper as the maid swept the remains of Sarah's mother's Lenox china into a brown paper grocery sack. Sarah returned to the table determined to crown the evening with ceremony appropriate to the holiday. Fitfully, they resumed the singing. And soon, mercifully, the evening came to an end. The maid, still red-eyed, was paid handsomely, in deference to the holiday, and sent home early with a plastic bag full of roast chicken. The kids – sleepy, irritable, appalled by the rude guest – were ordered upstairs to bed. The family went upstairs to an uneasy sleep where Sarah's dreams were strangely lighted by the tearful eyes of the clumsy maid. A miserable night. Ah, but what a golden year followed for the Berg family: and the world they inhabited. With a soft flute-like sound in the trees, a warm wind blew over the face of the earth and unlocked the cold heart of humanity. The earth smiled. The fruit trees bowed low with their harvest, the stock index zoomed, and the Winter was mild and the Summer was balmy. And all for the price of a pat on the shoulder, a plastic bag full of leftover chicken, and a set of dishes. Who would suspect that a Tzadik's duties included sweeping the kitchen floor. © Ted Roberts. All Rights Reserved A New Look for Pesach in MHC he accompanying photos show our new special Pesach Parochet (ark curtain) donated by the Basist/Lissauer families in honor of the marriage of their children Naomi to Joel. The families have also ordered a special Shavuot Parochet that will be featured in our next magazine. Also pictured are the new bimah cover and bein gavrah (torah cover) presented in honour of the 60th wedding anniversary of Miriam and Ben Sherr and the newly installed retractable blinds to the downstairs area of the Shule, generously donated by Bennie and Jeanette Borenstein and family. T Jack Bercove Platter he family of Jack Bercove (Past President of Melbourne Hebrew Congregation 5724-1963) have donated to the Shule archives this ceremonial platter which was presented to him in appreciation of his time in office. T – With Compliments – – With Compliments – – With Compliments – Michael Danby MP Proudly representing the electorate of Melbourne Ports. 117 Fitzroy St (PO Box 2086) St Kilda West VIC 3182 Ph: 9534 8126 Fax: 9534 1575 [email protected] FIVE STAR BOUTIQUE HOTEL & BANQUETING FACILITIES (Only 100m from Shule) “Where Melbourne’s top dogs and cats stay” Barry and Denise McMahon, 72 Ashley Rd, Yarrambat 436 1307 379 St Kilda Road, Melbourne Tel: 9677 9900 Fax: 9677 9927 www.roycehotels.com.au 9 Silvia and Phillip Piorun & Phillip Piorun Pty Ltd Our Shule’s Windows and Architecture Book is Finally Complete!! s outlined in the Chairman’s report the final touches are being made to the deluxe coffee table art book cataloguing the beauty of our Shule. It is to be a case bound publication of nearly 100 pages outlining in pictorial content and fold out spreads the architecture and magnificent windows of “Toorak Shule”. Associate Professor Julie Willis of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Melbourne, has authored the architectural content while window designer Rimona Kedem has contributed her thoughts and perspectives on her thirty+ year design project. The publication of this book has been greatly assisted by the philanthropy and generosity of dedicated congregants Mr Israel Rosenfeld and family and Dr and Mrs. Harry Perelberg. Every member family of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation will receive a copy of this magnificent book. A personalised invitation will be sent to all members together with communal and other dignitaries for the launch of this landmark publication which at the time of going to press will be likely to occur in mid to late May. A "limited edition" gold stamped leather bound version of the book is also to be made available at a cost of $250 (available via prior reservation), and a number of congregants have already, I’m heartened to report, reserved copies. Sunflower Bookshop in Elsternwick have been given the exclusive rights to stock and sell the book after its launch in late May. Pricing and details will be made available to congregants once costs are finalised. I acknowledge the support of the Executive in realising this special project, and they share my belief that the book will appeal to not only our members and their friends but also to students of architecture and art, those individuals interested in religious buildings and anyone with an appreciation of the beauty of contemporary leadlight windows. Special thanks are due to Stephen Reynolds and Stephen Freeman of Photosynthesis who have been instrumental in ensuring the quality of our planned publication will be nothing short of first rate. A David H Sherr, Editor 10 – With Compliments – MHC Youth Activities BBL Enterprises Pty Ltd 9804 7644 Youth activities are planned by Ronny and Natalie Kowadlo. Please contact either Ronny on mobile 0413863263 or alternatively via e-mail on: [email protected] Messages can also be left via the Shule office. Barbara & Barry Landau and family 11 – With Compliments – Bev & Eric Cohen & family With This Ring… The synagogue foyer sparkled with a plethora of vibrant photographs, Ketuboth and memorabilia as visitors excitedly wended their way through the new exhibition “With this ring…the Mystique of Jewish Marriage-Rituals and Tradition”. The exhibition was officially opened by Rabbi Laibl Wolf, Dean of the Spiritgrow Centre, at 10.30am on Sunday 25th November 2007. Mr. Leonard Yaffe acted as Master of Ceremonies in the synagogue for the official opening and emphasized the ongoing efforts of the Archival Committee to bring glimpses of Jewish life to the public through vignettes and the congregation’s archival material. ‘For the many non-Jewish organizations from metropolitan and country Victoria to our shule, the exhibitions aimed to show the involvement of Jews in the Australian community and also demonstrated Jewish traditions and customs’, he said. Leonard introduced the keynote speaker of the day: Rabbi Laibl Wolf, the Dean of Spiritgrow, a holistic Jewish centre for personal and spiritual growth. Rabbi Wolf declared that he was delighted to open an exhibition on what he considered the secret of Jewish continuity.’ We are living in a world of immense change’, he said, and pointed out that in the last sixty to eighty years, more change has taken place than in the whole of history. A single factor has been the media, which substantially directs us how to think, feel, wash and dress! It is impossible to create a bulwark against it’, Rabbi Wolf said. He pointed out that this must come inwardly from ourselves. ‘Jewish people still have the same value system as of old, and there is a mystique that comes from the early mists of Jewish dawn. The process begins in the centrality of the Jewish home’, he said. ‘Marriage, the coming together of man and woman, lies at the core of Judaism’. Rabbi Wolf described commitment as the essential ingredient, one which allowed a relationship to leap into a higher level that otherwise could not be reached. ‘Every picture we see in this exhibition’, he said, ‘depicts a sense of oneness. God has defined the world in dualitieseyes, ears, nostrils and brain hemispheres. He directs that we take all the twos in life to create oneness: specifically the unity of the love of man and woman’. In conclusion, the Rabbi paid tribute to our synagogue and hoped the initiative would provide a lead to other congregations. The next speaker, Mrs. Sarah Wein, has been the Curator for three exhibitions in the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation. She explained that this exhibition had focused on the wedding ceremonies in this synagogue, with many artifacts depicting two or more family 12 generations of weddings. The exhibition, she said, was in accordance with the words from the Biblical text: “And the Lord God said: it is not good for man to be alone, he needs a helpmate” Genesis 2:18 Sarah thanked Sonia Oberman for her able assistance in mounting the exhibition and additionally her enthusiastic team of helpers and synagogue personnel. Leonard Yaffe expressed his appreciation to Rabbi Wolf, Sarah, Eric Cohen and the Archival Committee, Stephen Reynolds and all those who had contributed to the exhibition. Visitors adjourned to morning tea in Winton Hall but soon gravitated downstairs for yet another glimpse of themselves, family and friends in wedding attire. (Were our waistlines really so tiny?) The portraits sometimes spanned three generations, and more eloquently than words depicted family traditions welded to the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, which consecrated the first synagogue in Bourke St., Melbourne on Friday 17th March 1848 and opened its doors on the corner of Toorak Rd. and Arnold St. on Sunday 25th May 1930. Freda Kaufman 13 – With Compliments – David & Geinia Goldberger – With Compliments – – With Compliments – DAS is a firm of Commercial, Property and Dispute Resolution Lawyers. Our lawyers offer you a combination of business expertise with a full range of legal services. Level 4, 575 Bourke St, Melbourne GPO Box 375, Melbourne VIC 3001 DX 208 Melbourne Tel: (613) 8080 3500 Fax: (613) 8080 3599 www.daslaw.com.au Chadstone Shopping Centre, 1341 Dandenong Road, Chadstone 3148 Phone 8564 1222 14 Business Advisors Level 3, 180 Flinders Lane Melbourne 3000 Tel: 61 3 9639 4779 [email protected] A Cluster of Dates have always taken a great interest in calendars and dates. As a small boy I would get up early on the morning of January 1 to check if the newspapers had changed the year on their mastheads. To me this year 2008/5768 is most interesting because of the almost one month's divergence between Pesach and Easter. I THE COMMON YEAR (Christian calendar) About 700 BCE the first Roman calendar came into being. It featured a seven day week and a year of twelve months. In the year 325 CE the Roman emperor, Constantine, convened what became known as the Council of Nicaea which made three changes to the calendar – the year became one of 365.25 days, he retained the dissection into twelve months, Sunday became a holiday in a seven day week, Christian holidays with fixed dates were recognised, and Easter was recognised as not having a fixed date. In 1582 Pope Gregory instituted a calendar now known as the Gregorian Calendar correcting the error of the former Julian Calendar which overestimated the solar year by 11 minutes 14 seconds. To do this a papal ruling eliminated 5-14 October 1582. However, countries such as Great Britain and the American colonies did not adopt the new calendar until 1752 when they eliminated eleven days. Japan did not accept the new calendar until 1873 and China until 1949. In 1971 the Eastern Orthodox Church decided to retain the Julian calendar. THE HEBREW CALENDAR The Hebrew calendar has a complicated leap year system when an extra month is added. This leap year occurs every 3-3-2-3-3-3-2 in a cycle of nineteen years. This enables the calendar to relate to the lunar year. There are further adjustments so that yomtovim such as Rosh Hashonah cannot fall on a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday. EASTER Put simply Easter Sunday the spring equinox (March 22 in the Northern hemisphere) – astronomically the point between winter and summer at which the sun strikes the Equator – is the date used to determine Easter. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. At the Council of Nicaea PESACH AND EASTER So allowing for necessary adjustments to both the general calendar and the Hebrew calendar why in the year 2008/ 5768 does Good Friday fall on March 21 and Seder night on April 18? No. Month Pronunciation No. of Days in Month Corresponding Months of Gregorian calendar 1 Nisan ne-san 30 March – April 2 Iyyar e-yar 29 April – May 3 Sivan sev-in 29 May – June 4 Tammauz tam-mux 29 June – July 5 Av aah-b 29 July – August 6 Elul el-ool 29 August – September 7 Tishrei tish-ri 30 September – October 8 Cheshvan ches-von 29-30 October – November 9 Kislev kis-lov 30-29 November – December 10 Tevet te-bet 29 December – January 11 Shevat sha-va</td> 29-30 January – February 12 Adar are-dar 29-30 February – March 13 Adar II are-dar 29 Intercalary Month (Leap Year) (325 CE) an attempt was made to regularise or fix the date of Easter but conflict before and after the conference continued. PESACH First day Pesach occurs on 15 Nisan but, because of the affect of leap years, first day can vary from March 27 to April 25. So to try and correlate Easter and Pesach is like comparing apples with oranges. Eric M Cohen OAM Feasts and Events 14th Passover 15th Unleaven Bread 21st First Fruits 16th-17th Pentecost. Feast of Weeks, seven weeks after Passover The Temple was destroyed on 9th of Av 70 AD 1st Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashannah Feast of Trumpets 10th Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) 15th Feast of Tabernacles (Succot) Feast of Lights – Chanukah which celebrates the redication of the Temple in 168 BC. 13-14th Purim (Celebrates Queen Esther and Mordecai saving the Jewish people from being destroyed during the Babylonian captivity 15 Sheva Brachot (the Seven Blessings) Celebrations for Michael Danby & Amanda Mendes da Costa uch publicity surrounded the wedding of the Federal Member for Melbourne Ports, Michael Danby MP to barrister Amanda Mendes de Costa in Canberra’s Federal Parliament, that was conducted by three rabbonim from Melbourne – Rabbis Motel Gutnick, Yitzhok Riesenberg & our own Dovid Rubinfeld On the evening following Rabbi Rubinfeld together with his wife Miriam hosted a Sheva Brachot celebration for the newly married couple at their home in East St Kilda. The wedding by all accounts was a glittering affair, wonderfully catered by Unger Catering of Melbourne. The some 250 guests were witness to what is believed to be the first orthodox Jewish wedding in a federal parliament house anywhere in the world. Such was the occasion that Rabbi Rubinfeld felt compelled to recite the Shechiyanu prayer, usually recited on the eve of festivals and holydays, believing that this was the most appropriate recognition of such a unique event. According to the our Rabbi, it was the first time he’d danced with a Prime Minister, (Prime Minister Kevin Rudd) and even Rabbi Mordy Katz aka Robert Weil, moved beyond the mechitza & was seen to be enjoying the mitzvah tanse (complete with handkerchief between them) with Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The post wedding sheva brachot at the home of our Rabbi and Rebbitzen was attended by selected Life Governors, Members of the Executive & the clergy of the Congregation together with other members of the wider Jewish community, and was a delightful evening. M The excellent catered dinner was complimented by several musical renditions and duets by Rabbi Rubinfeld in concert with Ronny Kowadlo. Both Michael and Amanda gave heartfelt and insightful speeches and touched on their long journey to their chupah at Parliament House. Amanda reiterated some of the feelings she’d expressed the night before, emphasizing her pride at now having become an orthodox Jew, and the importance it now plays in her life. It was this pride expressed the previous evening that had moved some in attendance to tears. The evening concluded with the benching (grace after meals) and the recitation of the Sheva Brachot, as always sung so beautifully by Rabbi Rubinfeld, and it was on this happy and pleasant note that a warm and wonderful evening ended with good wishes for a long and happy future for the newlyweds. EDITOR’S NOTE: Sheva Brachot literally "the seven blessings" also known as birachat Nesuin, "the wedding blessings" in halacha (Jewish religious law) are blessings that are recited for the bride and the groom during a Jewish Wedding ceremony under the chupah over the second cup of wine (called the Cup of Blessing). These blessings are also recited as part of the festive meals that continue for a week after the wedding. They are said over a cup of wine after the Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals), and it is a common custom for these blessings to be divided among honored guests. If multiple people say the blessings, the cup is passed to the person saying each blessing. These blessings are said only if a minyan is present. On weekdays their recitation also requires the presence of at least one person who was not present at the wedding & for any previous Sheva Brachot of the couple. On Shabbat there is no need for a new guest, since the Shabbat itself is considered a new guest. New guests are referred to as Panim Hadashot – new faces. 