The Melbourne Jewish Report - February 2019

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VOL. 42 Friday, 8 February VOL. 322019 / 3 Adar I 5779

Fostering a closer Jewish community

For the People of Israel

2019 CAMPAIGN

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Fostering a closer Jewish community

VOL. 42 Friday, 8 February 2019 / 3 Adar I 5779

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UIA CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

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HOLOCAUST REMEMBERANCE DAY

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community

February 2019

Gandel Philanthropy grant continues to foster Jewish connections ZIONIST FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA STACY HAYMAN Last month Gandel Philanthropy announced a significant grant to the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA), continuing their longstanding support of the TaglitBirthright Israel program, which the ZFA manages in Australia.

Taglit-Birthright Israel is a visionary global program that provides a gift of a 10-day educational tour of Israel for young Jewish adults aged 18-26 who have not previously participated in a post school peer-group Israel trip. Birthright motivates young adults to explore their Jewish identity and heritage through first-hand educational experiences. The Birthright Israel trip is a journey through both Jewish history and the contemporary Israel, accompanied by Israeli peers (“the Mifgash”) who join the trips as colleagues and friends. Taglit- Birthright Israel is committed to a culture of open discussion and dialogue about all issues: identity, geopolitics, religion, and Jewish life.

The ZFA is proud to represent the Australian Jewish community as the local partner in this unique project, which is championed by Gandel Philanthropy as the Principal Australian Supporter.

The $150,000 Gandel Philanthropy commitment will enable 120 young adults across three groups – many of whom are currently unaffiliated with the Australian Jewish community and have never visited Israel – to experience Taglit-Birthright Israel in 2019.

The aim of the grant is to help foster Jewish identity and continuity. Mr John Gandel AC, Chairman of Gandel Philanthropy the

Principal Australian Supporter of Taglit Birthright Israel said, “The evidence shows that Taglit-Birthright Israel program has been a major contributor to strengthening Jewish continuity right around the world and we are very proud to be associated with it”.

The ZFA are grateful for Gandel Philanthropy’s ongoing financial commitment which supported 80 participants in the past year alone and has directly enabled over 1140 young adults to participate in these transformative trips since 2011.

ZFA President Jeremy Leibler welcomed Gandel Philanthropy’s renewal of support.

“I acknowledge the remarkable generosity and foresight of Gandel Philanthropy.

Since 2011, Mr John Gandel AC and Mrs

Statement on White Supremacist Rally in St Kilda

COURAGE TO CARE VICTORIA

The rally in St Kilda last Saturday 5 January by extremist individuals espousing white supremacist views has shocked us all.

Courage to Care condemns all actions targeting people based on their ethnicity or religion, and under no circumstances can the Nazi salute or the open display of Nazi symbols be tolerated or linked to sensible democratic debate.

We cannot accept such demonstrations of hatred and intolerance in today’s Australian society, created by the gathering of individuals from all four corners of the globe, from every creed and tradition including our own First Nations. Courage to Care joins with all sensible people to condemn such toxic attitudes and behaviour, to reject the propagation of hate-speech and the targeting of vulnerable groups.

This is not a “right wing” versus “left wing” question but rather a malicious xenophobia that encourages racist hatred, distrust and conflict. Courage to Care has always spoken out against such attitudes, and we are dedicated to doing something about it. We firmly believe that education is a significant part of the solution in developing acceptance, understanding and a reasoned, calm way to address complex issues.

It is the mission of Courage to Care to educate Australians about the dangers of prejudice, racism and discrimination, and to empower them to challenge and speak out against such unacceptable human traits. We all have the power to do, or to say, something that will make a difference for others and for

our society.

As Edmund Burke is quoted as saying “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.”

Dr Tony Weldon OAM FRACP Chairman, Courage to Care Victoria

Courage to Care continues to offer education programs that teach of the dangers of racism, discrimination and prejudice. We offer training in transforming Bystander behaviour to being an Upstander.

