2 AROUND
the sydney jewish report | October 2021
T H E
COMMUNITY JESSICA MENDOZA-ROTH In 2006, I was privileged to visit the Jewish Community Centre in Mexico City as part of the AUJS Leadership Development Program. It was so impressive to walk into the Deportivo Centre and witness such a bustling hub for Jewish communal life. I saw the tremendous benefits of a physical Jewish community centre: a huge range of after school activities for kids, exciting young adult programming, endless sport options, a massive gym and groups of bridge-playing retirees. It truly felt like a buzzing intergenerational community in action. When they asked me about a similar centre in Sydney, I shared the remarkable history of the Hakoah Club at its former home on Hall Street, Bondi, but it didn’t quite compare. The model of Jewish Community Centres (JCCs) – a safe and secure central hub from which Jewish life can flourish – has become a cornerstone of many Jewish communities around the world. There are currently hundreds of JCCs worldwide keenly focused on enriching Jewish life through health, fitness, culture, arts and innovative engagement programs, while being inclusive and welcoming, free from particular ideologies or religious streams. When I heard about the vision for the future of Hakoah at a presentation in late 2019, I was delighted that we could potentially have our own JCC in Sydney. In normal (non-COVID) times, my husband and I drive our son to soccer in one part of Sydney and our daughter to ballet in another. What will
Dreaming of the new Hakoah we do when child #3 arrives?! As many working parents of young children will appreciate, there is currently no central place for Jewish school holiday day camps for young children. Imagine if in one day they could do morning gymnastics and art, have Israeli food for lunch and play soccer and swim in the afternoon. I could see the potential for Hakoah – a single destination where my kids could do their activities, while my husband and I go to the gym and have coffee with friends. Hakoah in Hebrew means the strength, and I believe that this project is going to strengthen our community and strengthen Jewish identity for generations to come. I joined the Hakoah Club board almost 18 months ago and it has been a privilege to work closely with such dedicated and talented volunteers and a small group of committed staff to help bring this bold project to life. We have received judgment from the Land and Environment Court endorsing the final Development Consent and conditions enabling us to proceed with construction of the new Hakoah Club. We have never been closer to making the dream of a Sydney JCC a reality. We have received commitments from more than 185 major donors in the Jewish community, as well as a generous government grant. Our $65 million target is within reach once we complete major donor commitments and the community buys membership. We have developed a business model that does not require Hakoah to ask donors for more philanthropy. In addition to community and social returns, the business model is forecast to generate a surplus that will be reinvested to support
vibrant Jewish community life. We have selected a preferred builder who will be officially engaged soon. Arnold Bloch Leibler has been generously supporting the project pro bono on a range of legal matters. We have set up a new, not-for-profit, so we can own the land and keep it in the Jewish community in perpetuity. We have been working collaboratively with a number of community organisations to ensure that Hakoah will have a range of high-quality mission-driven programming. Hakoah intends to provide a platform and venue for existing community organisations to utilise, and we invite you to join us to discuss how you might want to use the wide range of spaces and facilities at White City. We have been operating diligently behind the scenes, while other organisations –working on the front line of this pandemic – have raised much needed funds. Until we received development consent and were confident in our ability to deliver this remarkable project, we held off on marketing it to the Jewish community. Now that we have satisfied this important condition, we have launched our new website – www.hakoah.com. au – and are sharing our vision with the entire community. In order to break ground, we need the community to show that it wants the project by joining as members. Discounted pre-opening family memberships – starting at $360 for the first year – are now available. There are a range of membership options to suit everyone. I invite you to join with me in dreaming of the day after this pandemic. That will be a day when our kids can go back to
school, when we can hug our parents and grandparents again, when we can do a workout at the gym and sit down at a cafe without any worry or restriction. As we all now know, and will never take for granted again, enjoying life together in person is so much more meaningful than waving to a grid of faces on Zoom. The recent lockdown has made me realise that community – connection, belonging, a support network and meaningful experiences with those we love – is more important than ever. These are the values that underpin Hakoah at White City and what drive me to be a proud supporter of this project. Imagine a vibrant communal home where we can all be together in person, doing things that we love, with the people whom we love. I also look forward to many international guests visiting Sydney and making sure that Hakoah is their first stop for all things regarding Jewish culture, art, sport, food and fun. While coming together with our loved ones and community is not possible right now, dreaming about it is. We are an amazing community and we can make the bold vision of Hakoah at White City a reality. The start of construction is within sight. To stay updated about Hakoah and learn more about our pre-opening and Foundation membership options, visit www.hakoah.com.au and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @hakoahclub. Jessica Mendoza-Roth is a Director of the Hakoah Club, Sydney Jewish Community Centre and the Founder and Director of the Social Impact Hub.