16 Parliament House to host its first Jewish wedding… Workplace wedding ... Melbourne Ports MP Michael Danby is tying the knot at Parliament House. ederal Labor MP, Michael Danby, will marry in Parliament House today – in the first Jewish wedding to be held in the big house. Mr Danby, the member for Melbourne Ports, will tie the knot with long-time partner Amanda Mendes Da Costa. Mr Danby insists he chose to wed in Canberra because of its central location, not because of the strict work ethic laid down by leader Kevin Rudd. “Michael has friends from all over the country... [Canberra] seemed a nice, central place," Mr Danby's spokeswoman said. In a traditional ceremony, the bedecken – veiling ceremony – will take place in the Marble Hall, with the chuppah – traditional Jewish wedding canopy – erected at the Queens Terrace. Presiding over the ceremony will be rabbis Reisenberg, Rubinfeld and Gutnick. Dinner will follow in the Mural Hall, with two truckloads of kosher catering being driven from Melbourne to feed guests. About 200 people are expected to attend, including Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Ms Mendes Da Costa, who is of Jewish descent, recently converted to the faith. Mr Danby's spokeswoman said the couple had paid the full cost of the wedding. The newlyweds will honeymoon briefly on Victoria's Surf Coast before Mr Danby gets back to business. F Jehane Sharah | February 24, 2008, Sydney Morning Herald 17 Jewish Wedding in Parliament ichael Danby, federal parliament's most active member of the Jewish community, brought the Jewish community to parliament yesterday. He hosted the first Jewish wedding ceremony to take place in Parliament House when he unveiled his bride, Amanda Mendes Da Costa, a Melbourne lawyer, on the steps of the Marble Hall in Canberra. The throng of yarmulkawearing faithful who converged on the hall to the sounds of Yiddish music included a few regulars in the house. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, Health Minister Nicola Roxon, Parliamentary Secretary Bill Shorten, and former Labor MP Con Sciacca were all on the 230-strong guest list. Fellow members of the house and of the Jewish community Mark Dreyfus and Mike Kelly were also on the list, as was the Dalai Lama's representative in Australia, Tenzin Phuntsok Atisha. A yarmulka-wearing Mr Kelly, who has an IrishCatholic background and a Jewish wife and son, said the diversity of the list reflected the nature of Australia. "It all celebrates once again the fact we're inclusive in our culture," he said. Mr Danby, who was previously married and is the father of two children, served for many years as editor of the Australia/ Israel Review. The pair chose the Parliament House venue because it was central to many of their friends and family. After the unveiling, they moved to a temporary chuppah, or canopy, erected on the Queen's Terrace. M Siobhain Ryan | February 25, 2008 The Australian "Are Jews Too Powerful?” The Vanity Fair Perspective controlling. It’s not easy giving a correct answer to this question because I believe Jewish tradition provides two contradictory responses. On a verse toward the end of Genesis where Jacob speaks to his children as they are about to go down to Egypt, the Midrash describes the conversation: "Jacob requested of them: do not go out with bread in your hands and do not all enter through one gate … do not go out with bread in your hands in order not to arouse ill feeling and do not all enter through one gate for fear of the eye." There was a famine in Egypt and Jacob is telling his children that when they go down to Egypt don’t let the people see that you have bread. And don’t all come marching in together as one; people will be afraid of you; people will envy you; people will give you the ‘evil eye.’ With this in mind, one cannot help but think that the articles in Vanity Fair are not doing us any favor. It would be better if there wasn’t so much attention drawn to our success. On the other hand, in the Book of Exodus, in describing the garment that was made for the High Priest to wear in the Temple, we are told that the hem of his robe had bells on it so that people would know that he was coming. And the Lubavitcher Rebbe saw this as a lesson that a Jew should go out into this world proud and confident, trying to spread the message. And that’s just what Lubavitcher Chasidim do these days, with their “Mitzvah Mobiles” and the big Chanukah menorahs they put up in public squares throughout our country. So, from the perspective of the Lubavitcher Rebbe you could say – although he never would have put it this way: “If you’ve got it, flaunt it!” So what do you think? Lay low or flaunt it? Is Vanity Fair good for the Jews or not? I venture to say that your answer depends upon how old you are. Alan Derschowitz put it so well in his book appropriately entitled, “Chutzpah” when he pointed out, “We are at a generational crossroads. The Jews who were the American pioneers – our first generations of immigrants – were indeed guests You’re going to find this hard to believe, but according to Mr. Aaron’s calculation, 51 out of the 100 are Jewish! Shabbat Sermon October 20, 2007 Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg, Beth Tfiloh Congregation, Baltimore, Maryland. his magazine may be dangerous to your health … or maybe not! You can’t tell which magazine it is because I’ve only shown you the back cover. The front cover has a picture of Nicole Kidman in a state of undress and I fear if I show it to you, you may have trouble focusing on me! The magazine I am referring to is the October 2007 issue of Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair is one of the magazines I subscribe to. I do so because I have a subscription that costs only $12 a year and despite the fact that most of its advertisements (the main reason I subscribe to any magazine) is geared toward women, I find Vanity Fair a lively magazine where every month at least one or two of its articles I find of interest. But nothing prepared me to expect what is found in two articles in October’s Vanity Fair – two articles that may be dangerous to your health as a Jew – or maybe not! In the October issue of Vanity Fair there is an article on page 259 entitled, “The 2007 New Establishment” – a list of what Vanity Fair considers the 100 most powerful, influential people in American society. Now I think it was Joseph Aaron in the Chicago Jewish News who first took note of a rather remarkable aspect about these 100 people. We Jews represent about 2.5 percent of the American people. So one could naturally expect that out of the 100 most influential people in America, one would find listed two or three Jews. How many Jews do you think were listed? T Now, keep in mind that this is not a list of shleppers … amongst the 100 are people with names like David Geffen Warren Buffet, Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey. And yet, right along side of them are people with names like Schwartzman and Spielberg and Bloomberg Mayor Bloomberg and Geffen and Perelman and Lauder and Wasserstein and Cohen and Weinstein and Weintraub, and Friedman, and Stephen Spielberg Silver. Not bad, my friends! Not bad! Not bad when one considers that there are more people born in China every year than there are Jews in the whole world! And as if all this is not enough, on page 306 in the same issue of the magazine, there is another list. This one called "The Next Establishment" listing younger people who Vanity Fair believes will eventually make it to the ‘big list.’ There are 26 people on that list … 15 are Jews. Again, over 50%! Eat your heart out, Anne Coulter! And then, just in case you still don’t get it, on page 308 of Vanity Fair they have a list of people who made the "New Establishment" list in the past, but for one reason or another didn’t make it this year, but Vanity Fair believes will be back in the future. There are 9 names on this list … 8 of them are Jews! This is absolutely unbelievable! This is absolutely incredible! The only question is – the age old question: Is it good for the Jews? Does presenting so many Jews out front in the public, in positions of power, drawing attention to us … is that good? It shows how good we are? Or is it bad, feeding the hatred of the anti-Semites who accuse us of being too powerful and too 18 in other people’s land." Yes, many of our fathers and mothers and certainly our grandfathers and grandmothers felt that they were guests in America. And so they made sure that they did nothing to ‘rock the boat.’ They did as little as possible to draw attention to themselves. They had a ‘sha-shtil’ philosophy – lay low and they won’t come after us with an axe. And so, Betty Perske changed her name to Lauren Bacall, and Joseph Gottlieb to Joey Bishop, and Issur Lauren Bacall Danielovich Demsky to Kirk Douglas, and Sidney Liebowitz to Steve Lawrence. But as Jews grew more Kirk Douglas successful in America they also grew to feel at home in America. And suddenly Jews were asserting their rights as Jews. In the 50’s Joey Bishop and 60’s when many Jews moved to the suburbs there were many synagogues across the country that built their parking lot in the front and the synagogue in the back so as not to upset their neighbors. But then, all of a sudden, in the 70’s "Freedom for Soviet Jewry" was put on billboards in front of every synagogue … and Jews started demanding their rights and asserting their interests. Sure, it led the Jimmy Carters and the Walts and the Mearsheimers to claim that the Jewish lobby was too powerful. But just one generation ago there was no Jewish lobby! And there was no Israeli Air Force! And by the time others fought our battle, 6 million Jews had gone up in smoke! At the beginning of this morning’s Torah portion God challenges Abraham to leave his country and to come to the Promised Land of Israel. "V’escha l’goy gadol – and I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and be thou a blessing." God promised Abraham that his progeny would become a great nation. As you know, the Jewish people have never been great in numbers, and yet there are people who think that we rule the world! It’s unbelievable! There are _ of a billion Hindus in this world. There are over 300 million Buddhists. There are more Zoroastrians and Mormons in the world than there are Jews! But who rules the world? Not them! Who rules? Me and you … and our ‘mishpocho’ over at Vanity Fair. And you know what? There are lots of people who think that’s true! And you know what? I’m glad they do! It’s very important for our survival. My teacher, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, once pointed out and interesting fact about Abraham. Abraham found respect from the outside world only in the aftermath of one particular incident. As we’re told in our Torah portion this morning, "Melchizedak, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine." He went so far as to make a kiddush – "And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abraham of God most high, maker of heaven and earth." What prompted this profusion of compliments? Why was a Jew suddenly thrust into the role of universal hero? Pointed out Rabbi Soleveitchik: this reception was never accorded Abraham when he fulfilled his characteristic of chesed, showing kindness to strangers and hospitality to wayfarers. Helping others won Abraham no worldly praise. It was only now – now that Abraham has pursued the terrorists who held his nephew Lott captive, and in the words of the Torah: "Smote them and pursued them." …only now did the world show respect. For what impresses the world is not saintliness as much as strength, not character as much as courage, not piety as much as power. Let our enemies think that we are all-powerful. As Akiva Eldar once put it in the Haaretz newspaper, "The Arab belief that the Jews rule the world has become one of Israel’s most important deterrent factors, no less than its military strength. The lunatic idea that 6 million Jews dictate the policies of a superpower with 280 million inhabitants has contributed greatly to the decisions by Arab and Palestinian leaders, and even to that of the Arab League, to accept – albeit with gritted teeth – the existence of the Jewish state. When Anwar Sadat and King Hussein came to Jerusalem, they had at least one eye fixed on Washington." Yes, let the Arab world think that we’re all-powerful. That’s the only way they may somehow come to the realization that they’re going to have to learn how to live with us. And here in America, I’m sure there are some people who, when they read Vanity Fair, will have an upset stomach. But do you think they would learn to love us if we were less successful? Should we be less successful just to please them? The Jews living in the shtetels of Eastern Europe were not successful, had no power. That didn’t stop the Cossacks and others from destroying their homes and killing their families! Dov Burt Levy, writing in the Forward newspaper, described sitting in a café in London on Feb. 28, 2001 reading the International Herald Tribune. He couldn’t get over the fact, in turning to the editorial page, five of the six columns were written by Jews: Richard Cohen, Stephen Rosenfeld, Robert Caplan, Ellen Goodman and Thomas Friedman. The sixth column was written by a South Korean by the name of Prof. Han Sung-Joo. Five Jews and a Joo! It’s true, with so many Jewish names in positions of prominence, it drives our enemies crazy. But you know what? It makes many of our friends feel good! And we Jews have many friends here in America. Many of them believe that the Bible is the word of God. And they take seriously – very seriously – the words of God’s promise to Abraham when He said, "V’avorcha m’vorechacha u’mkalelcha oar – and I will bless them that bless thee and him that curseth thee I will curse." Those are very important words that God promised to Abraham; that those who will support the Jews will be blessed and those who curse us will be cursed. You should know