Accordingly when we read of the events of last month in St. Kilda we certainly could not be Bystanders and felt compelled to speak out. Attached is our Media Statement condemning the white supremacist views and reaffirming our strong belief that education is a significant contributor to a solution.

Courage to Care will continue to speak out against such intolerable behaviour.

Pauline Gandel have contributed over a million dollars towards Australian Birthright programs, and have contributed not only to the Jewish futures of those who participated directly in the programs, but also to a stronger and more connected Australian Jewish community” Reflecting on her Taglit-Birthright Israel experience earlier this year, program alumnus Jen Doig said: “This trip was probably one of the biggest turning points in my life. The biggest insight for me was something that our amazing guide said on the first day: there are 14 million Jews, and there are 14 million ways of practicing Judaism.

On the trip I made lifelong friends, learned about my culture, learned more about who I

am and where I’ve come from. Growing up, I’ve never really felt like I fitted in. I didn’t grow up in a Jewish community, and always felt a bit different to everyone else. But going on Birthright, you’re thrown into a group of people who feel exactly the same way that you do! “ “It is remarkable that a 10-day trip to Israel can change not only a person’s future but that of the Jewish people. The outcomes of the program for the participants are priceless in terms of Jewish continuity and Jewish and Zionist identity, and successive research studies have demonstrated the positive impact of Taglit-Birthright Israel on future engagement with the Jewish community, with Israel and in reducing rates of intermarriage.” said Ginette Searle, ZFA CEO. Research conducted by the Cohen Centre of Brandeis University indicates that participation in Birthright Israel positively alters participants’ trajectory of Jewish engagement and connection to Israel.

72% of Taglit-Birthright participants marry someone Jewish as opposed to 51% of non-participants and participants are also 35% more likely than non-participants to feel confident in explaining the situation in Israel.

Registration for this FREE July 2019 trip opens at 10AM EST on 28 January 2019.

The program is overwhelmed by demand every year and there is a long list of participants waiting to receive their gift.

To register and for more information on the eligibility criteria and program dates, visit www.israelprograms.com.au or call 03 9272 5644.

Australia Day awards for Shaare Zedek SHAARE ZEDEK The recent Australia Day awards were especially significant for the Australian Friends of Shaare Zedek Inc. Dr. Nathan Isaac Cherny was appointed a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for his significant service to medicine, and to education, in the fields of palliative care and medical oncology.

Dr Cherny serves as the Norman Levan Chair for Humanistic Medicine and the Director of the Cancer Pain and Palliative Medicine Services at Shaare Zedek Medical Centre Jerusalem He is a well-known personality in the Australian Jewish Community. Nathan was born in Australia and both his father and brother are highly respected medical professionals. Nathan is a graduate of Mount Scopus and he completed his medical training at Monash University.

He made Aliya over 30 years ago and regularly visits his friends and family in Australia.

Among his many achievements, he established the undergraduate training programme in palliative care at Monash University while completing his fellowship of the Royal Australian College of Physicians with specialist recognition in oncology and palliative medicine.

Since 2007, Dr Cherny has served as Norman Levan Chair of Humanistic

Medicine at Shaare Zedek Medical Center. As a medical oncologist he was the co-founder of the Integrated Oncology and Palliative Medicine Department and Director of the Cancer Pain and Palliative Medicine Service at Shaare Zedek Medical Centre since 1994.

Dr Cherny is recognised as a world authority in his field. His awards and recognition include: Recipient, Honorary Doctorate of Laws (Honoris Causa), Monash University, 2017. Recipient, Danielle Foundation Award, 2017 (for outstanding humanism in care).

Recipient, Medical Book Awards, British Medical Association, 2016. Recipient, Policy Development Award, European Association for Palliative Care, 2016.

Recipient, European Society for Medical Oncology Award, 2015 (for contribution to the development of oncology in Europe).

