JHC Social Club

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS, VOLUNTEERS AND GUIDES, together with their friends, look forward to the monthly meeting of the Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) Social Club. The Club has continued to attract stimulating and informative speakers. Participants always ask searching questions and take part in lively discussion after each presentation.

Over the past few months our topics have ranged from the Middle East and social justice to some more personal stories. In April, Lillian Kline, a skilled and passionate mentor and facilitator, delivered a stimulating and thought-provoking address titled ‘A Perspective of the Complex Situation in the Middle East from Afar’. Lillian, who has lectured in communications law and on the Middle East conflict, is currently a board member of the Castan Centre for Human Rights at Monash University and of other boards.

Continuing the social justice theme, but on a more personal note, Debra Korman spoke on ‘How an Asylum Seeker Came to be Living in My Home’. Debra is involved in a number of community projects, including organising a weekly food van staffed by 80 volunteers at her synagogue, Kehilat Nitzan. She took into her home a young Iranian asylum seeker, a gesture that has been lifechanging for both the young Iranian and the Korman family.

Professor Barbara Kamler spoke to the members of the JHC Social Club about ‘Stories of Leaving and Relocating Lives’. Through her personal narrative, she shared her thoughts about the tensions of leaving one’s country and settling in a new place, and read prose poems from her collection Leaving New Jersey An Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University, Barbara is the author of academic books, journal articles, a poetic memoir and poems.

Eitan Drori’s address was titled ‘The Eternal Capital of Diversities: Jerusalem’. Eitan is the Executive Director of the Australian Friends of the Hebrew University – Victorian Division and founder and President of Israelis in Australia. He has more than 20 years’ experience in fundraising and building business network relationships for the State of Israel in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, and strives to strengthen the bond between Israelis living in the Diaspora and the State of Israel.

The JHC Social Club attracts between 45 and 60 people regularly, and welcomes members of the community to attend for bagels and coffee, and for stimulating and lively discussion. The Club meets monthly on Thursday mornings at the Jewish Holocaust Centre.

For further information about the JHC Social Club, please contact Barbara Sacks on 0404 224 498.