that it is this promise which forms the basis of much of the Evangelical Christian support for the State of Israel. Type in the words of this promise on an Internet search engine; type in Genesis 12:3 and you’ll see how many Christian websites pop up. If you are our friend, you’ll be blessed … if you are against us you’ll be cursed. It’s one of the facts of history. We speak of the "glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome." But that glory and grandeur soon departed after the Greeks and Romans turned against us. Similarly, soon after Spain expelled its Jews, the sun began to set on the Spanish Empire. And in modern times, the Iron Curtain of Communism first began to fall when the Jews sought their freedom. So let people think we are blessed. They just might be right … and they just might be blessed as well. "I will bless them that bless thee and him that curseth thee I will curse." On a majestic night nearly 4000 years ago, God promised our forefather Abraham that his people would be made in to a "great nation." That pledge by the Almighty was repeated to our forefathers and remains a solemn oath. This month’s Vanity Fair seems to indicate the pledge is being fulfilled in our day. We are the most blessed generation in the last 2000 years of our people. We should thank God for being that privileged generation that has an Israeli Air Force that could knock out Iraq’s nuclear reactor and Syria’s as well. We should thank God for living in this great country, the good old U.S. of A where a majority of the members of the New Establishment are Jewish. "Hashem oz l’amo yitain. Hashem yevorach et amo bashalom. The Lord has given strength to His people. May He now bless us with peace." Amen. Reproduced with the blessing of Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg. Vanity Fair’s "The 2007 New Establishment" 1 Rupert Murdoch, 19 Al Gore, 37 Giorgio Armani (last year: 32) 2 Steve Jobs, 20 Larry Ellison, 38 Jeffrey Katzenberg (last year: 45) 3 Sergey Brin and Larry Page, 21 Herb Allen (last year: 48) 39 4 Stephen Schwarzman and Pete Peterson, 22 Jeff Bewkes (last year: 16) Ronald Lauder and Leonard Lauder (last year: 40) 5 Warren Buffett, 23 Jeff Bezos (last year: 42) 40 George Lucas (last year: 41) 41 Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein (last year: 39) 42 Diane Sawyer and Mike Nichols (last year: 47) 6 Bill Clinton, 24 Peter Chernin (last year: 15) 7 Steven Spielberg, 25 Leslie Moonves (last year: 18) 8 Bernard Arnault, 26 Jerry Bruckheimer (last year: 28) 9 Michael Bloomberg, 27 George Clooney (last year: 23) 43 Bruce Wasserstein (last year: 38) 10 Bill and Melinda Gates,. 28 Bono (last year: 24) 44 Miuccia Prada (last year: 58) 11 Carlos Slim Helú, 29 François Pinault (last year: 26) 45 Steven Cohen (last year: 29) 12 H. Lee Scott, 30 Roman Abramovich (last year: 50) 46 Tom Cruise (last year: 35) 13 Ralph Lauren, 31 Ronald Perelman (last year: 31) 47 Jay-Z (last year: 46) 14 Oprah Winfrey, 32 Tom Hanks (last year: 25) 48 Ron Meyer (returning) 15 Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg, 33 Jacob Rothschild (last year: 80) 49 Frank Gehry (last year: 77) 16 David Geffen 34 Robert De Niro (last year: 27) 50 Arnold Schwarzenegger (new entry) 17 Howard Stringer, 35 Howard Schultz (new entry) 51 Henry Kravis (new entry) 18 Richard Parsons, 36 Robert Iger (last year: 13) 52 Karl Lagerfeld (last year: 60) 19 Purim Mini-Golf Day 2008 his years Purim party was an event that will be remembered for a long time to come. Not only for its sweltering 38 degree heat (with only an oasis on the horizon) and the faint sound of the Melbourne Grand Prix but also for the guest appearances from Slash – the lead guitarist for Guns ‘N’ Roses, Captain Feathersword – the Friendly Pirate, Kobe Bryant – an L.A Lakers Basketball Player and Tiger Woods who needs no introduction. The event was held at Caulfield Park, and besides the blistering heat it didn’t stop the keen mini golfers. In fact, it brought out their skill, accuracy and determination to overcome the 9 hole challenging mini golf course whilst sipping on cold drinks and noshing on Hamantaschen. Over 35 people came and witnessed, Bennie Borenstein, (pictured top right dressed as himself) win a nail biter with close competition coming from his wife Jeannine and a new junior in the world ranking known as Adam Borenstajn (not related to the winner) Although the Rabbi took up the challenge, he was quickly reminded not to give up his day job. I can also confirm that I won’t be giving up my day job since I came last, and no doubt even my 16 month son could have taught me a trick or two. T Ronny Kowadlo 20 Mount Scopus Memorial College – With Compliments – – With Compliments – Level 6 468 St Kilda Rd Melbourne 3004 Tel: 9820 6400 Fax: 9820 6499 Dr and Mrs Mervyn Jacobson and Family Sothertons Melbourne: An association of independent accounting firms throughout Australasia www.sothertonsmelbourne.com.au – With Compliments – Phone: 9525 2377 Fax: 9525 2439 21 Bal Tashchit – Thou Shalt Not Destroy you do, there is no one to repair it after you." Midrash Rabba: Ecclesiastes 7:13 The exhibition Bal Tashchit – Thou Shalt Not Destroy at the Jewish Museum of Australia illuminates environmental prescriptions in the Hebrew Bible by bringing together fourteen contemporary Australian artists, Jewish and non-Jewish, working across the media of painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture. This exhibition takes as its base the writings of the Torah and rabbinic commentary,yet the warnings in the Hebrew Bible are universal and terribly, irrevocably, relevant today. Australian art meets the apocalypse Environmental Apocalypse and the Hebrew Bible Jewish Museum of Australia 8 April – 29 June 2008 Today, as humankind pillages the riches of the Tasmanian rainforests or the jungles of the Amazon, pollutes the seas and the skies, over-warms the earth and extinguishes species, we are clearly not heeding the prophetic words: “When God created the first man, God took him around to all the trees in the Garden of Eden and said to him: "See my handiwork, how beautiful and choice they are… be careful not to ruin and destroy my world, for if These artists’ creative responses to urgent environmental issues and allied biblical verses sit alongside contemporary facts and figures of environmental degradation. Warnings of environmental catastrophe were written well before such terms as carbon emission and global warming entered our lexicon. Concern for our environment flows like a stream through the Hebrew Bible and the commentaries upon it. Care for other species, and for nature itself, appears throughout Genesis, Deuteronomy, Ecclesiastes, Joshua, and in Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed. LAUREN BERKOWITZ – Drift, 2008, herbs, spices, pulses “Ought ye not to know that the LORD G-d of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?” II Chronicles 13.5 FIONA OMEENYO – Shining, 2007 acrylic on canvas “And before him I told the dream, saying… O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen and the interpretation thereof.” Daniel 4. 8–9 LISA ROET – Chimpanzee Finger, 2006, bronze “The love and tenderness of the mother for her young is not produced by reasoning but by feeling and this faculty exists not only in humans but in most living things.” Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed 3:48 22 LINDA IVIMEY – Dust Will Return, 2008 BERNHARD SACHS – Dead Sea, 2008 Hari Ho – Eternity: Moment by Moment, 2003, C-type print “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” Psalm 36 PAT BRASSINGTON – Unspecified Procedures, 2006, pigment print “… a person who combines two varieties introduces a change and denial of primordial Creation, as if he thought that the Holy One, blessed be He, had not sufficiently perfected His world, and so he wishes to assist in the creation of the world by adding new creations. Nahmanides on Lev. 19:19 PETER DAVERINGTON – Ain Sof, 2008 VERA MÖLLER – Veronium, 2007, oil on canvas “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2.8–9 IRENE HANENBERG– Cheetah (Augustus), 2007 Jewish Museum of Australia 26 Alma Rd, St Kilda Vic Tel: 03) 9534 0083 www.jewishmuseum.com.au Open: Tues – Thurs 10am – 4pm; Sun 11am – 5pm; Closed: Jewish holy days. KATHY TEMIN – Model for Greenhouse, 2008 23 Most people in the Jewish community are aware that Ashkenazi women have a predisposition to breast cancer. There are hundreds of women in the community who have been touched by breast cancer in their lives. And, unfortunately, many more will be affected until a cure can be found. The Jewish Breast Cancer Support Group has been formed because of the growing number of women in our community being diagnosed with this illness. Anne Bransby There are in existence many Breast Cancer support groups, but, with our unique culture and traditions, a support group specifically for Jewish women is considered to be better suited to meet the needs of women in our community. The Jewish Breast Cancer support group aims to provide emotional support to all Jewish women with any stage breast cancer, whether they have had breast cancer in the past, or are currently undergoing treatment, in a comfortable, safe and confidential environment. It will provide expert information sessions within the field of Breast Cancer and Women’s Health in general. It will also run workshops such as yoga and meditation to help these women live well, happily and healthily. And the JBCSG also want to help look after the families of these women by holding separate partners meetings and having family outings to celebrate the various Jewish festivals during the year. Our meetings are held at National Council of Jewish Women Australia (Victoria) House, 133 Hawthorn Rd, Caulfield, from 8-9.30. Future dates are as follows: • Wednesday 16th April, 2008 • Wednesday 14th May, 2008 • Tuesday 1st April, 2008 • Wednesday 30th April, 2008 • Tuesday 27th May, 2008 Thereafter meetings should be fortnightly on Tuesday’s from 27th May. For further information contact: Anne – 0419 396 627 Marsha – 0409 029 198 Email – [email protected] Haphtorah Classes As you may be aware following extensive advertising in the Jewish News, the COSV wishes to run another Haphtorah Class, if there is sufficient interest from members of our community who known how to daven but have not recited a Haphtorah since their Bar Mitzvah. The classes extend over as many weeks as the experienced teacher thinks necessary and tapes of a preferred Haphtorah are provided as well as individual assistance etc. The cost of each lesson is only $5 and will be held on a week night, for 1 hour, at a suitable location in Caulfield. For any further information, please contact Harvey Bruce, COSV Outreach Co-ordinator, on 8680 5555 or AH 9571 0780. COUNCIL OF ORTHODOX SYNAGOGUES OF VICTORIA Rabbi Rubinfeld attends Conventions in the USA ur Rabbi Dovid Rubinfeld attended a major convention in Washington D.C. entitled “The Eternal Jewish Family” as well as the Agudah Convention in Connecticut. He is seen here with various other delegates including [far right] Cantor Yitzchak Helfgot who came to Australia for our famous “A Night to Remember” concert in August 2005. The Rabbi will be writing a comprehensive report which will appear in the next issue. O Rabbi Dovid Rubinfeld spent quality time with his grandchildren during his recent visit to the USA 24 Fellowship Meal for Jews and Catholics Never on Pesach t’s Pesach and I’m reminded that the Angel of Death – who cruised the skies over Egypt that haunted night of the last plague – serves the Lord like all the rest of his creatures. He obeys the same laws of nature that govern the tides of the sea, the spinning of the planets, and the salmon’s journey home to renew the species. All angels are subject to divine law, including the “hooded one”. It’s just that some get a favorable press and some don’t. Look at Archangel Michael, full time guardian of Israel and protector of the gates of Eden. He’s famous. Meanwhile, the Malach Hamoves (as the Angel of death is called in Hebrew), the reaper of souls, gathers the weak, the sick, the unfortunate. Not exactly a mission calculated to gain fame and adulation. But one must admit, he did grab the spotlight in the Pesach drama. With the exception of his immediate supervisor upstairs, he is the central character as he swoops over the rooftops of Egypt. Moses and Pharaoh stare at him with awe. You remember he skipped the huts of the Israelites because of the dash of lamb’s blood on the doorpost. Could it be that some Passover precedent was struck? Consider that during the poxes and plagues of the Middle Ages, Malach Hamoves seemed to skip over the houses of the former Israelites. Could we posses some Pesach immunity dating back to that first great escape in Egypt? Have you noticed how few Jews are yanked out of this comfortable world on Pesach? They tell the story of the Widow Aronberg. 92 years old, 4 sons, 3 daughters, enough grandchildren for a Hadassah chapter, enough great grandchildren for a congregation of their own. It was early Autumn as she lay in her bed, at the home of her granddaughter. She awaited the Dark Angel with the free ticket to the Promised Land in his pocket. Then as her nurse went to fetch a handful of pills – there he was in full coat and tails leaning on the bedpost – the Malach Hamoves – He had come for her soul. Immediately, she was awake. “Ah,” she gasped, “it’s you.” “You call – we haul,” replied the visitor, who was well accustomed to rejection. “After 92 years, 73 days, and approximately 6 hours what’s the significance of another day? ANOTHER goodbye to your family? ANOTHER pill? Come – you’re as old as stone – take my hand. OK Bertha, let’s go. I have to be in Perth for an airplane crash by noon.” Bertha waved a crooked finger in the Dark Angel’s face. “Waitaminute, waitaminute,” panted the old lady with more eyes than teeth. “I don’t want to go today. It’s Pesach. And I’m expecting another great grandchild next Tuesday. I need to see her. I need to refresh my soul for the long journey ahead.” The angel was startled. “Bertha, this is not Myers. There’s nothing here to negotiate. You should spiritually pack your bags.” “Wait till Wednesday, then I’ll gladly squeeze your hand. We’ll fly away like a pair of bluebirds!” The angel, who had been through eons of final scenes like this, knew it was best to humor the reluctant ones. he considered it unprofessional to drag them off wailing as they clung to the bedposts. Messy. Bad for his reputation. “Listen, Bertha, no scenes, OK?” He hated scenes. They degraded his dignity. “Yeah?” responded the reluctant space traveler. “Well guess what is today – and I don’t mean Easter.” – With Compliments – – With Compliments – I FOR FASHION MENSWEAR ev and I represented our shule and the Jewish community at the third and our second Fellowship Meal held at the Cardinal Knox Centre, East Melbourne, on 28 October 2007. About one hundred people were welcomed by Rev Dr John Dupuche, chair of the Catholic Interfaith Committee. There was a second welcome from Anton Block, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria who also showed his singing ability by joining the musicians in singing Adon Olom – maybe a future chazan. There were two keynote addresses the first given by Sr Mary Raeburn