Club JHC Barbara Sacks and Max Wald

Every alternate Thursday a group of retired Jewish Holocaust Centre guides and volunteers meets at the Kadimah for a day of stimulating activities, outings and friendship. 2010 was an eventful year for the group and during the last quarter of the year we had some wonderful speakers. Freydi Mrocki spoke about the Yiddish language. We were captivated by her enthusiasm and love of Yiddish and thrilled to listen to some of the songs from her new album. Professor Leah Garret from the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilization at Monash University spoke about her scholarly research into Wagner’s life and his relationships with important Jewish artists of his day, and Dr Dvir Abramovitch, Director of the Melbourne University Centre for Jewish History and

Culture, spoke about Israeli politics. All these talks were enjoyed by everyone and all resulted in lively discussion. We enjoyed our visit to the beautiful National Rhododendron Gardens in the Dandenong Ranges and lunch at the Cuckoo Restaurant. Our year ended with a wonderful outing to Melbourne’s beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens where we had lunch at The Terrace restaurant. After lunch we sat in the sun and watched the ducks being fed. A good time was had by all.

This year we are planning some great outings and speakers, and we welcome new members. We shall continue to meet on every alternate Thursday. If you would like further information about the group, please call Barbara Sacks on 0404 224 498 or Max Wald on 0418 142 866.

Teacher and performer par excellence, Helen Gottstein, presented her dramatisation of Four Faces of Israel at two performances held at the Jewish Holocaust Centre This was one of the many functions organised by the Friends of the Holocaust Centre in 2010 – a year during which over $ 50,000 was raised to support a host of projects at the Centre, among them staff professional development and the education program.

Fundraising activities such as Helen Gottstein’s superb presentations, and film evenings to see Eat, Pray, Love and Sarah’s Key, have been well attended and most enjoyable, affording opportunities not only to support the Centre but also to socialise By the same token, an afternoon tea function at the home of Sue and Phil Lewis, and several other activities, have allowed the Friends of the Centre and others to get together and enjoy each other ’s company while at the same time supporting the Centre

At the time of writing, we are organising a breakfast with actor Evelyn Krape as a prelude to her forthcoming performance of The Many Faces of Eve, to take place later this year at the Jewish Holocaust Centre Equally important , our popular art auction, currently being organised by Goldie Birch, Vice - President of the Friends, and her team, will take place later this year.

Melbourne has several fine Jewish authors Three of them, Howard Goldenberg, Leah Kaminski and Harry Lew – all medical practitioners – will present some of their work at an evening of readings during the year, to be held under the auspices of the Friends