who gave an outline of the improvements in interfaith relations which began with the Second Vatican Council of 1962 which attempted to correct the wrong attitude present in the Catholic Church for almost two thousand years. Rabbi Morgan continued the bridging of the gap with an interactive presentation using the final psalm, Psalm 150 (Halleluyah) as his message. We enjoyed a kosher meal and the company present. FOOTNOTE: We attended a Catholic funeral recently and were quite amazed how, in many respects, the service matched ours. It made us wonder why through the centuries differences have been highlighted rather than similarities. B She went on to point out that it was the second day of Pesach and if he’d look carefully at the doorway, he’d see a mezuzah. “And everybody knows you shouldn’t dare enter a Jewish home on Pesach. Not then, not now.” She reminded him that the mezuzah, like the lamb’s blood, was on her doorpost to keep him out. The dignified visitor – who looked as though he was dressed for the Premier’s inauguration – stepped back from the bed. He, of all people, respected tradition. He tipped his hat – a black derby he’d taken from a Klezmer musician. “Bertha, see you Wednesday night – when Pesach’s over.” And as Bertha had foretold, Tuesday morning brought the gift of life to the Aronberg family. The next day, from downstairs they brought the child, pillowed in a pink quilt, to the old lady. She took a long look as deep as a lover’s sigh: then nodded to the well-dressed but shady gentleman in the corner of the room. Well, it’s only a story my grandmother told me when I was a little boy. I’m not sure I believe it. But nobody in my family ever died on Passover – my wife’s either. © Ted Roberts, All Rights Reserved Eric M Cohen OAM – With Compliments – – With Compliments – • Personal Protective Equipment • Real Estate Agents • Registered Valuers • Property Managers 51 Claremont Street, Sth Yarra Tel: 9829 9911 Fax: 9829 9955 Email: [email protected] Web: www.castran.com.au • Workwear • Road Safety Equipment CALL: 13 2100 40 Cheltenham Rd Dandenong www.rsea.com.au 25 Phone: (03) 9315 1399 Fax: (03) 9315 1393 www.alinepackaging.com.au Israel Brodie – by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple AO, RFD Kovno and Oxford: Israel Brodie and his Rabbinical Career. The Rabbi LA Falk Memorial Lecture for 2008 by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple, AO, RFD, Emeritus Rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Sydney The following is an abridged version, and taken from the first third of Rabbi Apple’s lecture, in particular the section dealing with Rabbi Brodie’s early years in Melbourne. Rabbi Brodie presided over the British chief rabbinate for seventeen eventful years. It was not an easy time. The Jewish world had to come to terms with the lingering agony of the Holocaust and the excitement of the emergence of Israel. AngloJewry itself was changing. New situations, challenges and movements constantly arose to ruffle the smooth stability of the community. How he handled the challenges will be addressed later in this paper, but there was never any doubt on the personal level that whilst urbane, august and ecclesiastical, he was also warm, passionate and concerned for people and their feelings. Every segment of the community believed, as did the Australians, that the Chief was one of them. The grand dukes were content to have a real Englishman as Chief Rabbi. The communal power-wielders were relieved to have a Chief who was a gentleman and diplomat. The Zionists felt assured by his love for Zion. The ex-service people remembered how well he had cared for his troops. The ministers had a warm feeling for a good colleague who had always been a good friend. The mighty Dayan Abramsky and Sir Robert Waley Cohen, miles apart in religious standards, were united in their respect and support for the Chief. – With Compliments – A recent author, Miri J Freud-Kandel, in her Orthodox Judaism in Britain since 1913: An Ideology Forsaken (Vallentine Mitchell, 2006), has decided that as things turned out, Brodie was weak and wavering, browbeaten by the right-wing and unable to maintain the middle-of the-road ethos of Anglo-Jewry. In an editorial on his retirement, the Jewish Chronicle (4 June, 1965) was more tactful, but said that he "was at times misguided", and referring to the Jacobs controversy, which we will analyse in a few minutes, said, "A man whose every instinct disposed him to tranquillity was … thrown into a raging conflict which tore the community asunder and whose effects have not yet entirely abated. Yet he pursued his course with tenacity and resolution." How valid these assessments are will be examined later in this paper, but first we need to know the background of the man and the influences that moulded his career. He gained a BA degree from University College in 1915 and, after a period at Balliol College, a BLitt from Oxford in 1921. Brodie had two brothers and two sisters, of whom one sister, Minnie, was well known to Australian Jewry. Minnie came to Melbourne to keep house for the bachelor rabbi; she married Emanuel Sheink and eventually made Aliyah when in her nineties. Though he did not study in a yeshivah, Brodie imbibed his feeling for the Talmud from his teachers, Rabbi Tarshish and Rabbi YM Sandelson, and acquired the traditional sing-song of talmudical study. Not even far-away Melbourne could dim his ardour for the Talmud; he studied with his rabbinic predecessor, Rabbi Dr Joseph Abrahams, and with that embodiment of eastern European learning, Rabbi JL Gurewicz, and also found some old-timers at the Montefiore Home whom he engaged in talmudic argument. It should be recorded that Rabbi Gurewicz liked Brodie but not Rabbi Danglow, and never understood why Danglow and not he was made acting head of the Melbourne Beth Din when Brodie left. Danglow was no Talmudist, and Gurewicz questioned the kashrut of Melbourne meat supervised by the Beth Din under Danglow for export to the Holy Land. Brodie was aware of Danglow’s rabbinical limitations, but Danglow had seniority after nearly thirty years on the Melbourne Beth Din. Brodie’s musical abilities were highly admired. He loved the sung Grace After Meals and the intricate Zemirot (table hymns), and he produced translations of some of the difficult elegies for Tisha B’Av. His assistant at the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, Rev Solomon M Solomon, had no great cantorial capacity, so Brodie was chazzan as well as rabbi and sang with the choir (in those days a mixed choir of men and women). It was an anglicised congregation but even some of the more assimilated leadership retained some traditionalism, so that when the ladies presented the rabbi with a ministerial robe it was so long (Brodie was far from tall) that one of the wardens remarked that the rabbi looked like "the long V’Hu Rachum" (one of the lengthy supplicatory prayers). For a while there was a gentile choirmaster, who probably conducted the choir well but shocked the rabbi by telling him on one occasion, "Christ, what a Sh’ma Yisra’el we sang today!" Brodie shone as a preacher. Our elocution teacher at Jews’ College called Brodie one of the finest preachers in England. His sonorous speaking voice was made for oratory. His language was cultured and classical. Noone can forget his measured way of saying, "Our sages of blessed memory". No-one could handle a Midrash in the pulpit as could he. Melbourne was his trainingground; it is a pity that his synagogue was not constantly thronged with worshippers able to appreciate his abilities. He had come to Melbourne as a young man in his 20s after a brief period as a wartime army chaplain from 1917-19 and as a welfare minister in the East End of London, working with Basil Henriques and others. His people skills were soon obvious to the Melbourne community. – With Compliments – – With Compliments – – With Compliments – No chief rabbi began with such promise. HARRISONS FINANCIAL SERVICES P/L 42 Claremont Street, South Yarra 3141 Phone 9826 2011 Fax 9826 6951 Specialists in Income Protection, Life and Trauma Insurance for individuals and business. 22 Graf Road Somerville Ph: 5977 9922 Fax: 5977 9900 www.aged-care.com.au Phone 9885 8355 [email protected] 26 Domestic, Industrial and Commercial Electrical Contracting 79 Chifley Drive, Preston Phone 9484 8711 Fax 9484 8600 The young people in particular set their eyes upon him – the girls (and their mothers) because he was unmarried, the boys because they saw him as a role model. Melbourne never before (or probably afterwards) knew anything quite as exciting as "Rabbi Brodie’s boys", who hiked, debated, camped, and forged fierce friendships. The rabbi also moved into wider fields. He became a wellknown Masonic lecturer and developed many friendships outside the Jewish community. However, there was a problem as to who was to be the clerical representative of the Jewish community, a role with which Danglow had been entrusted. The outcome was that the community leadership agreed to leave the status quo until Brodie married and seemed to be more or less permanently settled in Melbourne. Within the Jewish community, the Zionist movement was in its infancy; Sir John Monash was the honorary president of the Australian Zionist Federation, but Brodie was the active leader from 1927-37 and feared not to step in to protest about the Wailing Wall incident of 1928, in spite of the fears of his colleagues Francis Lyon Cohen and Jacob Danglow and the disapproval of some of the lay leaders, who feared repercussions from demonstrations against the British Government. Brodie’s successor as Zionist Federation president, Rabbi Ephraim M Levy of Sydney, was also outspoken but less diplomatic, and became embroiled in literary combat with Sir Isaac Isaacs and Sir Samuel Cohen. Levy’s contract with the Great Synagogue was not renewed after an initial three years; Zionism may have had a role in the board’s decision, but there were many other issues, as the archived correspondence between the parties makes clear. The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, to which Brodie came in 1923 to succeed Rabbi Dr Joseph Abrahams who had held office since the 1880s, had occupied a down-town city site in Bourke Street since the 1840s. The congregants had long since dispersed to the suburbs, and even the personality and talents of a new young rabbi could not guarantee a future for a synagogue on the wrong site. The move to a commanding location in Toorak Road, South Yarra, brought some improvement, but it was still a synagogue without a resident community. Brodie utilised the new opportunities by means, amongst other things, of regular adult lectures, which sometimes attracted such large numbers that they were moved from the hall into the synagogue itself. All this time both Rabbi and Congregation knew that Melbourne would not be able to hold Brodie for ever. More than once he resigned with the intention of going back to England to resume an academic career and work for a doctorate. Eventually he did leave, in 1937. Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple, AO, RFD, Emeritus Rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Sydney (Abridged version by Leonard Yaffe. March 2008) Jewish Humour – You Can’t Beat it ! JEWISH DIVORCE - HAPPY PASSOVER An elderly man on the Gold Coast calls his son in Melbourne and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough.” “Dad, what are you talking about?” the son screams. “We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,” the old man says. “We’re sick of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Sydney and tell her.” and he hangs up. Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone, “Likeheck they’re getting divorced,” she shouts, “I’ll take care of this.” She calls her father immediately and screams at him, “You are NOT getting divorced! Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’mcalling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing. DO YOU HEAR ME?” And she hangs up. The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. “Okay,” he says,”They’re both coming for Passover and paying their own airfares.” Front cover of the Victorian Police Gazette showing Sgt Peter Benjamin with Rabbi Dofid Rubinfeld at the inaugural Victoria Police Jewish Community Dinner held last year. – With Compliments – With best wishes to the Rabbi, Congregants & Community of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation – With Compliments – – With Compliments – COLLAGE womens collections Glenferrie Rd Malvern and Church St Brighton Tel: 9500 2833 Property Investors, Managers, Consultants Suite 44, 521 Toorak Rd, Toorak Phone 9826 0311 Fax 9826 4003 27 CERTIFIED PRACTISING ACCOUNTANTS R. J. MORRIS F.C.P.A. Suite 8, Guild Court, 96 Camberwell Rd, Hawthorn East 3123 Phone 9882 7074 Fax 9882 7077 The Jewish Community of Bolivia At Rosh ago for Mexico). Hashanah services, My daughter had been Jorge spread his introduced to a young tallit on the floor man, Juan and he and went prostrate invited us to Rosh on the floor during Hashanah dinner at a one prayer. This friend’s apartment. was quite a feat for When we met this large man! A another young woman in her 60’s American medical next to me student at Erev Rosh commented that Hashahah services her father who was also of blessed volunteering memory with Rachel had been a with Children • Cobija BRAZIL rabbi in and Family PERU another Health Lake • Trinidad Titicaca Bolivian International, La Paz city and she our hosts • Cochabamba had never readily invited • Santa Cruz • Oruro seen this her to join in • Sucre • Potosi done. After the festivities. PARAGUAY Rosh At this dinner • Tarija Hashanah of 3 CHILE ARGENTINA services generations, several we were about congregants 20 people warmly greeted us. One man strong. This represents 10% of commented on my tallit, noting the current population at the that he had taught his daughter shul. Just a few years ago they the morning prayers and laying were 500 strong. In 1939 Bolivia of tefillin because she is living on was one of the first countries to a remote island. accept Jewish immigrants and I enjoyed attending Shabbes the population was once 10,000 morning services. Frequently I Jews. One of their congregants, was the sole woman sitting on Leo Spitzer wrote the book, the left side – we were separated Hotel Bolivia**. The title is very telling – Jews came to Bolivia on only by floor, no curtain. When I a temporary basis. had a question for one of my During the Rosh Hashanah male friends it was easy to catch dinner we were told that kosher their attention. For example, on wine is not available in Bolivia. my last Shabbes, I told them of These people wait for friends and my imminent departure and one family to bring it from Mexico gentleman told me he wanted to and nearby Argentina. My friend offer a prayer for my safe journey Claire tells me that, although on this long trip. He asked my some Passover products are made father’s name (they would not available through the synagogue, mention my mother’s name). To she also waits for kosher ensure I had the correct name I products for Pesach that are asked him if Tzvi meant deer. brought to her from other During one of my early visits to countries. the shul, I thought that the BOLIVIA he Jews from La Paz say they pray closest to G-d and at 2 miles high in the Andes mountains, I believe them! There is one synagogue in La Paz, Bolivia that is located in the Obrajes neighborhood. Their former immense shul on Plaza Estudiante in La Paz proper is no longer used as a synagogue. In addition to this orthodox shul, Chabad operates out of a hotel, providing Erev Shabbat dinners and the opportunity to worship together. I’d like to tell you about my experiences with the Jewish community at the orthodox shul. My daughter Rachel and I lived in a large apartment building, a mere block away from the synagogue. Because there are no identifying marks on the exterior of the synagogue my daughter had passed it many times in her 3 months stay, never recognizing that this building was, indeed, a synagogue. When I arrived in La Paz to visit her it was Rosh Hashanah and we needed a place to worship. Purchasing our tickets for the services, we again noted that the synagogue was an innocuous building amongst many other buildings in a busy neighborhood. Circulo Israelita houses a very warm congregation. Jorge*, a learned Ashkenazic businessman whose family was from Argentina, leads the congregation (their last rabbi left a few years T 28 restroom was downstairs. As I headed for the stairs I heard a loud clearing of the throat and somehow realized that the restrooms must be in the corner of the room. There is much love expressed for the young people who attend Shabbes services. It is currently traditional in Bolivia to greet everyone with 2 kisses, one on each cheek. When young men were present at Shabbes services they were warmly hugged by the older men. Children are also allowed on the men’s side and, again, all of them are sweetly cuddled and spoken to. Another heartwarming tradition was the sharing of tallisim. The man departing the bima would remove his tallit and give it to the next man who had an aliyah. After Shabbes morning services everyone sits down together at one long table for a light meal. I frequently found myself seated next to a Mexican man and my “tall friend”. Our brunch consisted of typical fare: herring, fresh onion rolls, chopped liver and an incredible honey cake. Naturally there were hard liquors for the b’racha. I was teased that during weekday services they have even better food but I never made it to these services to find out! My daughter and I also attended an Erev Shabbes service. It was difficult to understand Jorge’s rapid Spanish and accent from Argentina. Rachel provided a brief synopsis of his D’var Torah and she remarked on how spiritual this businessman was. (He commented that the story of Jacob’s ladder tells us that as Jews we are always hovering between the divine and mundane worlds). It was after this service that a lovely gentleman introduced himself with a smile, his name and age and that he was a Holocaust survivor. The next day his daughter invited me to a double Bat Mitzvah party. She convinced me to come by saying it was a mitzvah to attend the festivities. An interesting ceremony performed by the girls was the “lighting” of 13 candles. They had a poster with pockets on it and placed a nosegay of flowers in each pocket after appropriate speeches. One of the girls cried when her mother gave a speech – every woman cried with her. When I asked at the synagogue what gift my shul of a thousand member families could make to them, my friend Pablo said a Torah. This was later revised. They have 2 Torahs that are used for each new month. They have several other Torahs that they suspect are non-kosher. A good bar / bat mitzvah project would be to raise money for a scribe (perhaps there is one in nearby Argentina which has a thriving Jewish population) to ascertain what work needs to be done on these Torahs. I also visited the “Jewish” school in La Paz. It has only 5 Jewish students with a total population of several hundred students. Jewish courses are presented at the school and the front hall has Hebrew / Spanish signs that identify various offices. There is a synagogue on the school premises that is used for weekly services. The Jewish population no longer lives in the city – they tend to live in Zona del Sur (an expensive neighborhood approximately 30 minutes south of La Paz) so perhaps this is one reason why the population at the school has dwindled so small. While visiting the Jewish school, I noticed a plaque in the front hallway that has photos of President Clinton meeting with Arabs. It was titled “Fomentado La Paz” (translates to Fomented La Paz) and contains the following psalm: “Mirad cuan bueno y cuan delicioso es habitar los hermanos juntos, en armonia.” Salmos 133:1. (Behold how beautiful and wonderful it is when brothers are together in harmony – Hiney Mah Tov). Speaking with several men in their 50’s and 60’s I realized that it was traditional to send each of them to study in Israel. Many had received their university degrees in Israel. My friend Pablo was still fluent in Hebrew, 40 years after he attended university in Israel! I also noted how children today are sent to Europe, Mexico, Israel, other South American countries and the USA for their college education. In some families, children and grandchildren are now living and working abroad. One woman predicted that the entire olivia’s Jewish presence — which began in the 16th century and reached its zenith right after World War II — has been dwindling for decades. The origins of Jewish settlement in Bolivia can be traced back to the colonial period, when Marranos from Spain arrived in the country, which at the time was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Some Jews worked in the silver mines of Potosi, others were among the pioneers who founded the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in 1557 under the leadership of Nuflo de Chavez. Indeed, certain customs still maintained by old families in that region, for example lighting candles on Friday nights and sitting on the ground in mourning when a close relative dies, suggest possible Jewish ancestry. It was not until the 1900’s that substantial Jewish settlement took place in Bolivia. In 1905, a group of Russian Jews settled in Bolivia and were followed by another group from Argentina, and later by several Sephardi families from Turkey and the Near East. The Jewish community nonetheless remained minuscule. It was estimated that in 1917 only 20 to 25 Jews lived in the country, and by 1933, at the beginning of the Nazi era in Germany, there were only 30 Jewish families. The first tide of Jewish immigration came in the early 1930s, with an estimated 7,000 new immigrants by the end of 1942. Approximately 2,200 emigrated, however, from Bolivia by the end of the 1940s. Those who remained settled in La Paz, and by 1940 communities had arisen in outlying cities such as Cochabamba, Oruro, Sucre, Tarija, and Potosi. In 1939, Bolivia’s liberal immigration policy was modified, as it had been in other Latin American countries. This move kept with the policy of barring entry to nationals of the Axis powers. In addition, a certain amount of discontent was engendered with the discovery that most of the Jewish immigrants who had entered the country on an agricultural visa were actually involved in commerce and industry. B 17 Kerferd Street, East Malvern, VIC 3145 Tel: 9509 8364 www.faifer.com.au Naomi M. Sussman, Ambler, Pennsylvania USA Naomi was a recent visitor to our Shule and the Jewish Museum while her husband was conducting business with the Victorian railways. *Names of congregants have been changed to preserve their anonymity in a country predominantly of another faith. ** “Hotel Bolivia: The Culture of Memory in a Refuge from Nazism” By Leo Spitzer. Published by Hill and Wang, New York, 1999. In May 1940, all Jewish visas were suspended indefinitely; nevertheless, immigration did continue. After World War II a small wave of Polish Jews who had fled to the Far East after 1939, but abandoned Shanghai in the wake of the communist takeover, arrived in Bolivia. The major part of the group remained in La Paz, and was incorporated into the existing community. Unlike neighboring Peru, which kept a tight lid on immigration before and during World War II, Bolivia granted thousands of visas to stranded German, Polish and Russian Jews in search of a homeland. After the war, between 1946 and 1952, another wave of Jews (Holocaust survivors from as far away as Shanghai) settled in Bolivia. At its peak, the Jewish community in Bolivia numbered 10,000. Nevertheless, Jewish institutions in Bolivia – like their counterparts in much of Latin America – keep a very low profile, with armed guards protecting the mostly unmarked buildings and all visitors carefully scrutinized before being allowed to enter. According to community leaders, approx 200 Jews today live in La Paz, with another 150 in Santa Cruz. In addition, maybe 50 Jews live in Cochabamba, which was once home to hundreds of Jewish families and to this day boasts Bolivia’s most beautiful synagogue. Jews are generally accepted in Bolivian society. Despite the difficulties of being Jewish in Bolivia, the community’s intermarriage rate is only 20% — far lower than the 50% among Jews in the United States. Outside of La Paz, the community of Cochabamba, which had a Jewish population of about 600 in the mid-1900’s, was, and is, the second largest in the country. Its history is inextricably linked with its founder, an Alexandrian Jew named Isaac Antaki, who arrived in the 1920s. He established a large textile factory and also built a synagogue to serve the Ashkenazi and Sephardi community. The Jewish population of the city reached its peak after World War II, but large numbers emigrated in the 1950’s. The community never managed to establish a Jewish school, only a kindergarten exists. Bolivia’s Jewish Community Norman A Faifer & Associates community will disappear in a few years because it has gone so rapidly from 500 a few years ago to 200 today and she knows that 20 people are leaving soon. It would be very sad, indeed, to see such a loving community become simply a dream. – With Compliments – – With Compliments – Members of Master Stonemasons Association of Victoria Rachel and Alan Goldberg and Family TSION MONUMENTS Our success depends on total customer satisfaction MEMORIALS OF DISTINCTION FOUNDED BY YANKEL ROSENBAUM Direct from the world’s leading quarries PROFESSIONAL BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION SERVICES “We do what we say” 29 For all quality stonework inscriptions and renovations Tel: 9528 5722 The Challenge of Keeping Kosher in China INGBO, CHINA — It isn't easy being a kosher food inspector in the land of moo shu pork. No matter how hard you try. “Once, they got me into a restaurant and they ordered a whole plate of food and put it in front of me,” recalls Rabbi Martin Grunberg, who has the unusual task of ensuring that Chinese factories that make food for export comply with ancient Jewish dietary laws. “They were putting me to the test because they really don't understand why I can't eat Chinese cuisine.” Keeping kosher is a breeze back home in Jerusalem, but it's a daily challenge here in China, where food is practically a religion and people say they'll eat anything with four legs – except for the table. It means Grunberg can't travel light on his monthly trips through China: He carries two or three suitcases packed with dry goods, canned meats and vacuum-sealed packets, so he can feed himself breakfast, lunch and dinner. That way, he never has to step into a Chinese restaurant where about the only thing he can order is a fruit plate and can of Coke. Although many here have never heard the word “kosher,” China is now the world's fastestgrowing producer of koshercertified food, with more than 500 Chinese factories producing the approved products. That number is expected to soar, not because this country that is still officially atheist has embraced Judaism, but because it's good for business. “I used to get this puzzled look, 'What is kosher?' “ said Grunberg, 54, a field inspector for the New York-based Orthodox Union, which is responsible for certifying more than 300 plants in China. “Now a lot of people know it as a marketing tool to increase their market share, especially in the United States." N The largest kosher market in the world is the U.S., where a growing number of the consumers are non-Jews who see kosher-certified food as generally safer and healthier. That's important in China, which is trying to recover from the recent spate of tainted-food scandals. Eager to regain consumer trust, the “Made in China” label has found an unexpected ally in the onceobscure kosher symbol. “People have been looking for some other measure of security for products coming out of China,” said Rabbi Shimon Freundlich, one of a handful of Beijing-based independent kosher field inspectors. “They want to see quality control, and kosher is a standard people know." As China in recent years has become a factory for the world, practically anything can be made here at a bargain. The unlikely kosher business flourished simply because of supply and demand: The global appetite for kosher products exploded and China is happy to feed the frenzy. But even after the Chinese learned basic kosher rules -no pork, no shellfish, no fish without fins or scales -misunderstandings remain. As the calls poured in from Chinese companies looking for kosher approval, Freundlich recalls explaining why he couldn't certify a toy maker that produced plastic food. “They sent me samples of fake apples, fake vegetables,” Freundlich said. “They were right about the food aspect. They didn't know we don't do wooden toys or plastic toys." Then there was the guy who makes dining room tables. “Since food goes on the table he thought we needed a kosher table,” Freundlich said. “Of course, every table is kosher." It's even hard for many Chinese to grasp the meaning of “rabbi." “Sometimes they call me 'rabbit,' “ Grunberg said. “I start hopping. They don't get it. I let it pass. It doesn't pay to explain." In the frigid Chinese winter, Grunberg, a grandfather of five, keeps his white beard relatively short and covers his head with a wool hat. He keeps his yarmulke in his pocket and puts it on only when the room is warm enough. The Israeli resident has long given up on wearing his widebrimmed black hat when traveling across China. “They get squashed,” he said, during the extended transits by plane, bus and train. – With Compliments – – With Compliments – – With Compliments – Carolyn and Henry Jolson and their families Ahda, Alan and Evi Selwyn Bracha and George Weinberg (Dante Minerva Pty Ltd) 30 It's harder for Freundlich, 34, to blend in. His black beard is much longer and bushier, and some Chinese he meets can't resist tugging at it with their fingers. “They used to call me Santa Claus,” said Freundlich, who moved to Beijing with his family in 2001 to start a Jewish community center. Then came the Sept. 11 attacks. “They started calling me Bin Laden, which is unfortunate." But they don't mean any harm by it, he said. For the most part, rabbis are treated with respect, even if the Chinese know very little about the Jewish people and their religion. “In China, we have very little contact with the Jewish people,” said Lucy Qian, the general manager at Ningbo Gooddays Food, a factory that makes mostly novelty candies here in one of China's manufacturing hubs. “We are doing this purely because of market demand." Since the factory went kosher a few years ago, sales have soared 40%, she said. Her primary customers are Israelis and Americans who want such things as kosher lipstick-shaped Barbie candy, some of which ends up on the shelves of places like Wal-Mart. The tainted-food scandals, she said, had no impact on her business last year. In fact, sales grew. “I'm sure the kosher certification helped,” Qian said. For now, finished products such as candy, fish and some dehydrated vegetables are a small component of the Chinese-made kosher market. The bulk of the business is in raw materials and food additives, but that is likely to change very soon, according to the Orthodox Union, which expects huge growth in the demand for kosher snacks, soft drinks and even beef. (Continued) Jewish dietary rules originate in the Hebrew Bible, particularly the Book of Leviticus. But rabbis working in China try to sidestep serious discussions on religion to avoid political minefields in a country where anything other than state-sanctioned church activities are strictly forbidden. Once, Grunberg said, an official asked him during a public function to explain what religious law kosher is based on. Caught off guard, the rabbi quickly emphasized the common ground between the Chinese and Jewish people, who share long histories of pride and persecution. “I didn't bring religion or G-d into the equation,” Grunberg said. That's just fine to pragmatic Communist Party officials, who see little contradiction in describing their brand of unbridled capitalism as “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Tolerating unfamiliar foreign ideas seems a small price to keep the exportdriven economy humming. “The biggest benefit of going kosher is that it introduces more accountability,” said Ray Cheung, a Chinese broker who acts as a bridge between Chinese companies seeking kosher approval and Jewish agencies that certify them. “The rabbi inspectors need to know where each ingredient is made and be able to trace it back to the factory that made it. If you don't provide that information, we don't give you the certification." Certification can be labourintensive for the rabbis. During a recent trip to the Gooddays candy factory, which requires four annual inspections, Grunberg checked long lists of raw materials and poked around every warehouse and factory floor, picking up bottles of sweetener and food coloring, asking if there had been any changes in the suppliers and if the buckets on the floor were used to store anything other than kosher products. Sometimes, despite the best of intentions, he has to turn the applicant down. Once, he said, he traveled to far western China to watch Tibetan herders using a primitive method to turn yak milk into casein, a dairy protein used as a food additive. “It was like a million Tibetans all privately cooking this on their stoves – every home is a little factory,” Grunberg said. “It would be an impossible type of supervision." Then the Chinese government stepped in to form a company that supplied the Tibetans with cows and a place to milk them by machine. Grunberg went back and certified the liquid milk that will be used for the casein. The rabbi's requirements don't always go over well with productivity-crazed Chinese plant owners. “Somebody once called me and asked me to come bless the fish,” said Freundlich, referring to a company that processes Alaskan fish for the American market. “I told him that's not the way it works." But even Freundlich wasn't prepared for what he faced when he got to the fish plant. Jewish law says fish must have fins and scales to be kosher. But with frozen fish, it is difficult to tell which ones do. So even though the plant had processed thousands of fish, Freundlich says he rolled up his sleeves to check them by hand. He and a partner worked three days straight, scratching each one of the 37,000 fish with their gloved fingers. “So many fish in the sea look the same,” said Freundlich. “If I can't find the scale or the fin, it can't be eaten.” © Article by American journalist Ching-Ching Ni. It was found by David Lissauer in a local Cambodian newspaper while working recently in Cambodia and Lao. Victorian Jewry commends apology to Indigenous Australians 13 February 2008 Anton Block, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, the peak body of Victorian Jewry, said today: “The Victorian Jewish Community is committed to a society that is harmonious, inclusive, egalitarian and diverse. This is unattainable without a process of reconciliation with Indigenous Australians who possess unique histories, cultures and spiritual relationships to this land and its seas. Today ’s apology to the Stolen Generations by Prime Minister Rudd is an integral part of this process, a necessary acknowledgement of the suffering of so many of our fellow Australians. Yet our community recognises that considerably more is needed to turn good intentions into action to ensure the equality of all Australians. There remains a pressing need to reduce the relative disadvantage many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may face by improving education, health, housing, employment, governance, social and communal relationships, and justice systems. I particularly encourage the Jewish community to increase its knowledge and understanding of the identities and experiences of Indigenous Australians and to reflect this awareness in our social relationships and provision of support .” For further information, please contact: Anton Block on 0418 320 417 or Geoffrey Zygier on 9272 5579. Hilary McMahon, Business Manager – Jewish Community Council of Victoria Inc (JCCV) 306 Hawthorn Road, South Caulfield Vic 3162 Tel: (03) 9272 5566 Fax: (03) 9272 5560 31 Who Would Stand By and Withhold The Gift of Life? remember as a child hearing of a sweet little old lady who had been robbed and bound in her basement flat. She was calling out for help. Apparently a passer-by called back to her, "I’m sorry, I can’t stop. I’m late for an interview!" For days, the audiences of television magazine and talk back radio shows were rightfully disgusted. We assume that none of us would be such a bystander. None of us would let an injustice play itself out before our eyes without intervention. All of us who have been raised in the shadow of the Shoah know how a silent majority of Germans stood by as evil was wrought right in front of them. Television and the internet has brought Darfur, Burma and a host of other humanitarian tragedies into our dining rooms. It is most certainly incumbent upon us all to register our protest at distant iniquity and slaughter. We might justify our disinterest or passivity with the wonder, what can we really do? It’s so far away… So what do we do when the bystander scenario is right on our doorstep? It is one of the realities of the rabbinate that I get to meet many people and vicariously experience the joys and the sorrows of their lives. Regrettably, I see abuse and suffering, unscrupulous dealings, bad luck and ill health. I hear family members wishing there was more they could do to help… wouldn’t we all? Sometimes I see sick people deteriorating and there is no hope. That weighs heavily on us all. Sometimes, though, there is good cause for hope but no-one comes to help. That weighs heaviest of all. As an example, over the years I have met a few people who have experienced kidney failure and need regular dialysis. When they work, our kidneys purify our blood, they balance its minerals and remove toxins. Kidney failure is a consequence of a number of conditions including diabetes and requires dialysis, an I artificial filtration of the blood. At the best of times, dialysis is not a pleasant process. Sometimes it is not available or not an option. It is one of our fears; to be young, have a healthy mind but have our body degenerate. Illness might be a part of life and not everything can be cured. Sometimes though I encounter patients and their families who are in a spiral of decline and suffering as the body poisons itself from within. A debilitating death sentence… Who in their right mind would not take it away if they could? Restore a person to health and give a family a future together? We often glibly pledge, "I’d give my right arm to help so and so…" But would we give a kidney? Kidneys are just one example of an organ which can be donated. In fact as we have two kidneys it is one of the few organs where one can safely be removed from a healthy living donor. Nonetheless, most transplantation comes from recently deceased donors. While a few decades ago, transplantation was in its infancy, now it is well established and routinely successful. It is possible to restore a patient from death row to the expectation of a normal life in the enjoyment and company of family. Organ donation is not a conventional gift like a ring or a pen. It is the gift of life. Unfortunately, the circumstances which enable it or facilitate it mean that the donor seldom gets to know or see the happy faces or the relief of the recipient and family. For a number of reasons, there are fewer transplants than there could be and consequently we are allowing people to die whom we could gift with life. Jewish Law (Halacha) does allow for transplantation. It allows for organ donation. Halacha rightly treats a dead body with tremendous respect and sanctity. The work of the Chevra Kadisha, the process of Tahara (washing) and clothing the body, the solemnity of our conduct in the presence of a body are all indicative of the reverence we accord. We do our utmost to avoid invasive autopsies, to recover all blood and tissue for burial. Halacha does not allow post-mortem surgery for scientific research. More than reverence for the dead, though, Halacha cherishes life and living. Where an organ can be donated to save a life, that preservation of life is a mitzvah. It is a wondrous gift. The organ that I might donate is of no use to me anymore; yet it, alone, is the most valuable object in the world for a patient somewhere. It is a chance for a fellow to live and not die. In fact, five or more people might regain their lives through the organs of a single donor. Halacha does not allow the killing of one innocent to save another, or by extension, one patient for another. A Halachic standard of death must be attained before any organ is removed. At the time of writing, the standards required by Halacha and those applied for organ transplantation in Australia are very close indeed. 32 At least one highly respected orthodox practitioner is satisfied that they are met. I carry a Donor Card from HODS the Halachic Organ Donor Society. The society has endorsements from many renowned Halachic authorities . These are the rabbis I trust to tell me the laws of Kashrut and Shabbat, whom I may or may not marry. I respect their psak on what I ought to do when I can save a life. They tell me I should be a donor. As there are divergent opinions on the point where an organ my be removed, the card allows carriers to choose between the two most prevalent positions; irreversible cessation of autonomous breathing (which is the position of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate ) or irreversible cessation of heartbeat . Irreversible cessation of autonomous breathing is the standard which allows for more transplants and essentially conforms to local practice. The rabbis upon whom I depend admit corneal grafting , even though it is not an immediately life-saving operation. On a number of Halachic grounds, they confirm that the laws of pikuash nefesh (saving a life) are not restricted to Jewish organs going to a Jewish recipient. The HODS card includes a requirement that a rabbi be consulted so that there is appropriate Halachic oversight. Organ transplantation in Australia falls far short of its potential for a number of reasons. Perhaps, surprisingly, a shortage of donors is not the biggest problem. The circumstances where an organ might be removed are quite limiting. A donor must be undergoing treatment in intensive care, which rules out many fatalities. One of the biggest hurdles is getting consent from the family. It is not easy to broach the topic of organ donation with relatives who are anxiously awaiting good news, who are praying and clinging onto desperate hope. The family want to see the doctors and nurses as trying to do everything to save their loved one’s life. This is compromised when those same doctors have to initiate a discussion on donation. What makes it harder still is that even though the patient carries a card, the family might not have known this, nor given it any real thought. It is time for us to embrace the opportunity for halachic organ donation in Australia, and time for us to initiate that dialogue within our community. While we are fit and healthy, our spouses and our children should be introduced to our desire to become donors, should the opportunity present itself. They should be made familiar with our wish, because the doctor will be asking them, not us, to release the organs. Moreover, it is important that they, too, are drawn into a discussion on organ donation with a view to becoming donors in their own right. I am keen to develop Halachic organ donation in Australia and to Come). Organ donation is a mitzvah. The Torah instructs that we do not stand by as the blood of our neighbour is shed. We would not want to be the person who rushed by a little old lady who had been robbed and bound because we were in a hurry to get on with our day. We would not want to be remembered as bystanders who failed to alleviate suffering when we were uniquely placed to help. We wouldn’t want to stand by and let another die. But lack of awareness and enthusiasm for donation means that we are doing precisely that. If they were asked, I would not want my family to stand by. If a little less of me was buried but one more person lived or possibly four or five more people lived, then some of me would to encourage the infrastructure that will enable it to fit seamlessly into the Australian health system. I enjoin the community to support realising this vision. Within the Jewish community we must correct the false impression that organ donation is prohibited as a desecration of our bodies or that it would be some kind of impediment to attaining Olam Haba (the World still be doing good and I could rest assured that at my very last, I had performed a mitzvah and made a contribution to make the world a better place for those around me. To register for a Halachic Organ Donor’s Card please contact www.hods.org Rabbis with HODS cards include R’ Yaakov Wahrhaftig ( Israeli Chief Rabbinate), R’ Shaar Yashuv Cohen (Chief Rabbi of Haifa), R’ Melchior MK (Chief Rabbi of Norway), R’ Shlomo Riskin (Chief Rabbi of Efrat), R’ Moshe Tendler (Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshiva University). Ruling of Israeli Chief Rabbinate (1986) http://www.hods.org/pdf/Chief%20Rabbi nate%20of%20Israel.pdf, also the position of R’ Shlomo Zalman Goldberg, R’ Shaul Israeli, R’ Dovid Feinstein, R’ Moshe Tendler. Irreversible cessation of heartbeat is the position favoured by R’ Schach, R’ Eliezer Waldenberg, R’ Bleich. Psak of R’ Isser Yehuda Unterman Plain Sailing ? ounger member and keen sailor Ari Sherr is developing his passion for ocean racing and completed the Melbourne to Launceston sailing race at the beginning of the year, finishing in 5th position. Competing in a HICK 39 boat called Just a Minor Hiccup, he and his sailing mate Ryan Epstein, part of the an eight-man crew, enjoyed unusually mild weather conditions and although Ryan is pursuing a career as a pilot, Ari has his sights set on ocean racing off the USA & France. Y There are also two colour maps, drawn to scale, showing the exact addresses of many places of Jewish interest in Carlton and the surrounding northern suburbs. “Orthodox Jewry in Carlton and Surrounding Suburbs” Author David Havin has a limited number of copies of his book “Orthodox Jewry in Carlton and Surrounding Suburbs” which he published for bus tours of Carlton, the CBD and East Melbourne held late last year. The second part is a collection of 22 topical extracts from books, journals and newspapers, and which include: • Historical monographs from various sources including the Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal and the Australian Jewish News (all in English); The book, of 250 pages, is in two parts. The first part of 55 pages is a history of the following Shules and Institutions: • Even Saphir, by Rabbi Jacob Saphir, in which he records his impressions of Australian Jewry after his visit in 1861 (Hebrew); • East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation; • Woolf Davis Chevra Hebrew Congregation (Stone’s Shul); • Chevra Sha’arei Tikvah (Fitzroy); • Beth Avrohom, by Rabbi Avrohom Eber Hirschowitz, the founder of Chevra Torah in Carlton (1892 – 1894), in which he discusses whether or not Jews who live in the Southern Hemisphere ought recite the prayer for rain in the Shemoneh Esrei at the same time as Jews who live in the Northern Hemisphere (Hebrew); and, • Chevra Torah of Rabbi Avrohom Eber Hirschowitz (Carlton); • Melbourne Chevra Kadisha and the rival Chevra Chesed Shel Emeth; • Carlton United Hebrew Congregation; • Mincha in Flinders Lane and Chevra Beth Rivkah; • Hascolah Talmud Torah (Carlton); • Brunswick Talmud Torah; • Dos Is Mein Leiben, by Feige Rochel Bennett, in which she reminisces about Carlton Jewry from the time of her arrival in Australia in 1938 (Yiddish). • Shtieblach (Carlton); • North Carlton Batei Din and the Melbourne Beth Din; • Northcote Jewish Centre (Thornbury Shul); • Coburg Hebrew Congregation and Coburg Beth Ya’akov; The cost of the book is $40. • Moonee Ponds Minyan; and, If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please e-mail: • Carlton Jewish Commercial District. [email protected] 33 for further details Rykestrasse Synagogue reopens in the heart of East Berlin It was re-inaugurated in 1953 and was the only synagogue to serve East Berlin's tiny Jewish community. In communist East Germany there was little funding available for the maintenance of places of worship and the building slowly fell into disrepair. After the fall of the Wall immigration, particularly from the former Soviet Union, boosted the city's Jewish community and it now has 12,000 registered members. There are eight synagogues, as well as a Jewish kindergarten, schools and a brand new cultural centre. The 1,200-capacity synagogue was one of the few Jewish institutions in Berlin to survive the Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) pogrom of November 9, 1938. It was spared because it was located between "Aryan" apartment buildings which might have caught fire had the synagogue been torched. But its precious Torah rolls were damaged and rabbis as well as congregation members were seized and deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Trepp, who at that point was serving as a rabbi in the northern city of Oldenburg, was among the rabbis shipped off to Sachsenhausen. He was released three weeks later and, with the help of a British rabbi friend, he got the necessary visa to escape almost certain death in Nazi Germany. The last prayer service at the Berlin synagogue took place in April 1940. After the war, when the Prenzlauer Berg district became part of communist East Germany, the synagogue reopened in 1953 and became the central gathering place of the remaining Jewish community in East Berlin. With national unification in 1990, Germany began welcoming tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet states. The German Jewish community now has some 120,000 members. The inauguration service featured Jewish liturgical songs originating from German synagogues in the 19th century whose sheet music was only recently recovered. Germany's biggest synagogue reopens as a symbol of Jewish rebirth ermany's biggest Synagogue reopened late last year after being completely restored to its former glory. The renovation and reopening of Rykestrasse Synagogue in the heart of East Berlin is a symbol of the gradual regeneration of Jewish life... in the German capital 60 years after the defeat of the Nazi regime. Located in Berlin's trendy Prenzlauer Berg district, built in 1904 its scale is not immediately apparent from the modest redbrick façade. Hidden away off a courtyard, its huge prayer hall seats up to 1,200 people. More than 1,000 guests including elderly Holocaust survivors confined to wheelchairs attended the opening and gasped as they saw the main sanctuary, pointing to lovingly repainted frescoes, restored stained glass windows and gleaming chandeliers. Leading the service was Rabbi Chaim Rozwaski, a native of Belarus who came to Berlin in 2000 as part of an influx of Jews from the former Soviet Union that still makes Germany one of the fastest growing Jewish communities in the world. He dedicated the reopening to the members of the Rykestrasse synagogue congregation who were murdered in the Holocaust. "As we remember the past, we must not forget all those from Rykestrasse who were killed in concentration camps, work camps, who died of hunger, gas or were shot," he said. G "They are here today in our minds and our souls." Berlin had a thriving, integrated Jewish community that counted 173,000 members in the 1920s. After World War II, the population numbered just 6,500. Rabbi Leo Trepp, 94, who had preached at the synagogue in the 1930s after the Nazis came to power, called the reopening a "miracle". "It is a miracle that there are Jews in Germany again," Trepp told the guests at the inauguration ceremony in the restored building with political leaders and Holocaust survivors from around the world. "And the synagogue on Rykestrasse, which survived two different regimes, is the symbol of that miracle." Built in 1904, the neoClassical construction was closed for more than three years for the 4.5-million-euro (six-milliondollar) refit. Architect Ruth Golan and her partner Kay Zareh have spent the last two years restoring the building to its original beauty, with only some old photographs to work with. "We used scalpels to take off layer after layer from the ceiling to restore the original paintings," "We also had to redo all the woodwork -- it was penetrated with mould." The architects also restored the celestial blue dome above the altar, and installed modern stained glass windows. Under the Nazis the building was used as stables and as a textile warehouse. 34 Social and Personal Our best wishes on the “new additions” to their families go to: B I RT H S E N G A G E M E N T S Ruth & Erwin Mote.............................................................................great grandson Ellie Heine & Michael Rogers Clare Devine & Mark Pomeroy Maia Glowinski & Adrian Weinberg Mary Goldfarb & Hank Rosens ..................................................2 grand daughters Naomi & Darren Harrison.......................................................................................son Our heartiest Mazal-Tov go to the following couples and their families: Joanna Rogers & Darren Rubenstein Judy Prager & Simon Wail Anna Aisenberg & Yoniv Shimoni Hedy & Russell Harrison...............................................................................grandson Betty & Michael Adelist ....................................................................great grandson M A R R I A G E S Rose Harrison .......................................................................................great grandson Lily & Phil Zamel.......................................................................great granddaughter Barbara & Wally Black..............................................................................2 grandsons Yvette & Antony Sormann ......................................................................................son Gerard Sormann .............................................................................................grandson Dana Zaslavsky & Dan Weingart Becky Aisenberg & Justin Templehof Rachelle Sapir & Daniel Knoche Simone Oberklajd & Simon Whine Gina Huberman & Daneal Blicblau Becky Swart & Josh Somerville Tanya Szylkrot & David Nozik Tanya Ishanim & Yossi Smith Jacqui Klinger & Darren Szer B E R E AV E M E N T S Our sincere condolences are extended to the following families: Tammie & David Slade .................................................................................twin sons Mary & Graham Slade.......................................................................twin grandsons Jordi & Jonny Klein....................................................................................................son Our best wishes for a long and happy life together go to the following couples: Esther Rozen .............................................................................on the loss of her son Nicky & Rod Jacobs ........................................................................................grandson Julie Kessel .........................................................................on the loss of her brother Renee & Bill Roth.................................................................................great grandson George Weinberg..............................................................on the loss of his brother Georgia & Ron Zukerman........................................................................................son James Reich ........................................................................on the loss of his brother Helen & Eddie Kutner....................................................................................grandson Barry Goldenberg..............................................................on the loss of his brother Lydia & Sam Gance ........................................................................................grandson Howard Goldenberg ........................................................on the loss of his brother Eve Goodman .......................................................................................great grandson Michael Rich...........................................................................on the loss of his sister Rita & Sam Fink .........................................................................................2 grandsons Gary Lubransky..................................................................on the loss of his mother Rina & Eddy Etyngold ....................................................................................daughter Dael Lewis ..............................................................................on the loss of her sister Rosalind Michelson ............................................................................grand daughter Ilya Bennett ........................................................................on the loss of his mother Marie & John Cashmore.........................................................great granddaughter Sally Elfman ....................................................................on the loss of her husband Anita Boymal........................................................................................great grandson Pauline Bloom......................................................................on the loss of her father Fanny Rubenstein................................................................................great grandson Sabina Josem ........................................................................on the loss of her sister Gaby & Antony Jacobson..............................................................................daughter Loti & Victor Smorgon ..............................................on the loss of their daughter Sandra & Joe Nowoweiski................................................................grand daughter Lissa Franke ..........................................................................on the loss of her father Golda Lasky ...............................................................................great grand daughter Deidre Beville.......................................................................on the loss of her father Inna & Joel Glowinski....................................................................................daughter Maurice Jacobson ...................................................................on the loss of his wife Huguette & Louis Glowinski ...........................................................grand daughter Colin Wise ...........................................................................on the loss of his mother Doris Golding..................................................................on the loss of her husband We extend good wishes to Mrs Violet Movitz on her 102nd birthday You are certainly a record breaker and it is with much pride that we acknowledge this milestone of our most senior honorary member. As mentioned last year, the traditional Jewish wish to continue to enjoy good health, bis 120, is in need of updating for in your case, we’ll soon need to say bis 130 ! Once again we pray for Hashem’s blessings that you may continue to enjoy only good health and much happiness together with Ivan and Lillian, Joy and your dear grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Our heartiest mazal-tov and warmest good wishes. Eddy and Rina Etyngold with new daughter Ruth . B ’ N E I M I T Z VA H Our best wishes on attaining Bar Mitzvah are extended to the following young men and their families: Cory Verstandig James Fink Jeremy Alter Benjamin Hayman Daniel Badov Michael Voinsky Justin Kestelman Jack Pinkus Thomas Rogers – With Compliments – – With Compliments – – With Compliments – The Danos Family – With Compliments – The Kutner Family Melbourne’s Leading Kosher Caterer Phone: 9555 3255 Fax: 9555 3455 2 Keys Rd Moorabbin VIC 3180 [email protected] 175 Stanley St, West Melbourne Ph: 9326 6258 www.worboys.com.au 35 Victorian Premier John Brumby with representatives of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria n keeping with a tradition established a number of years ago, representatives of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, and including our own Rabbi Dovid Rubinfeld, visited the Premier the Hon John Brumby MP, prior to the high holydays last year, and extended greetings for the forthcoming New Year 5768. At the same time they took the opportunity to congratulate him on his recent elevation to the position of Premier of the State of Victoria. As is custom during such gatherings, all present were entertained by some fine chazzanut from Rabbi Rubinfeld. I 36 David Pincus, Leadlight Designer of the Shule’s “Jewish Festivals” – Returns after Four Decades avid Pincus was born in Berlin in 1930 and migrated to Australia with his parents in 1938 as the storm clouds of Hitler’s Germany spread over Europe. They were part of the 5000 Jews in Melbourne known disparagingly as “those bloody reffos”. David attended Tooronga Road Primary School and when it was taken over by the American Forces as a base during World War II he was sent to complete his secondary education at Scotch College. His tertiary years were spent as an architecture student at the University of Melbourne from where he graduated in 1955 and then travelled extensively overseas for the next six years. In that time he worked in Canada, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. On his return to Australia he won the Stegbar Prize: an architectural competition for the design of an accommodation complex for the elderly – subsequently this was to provide the incentive to start his own architectural practice. Initially however he joined the firm of Mockeridge, Staley and Mitchell where over the next few years, amongst others, he gained experience in the design of ecclesiastical buildings. In 1965 he resigned to start his own practice undertaking principally institutional works. During this period he undertook major commissions for the (then) D Australian Jewish Welfare & Relief Society and was responsible for designing the V.U.P.J. synagogues at Kew and Bentleigh and some of the early architectural alterations at Temple Beth Israel in St Kilda. Within these projects his talents extended well beyond architecture as he also created menorahs, window designs (sculpture calligraphy and even the ark curtain) for several of the above. His involvement with Melbourne Hebrew Congregation was in the late 1960’s when he was commissioned by the Board of Management under Rabbi Dr. I. Rappaport’s direction to design the tryptich of the three Jewish festivals – Sukkot, Shavuot and Pesach.This was the first 3 of the 36 windows that now adorn Toorak Shule.The windows were fabricated by Yencken Glass under David’s supervision and were consecrated in July 1969. In 1971 David completed postgraduate studies in town planning before leaving his practice to take up a position with the CSIRO in 1973 as the Senior Strategic Planner in that organisation’s Property Group. He held this position until his “retirement” in 1995 when he was retained as a consultant for the next ten years. David now spends his time split between his love of painting [Above] David H Sherr showing early proofs of the (he has had a solo David Pincus with David H Sherr in front of the three Jewish Festival windows he designed in the late 1960s. exhibition), writing, travel, but also the trials and helping to raise his tribulations of working under grandchildren and assisting one Rabbi’s, Boards of Management day a week at a local primary and the constraints one had to school. face in designing and creating Earlier this month David these unique art pieces. Pincus returned to Toorak Shule to see the windows he had designed nearly four decades earlier. Past CoChairman David Sherr gave him a guided tour of the Shule where apart from viewing his own works after all these years he also viewed Karl Duldig’s and Rimona Kedem’s artwork “glowing” in the mid autumn light. He was shown colour proofs of the soon to be released book “The Architecture and Leadlight Windows of the Melbourne Synagogue”and reflected on his earlier times and the pleasure [Above] David Pincus viewing Rimona Kedem’s 12 Tribes forthcoming Architecture and Leadlight Windows book. of Israel in the dome. 37 M AY 2 0 0 8 Calendar Thursday 1 – 26 Nisan Morning Service 7.15 am APRIL 2008 Thursday 3 – 27 Adar 11 Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 2 – 27 Nisan Yom Hashoa Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.30 pm Candle lighting 5.14 pm Saturday 3 – 28 Nisan Shabbat Service 8.45 am Mevarchim HaChodesh Parshat Kedoshim Barmitzvah Matthew Hyams Shabbat ends 6.11 pm Sunday 20 – 15 Nisan 1st Day Pesach Morning Service 9.00 am Evening Service 5.30 pm Yom Tov candle lighting not before 6.26 pm Monday 21 – 16 Nisan 2nd Day Pesach Morning Service 9.00 am Yom Tov ends 6.25 pm Friday 4 – 28 Adar 11 Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 6.00 pm Candle Lighting 6.51 pm Saturday 5th – 29 Adar 11 Morning Service 8.45 am Parshat HaChodesh Mevarchim HaChodesh Tazria Shabbat ends 7.47 pm Monday 5 – 30 Nisan Rosh Chodesh Morning Service 7.00 am Tuesday 22 – 17 Nisan Chol Hamoed Pesach Sunday 6 – 1 Nisan Rosh Chodesh Morning Service 8.00 am Wedding Tanya Ishanin & Yossi Smith Thursday 10 – 5 Nisan Morning Service 7.15 am Tuesday 6 – 1 Iyar Rosh Chodesh Morning Service 7.00 am Morning Service 7.00am Wednesday 23 – 18 Nisan Chol Hamoed Pesach Wednesday 7 – 2 Iyar Yom Hazikaron Thursday 8 – 3 Iyar Yom Ha’Atzmaut Morning Service 7.15 am Morning Service 7.00am Thursday 24 – 19 Nisan Morning Service 7.00 am Friday 11 – 6 Nisan Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 6.00 pm Candle lighting 5.41 pm Saturday 12 – 7 Nisan Morning Service 8.45 am Parshat Metzora Shabbat ends 6.37 pm Friday 9 – 4 Iyar Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.30 pm Candle lighting 5.07 pm Saturday 10 – 5 Iyar Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Emor Shabbat ends 6.05 pm Chol Hamoed Pesach Friday 25 – 20 Nisan ANZAC DAY Morning Service 8.00 am Sunday 13 – 8 Nisan Wedding Jacqui Klinger & Darren Szer Thursday 17 – 12 Nisan Morning Service 7.15 am Fast of the First Born (in lieu of Shabbat) Friday 18 – 13 Nisan Evening Service 5.45 pm Candle Lighting 5.31 pm Saturday 19 – 14 Nisan Morning Service 7.45 am Shabbat HaGadol Parshat Achrei Mot Erev Pesach Evening Service 5.30 pm Yom Tov candle lighting not before 6.28 pm Chol Hamoed Pesach Evening Service 5.30 pm Shabbat & Yom Tov candle lighting 5.22 pm Saturday 26 – 21 Nisan 7th Day Pesach Morning Service 8.45 am Shevii Shel Pesach Evening Service 6.00 pm Yom Tov candle lighting not before 6.19 pm Sunday 27 – 22 Nisan 8th Day Pesach Morning Service 9.00 am Yizchor Yom Tov ends 6.18 pm Catered Breakfasts Following every Thursday morning & Rosh Chodesh service a breakfast comprising fresh juice and coffee, fruit salad, bagels and pastries is available. A catered breakfast however is served at the conclusion of all early morning services during Chol Hamoed Pesach and when Selichot are recited (prior to Rosh Hashanna). Thursday 15 – 10 Iyar Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 16 – 11 Iyar Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.15 pm Candle lighting 5.00 pm Saturday 17 – 12 Iyar Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Behar Shabbat ends 5.59 pm Thursday 22– 17 Iyar Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 23 – 18 Iyar Lag B’Omer Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.15 pm Candle lighting 4.56 pm Saturday 24 – 19 Iyar Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Bechukkotai Shabbat ends 5.55 pm Join us & start the day on a spiritual high! Thursday 29 – 24 Iyar Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 30 – 25 Iyar Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.00 pm Candle lighting 4.52 pm Saturday 31 – 26 Iyar Shabbat Service 8.45 am Mevarchim HaChodesh Parshat Bamidbar Barmitzvah Koby Gean Shabbat ends 5.52 pm – With Compliments – SUPERMARKET 550 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn 102 Burwood Road Hawthorn 64 Fitzroy Street St Kilda 38 JUNE 2008 Monday 2 – 28 Iyar Yom Yerushalayim Wednesday 4 – 1 Sivan Rosh Chodesh Morning Service 7.00 am Thursday 5 – 2 Sivan Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 6 – 3 Sivan Mincha/Kabbalat 5.00 pm Candle lighting 4.50 pm Saturday 7 – 4 Sivan Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Naso Shabbat ends 5.51 pm Sunday 8 – 5 Sivan Erev Shavuot Evening Service 5.00 pm Candle lighting 4.50 pm Monday 9 – 6 Sivan 1st Day Shavuot QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY Morning Service 9.00 am Evening Service 5.00 pm Candle lighting not before 5.50 pm Tuesday 10 – 7 Sivan 2nd Day Shavuot Yizchor Morning Service 9.00 am Thursday 12 – 9 Sivan Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 13 – 10 Sivan Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.00 pm Candle lighting 4.49 pm Saturday 14 – 11 Sivan Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Beha’alotcha Shabbat ends 5.50 pm Sunday 15 – 12 Sivan Wedding Judy Prager & Simon Wail Thursday 19 – 16 Sivan Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 20 – 17 Sivan Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.00 pm Batmitzvah Tully Stern Candle lighting 4.50 pm Saturday 21 – 18 Sivan Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Shelach Barmitzvah Jake Zilberman Shabbat ends 5.52 pm Thursday 26 – 23 Sivan Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 27 – 24 Sivan Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.00 pm Candle lighting 4.52 pm Saturday 28 – 25 Sivan Shabbat Service 8.45 am Mevarchim HaChodesh Parshat Korach Shabbat ends 5.53 pm J U LY 2 0 0 8 Thursday 3 – 30 Sivan Rosh Chodesh Morning Service 7.00 am Friday 4 – 1 Tammuz Rosh Chodesh Morning Service 7.00 am Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.00 pm Batmitzvah Natalie Hayman Candle lighting 4.55 pm Saturday 5 – 2 Tammuz Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Chukkat Shabbat ends 5.56 pm Thursday 10 – 7 Tammuz Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 11 – 8 Tammuz Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.00 pm Candle lighting 4.59 pm Saturday 12 – 9 Tammuz Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Balak Shabbat ends 6.00 pm Thursday 17 – 14 Tammuz Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 18 – 15 Tammuz Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.15 pm Candle lighting 5.04 pm Saturday 19 – 16 Tammuz Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Pinchas Shabbat ends 6.05 pm Sunday 20 – 17 Tammuz Shiva Aser b’Tammuz Fast begins 6.05 am Fast ends 5.54 pm Thursday 24 – 21 Tammuz Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 25 – 22 Tammuz Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.15 pm Candle lighting 5.09 pm Saturday 26 – 23 Tammuz Shabbat Service 8.45 am Mevarchim HaChodesh Parshat Mattot Shabbat ends 6.09 pm Thursday 31 – 28 Tammuz Morning Service 7.15 am AUGUST 2008 SEPTEMBER 2008 Monday 1 – 1 Elul Rosh Chodesh Morning service Friday 1 – 29 Tammuz Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.30 pm Candle lighting 5.15 pm Saturday 2 – 1 Av Shabbat Service 8.45 am Rosh Chodesh Parshat Masei Shabbat ends 6.15 pm Thursday 7 – 6 Av Morning Service Friday 8 – 7 Av Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat Candle lighting Saturday 9 – 8 Av Shabbat Service Shabbat Chazon Parshat Devarim Shabbat ends Sunday 10 – 9 Av Tisha B’Av Fast ends 7.00 am Thursday 4 – 4 Elul Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 5 – 5 Elul Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.45 pm Candle lighting 5.44 pm Saturday 6 – 6 Elul Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Shoftim Barmitzvah Bade Hilton Shabbat ends 6.42 pm 7.15 am 5.30 pm 5.21 pm Sunday 7 – 7 Elul Wedding Florianna Khait & David Shirinov Thursday 11 – 11 Elul Morning Service 7.15 am 8.45 am 6.20 pm Friday 12 – 12 Elul Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 6.00 pm Candle lighting 5.50 pm Saturday 13 – 13 Elul Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Ki Tetze Barmitzvah David Ellinghaus Shabbat ends 6.48 pm 6.10pm Thursday 14 – 13 Av Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 15 – 14 Av Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.30 pm Candle lighting 5.26 pm Saturday 16– 15 Av Shabbat Service 8.45 am Shabbat Nachamu Parshat Vaetchannan Barmitzvah Andrew Slade Shabbat ends 6.25 pm Sunday 14 – 14 Elul Wedding Katrina Fine & David Krygger Thursday 18– 18 Elul Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 19 – 19 Elul Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 6.00 pm Candle lighting 5.56 pm Sunday 17 – 16 Av Wedding Lisa Fink & Ilan Tirosh Thursday 21 – 20 Av Morning Service 7.15 am Saturday 20 – 20 Elul Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Ki Tavo Shabbat ends 6.54 pm First Selichot Midnight Service 12.01am Monday 22– 22 Elul Morning Service 7.00 am Tuesday 23 – 23 Elul Morning Service 7.00 am Wednesday 24 – 24 Elul Morning Service 7.00 am Thursday 25 – 25 Elul Morning Service 7.00 am Friday 26 – 26 Elul Morning Service 7.00 am Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 6.00 pm Candle lighting 6.02 pm Saturday 27 – 27 Elul Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Nitzavim Shabbat ends 7.00 pm Sunday 28 – 28 Elul Morning Service 8.00 am Monday 29 – 29 Elul Morning Service 6.30 am Erev Rosh Hashanna Evening Service 6.00 pm Candle lighting 6.04 pm Tuesday 30 – 1 Tishrei 1st Day Rosh Hashanna Morning Service 8.00 am Evening Service 6.00 pm Candle lighting not before 7.03 pm OCTOBER 2008 Wednesday 1 – 2 Tishrei 2nd Day Rosh Hashanna Morning Service 8.00 am Friday 22 – 21 Av Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.30 pm Candle lighting 5.32 pm Saturday 23 – 22 Av Shabbat Service 8.45 am Parshat Ekev Shabbat ends 6.31 pm Thursday 28 – 27 Av Morning Service 7.15 am Friday 29 – 28 Av Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat 5.45 pm Candle lighting 5.38 pm Saturday 30 – 29 Av Shabbat Service 8.45 am Mevarchim Hachodesh Parshat Re’eh Barmitzvah Michael Fisher Shabbat ends 6.36 pm Sunday 31 – 30 Av Rosh Chodesh Morning Service 8.00 am – With Compliments – The Majtlis Family Manufacturers & Suppliers of Corporate, Promotional & Sporting Apparel and Accessories 3A Fink Steet, Preston 3072 VIC Ph: 03 9489 5499 Fax: 03 9489 6399 www.actionknits.com.au [email protected] 39 Shule Roundup in Pictures Mazal Tov to Judy Prager and Simon Wail pictured here at their engagement party. The Magazine Editorial Committee appreciates sharp and clear photographs of recent social events and celebrations. Please forward to the Shule office in protective cardboard or email as high resolution jpegs if they are digital files. All material will be returned. Congratulations to Jonathan and Jordy Klein on the safe arrival of Noah (born 9th November 2007). Pictured here with Charlie Klein. Yosi, Yacov and Lisa Frenkel with baby Yair. Yosi Frenkel, Rabbi Rubinfeld, Mottel Greenbaum and Rabbi Berlin. Noah Chrapot and his proud family with Noah’s winning Chanukah poster. Jack Pinkus with family members at his recent Bar Mitzvah. Mazal Tov to Esther Rokman on her 93rd Birthday. Jed Kaufman seen holding his new brother Harley Ryan. Some of the Barmy Boys enjoying some table tennis at the Rabbi’s home. Current participants are Daniel Badov, Rommie Shustin, Michael Voinsky, Thomas Rogers and Matthew Hyams. Congregant Sam Stopnik was recently acknowledged in the Cancer Council publication for his 25 years of unswerving volunteering to that organisation and the presentation of a well-deserved Gold Award. Jonah aged 6 months, son of Naomi & Darren Harrison and grandson of Hedy & Russell Harrison. 40 Jeremy Machet and his proud family at his Bar Mitzvah.
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