In another Australia Day award that was a source of much pride for the Australian Friends of Shaare Zedek Inc. Mr Tom May, Board Member of AFSZ was awarded OAM for Service to the Law. Tom has been a director of the Law Institute of Victoria. His communal work in addition to his involvement with AFSZ Inc includes the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, The Melbourne Chevra Kadisha and The Melbourne Eruv. www.shaarezedek.org.au facebook.com/shaarezedek

community

February 2019

People with disabilities walk tall at Hadassah HADASSAH The beginning of the construction of a new state-of-the-art rehabilitation centre at Hadassah Hospital’s Mt Scopus campus is the culmination of a dream to provide a pathway to independence for people of all ages dealing with neurological problems.

The new rehabilitation centre will address an urgent and growing need in Jerusalem and will service a catchment area of more than one million people. The Israeli government has underwritten 25% of the cost of the $100,000,000 facility.

Since its establishment at the turn of last century, the Jerusalem-based hospital has been an internationally-acclaimed innovator in medicine and science. It is also the largest recipient of hospital-based patents in Israel, being issued more than all other hospitals combined. But it is also an organisation willing to embrace new and exciting technologies from third parties.

During the ground breaking ceremony for the new centre in January, Hadassah announced that it had acquired a key rehabilitation device developed by Swiss medical technology company Hocoma.

The Lokomat advanced robotic walking system provides functional gait therapy for paralysed patients. It was donated to Hadassah by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

The machine is designed to help individuals suffering from movement disorders caused by stroke, spinal cord

injury, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological diseases and injuries.

Dr Isabella Schwartz, director of Rehabilitative Services at Hadassah Mount Scopus, said that most of the patients her department treats come in wheelchairs, and there is an incredible sense of achievement when they are able to walk out. This is why the Lokomat system is such an important addition to

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her department’s services.

“Whatever patients cannot do, such as lifting their legs, is done by the Lokomat system,” she said.

“It simulates the natural flow of movement and provides feedback on the progress of training, adjusting the regimen to move the patient ahead.”

“The computer-aided electric motors are attached to the patients’ legs and stabilise them. Sensors record the exertion and the

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independent movements of the patient.

Robotic support and weight relief can be reduced to promote or extend existing residual movements.”

Ron Finkel AM, President of Hadassah Australia, said that in a world in which people talk about ‘branding’, there is no greater ‘brand’ for healing than Hadassah.

“The hospital has a long and proud history of helping people from all walks of life and from every background to get back their ability to walk,” he said.

“We take our ability to walk for granted until we lose it. People who find themselves in that situation can imagine no greater outcome than the ability to walk independently, and the Lokomat system provides them with that opportunity.”

There are currently more than 300 Lokomat systems in operation in some 50 countries, assisting approximately 45,000 neurological patients.

This is the first system of its kind in Israel.

The new rehabilitation centre will address the growth in the city’s population, including the longer life spans of Israeli citizens. The modular design by architect Arthur Spector harmonises with the campus’s desert landscape and, with its enlarged pools and training areas, provides adequate space for patients and therapists.

To donate to Hadassah Hospital, please go to www.hadassahaustralia.org

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community

February 2019

Aussie research interns get a career head start in the Arava ZIONIST FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA STACY HAYMAN The Australia Arava Partnership (AAP) has selected two Melbourne science graduates to participate in a unique research internship at the world-class Research & Development Centre in the Central Arava.

Now in its second year, the program, which is sponsored by the AAP, offers successful candidates the opportunity to expand their scientific research skills through an intensive hands-on laboratory experience working with a team of scientists to further their professional skills and benefit from an immersive scientific experience through research projects.

“We have designed this program to foster the next generation of research scientists and are delighted to offer both Jenna Topolansky and Josh Rachbuch the opportunity to work with world-renowned scientists on incredible projects, whilst living in the majestic surrounds of the Arava. An internship in the Central Arava R&D Centre will enable them to participate in the exciting, cutting-edge research taking place there, all in a stimulating intellectual environment while being mentored by distinguished scientists,” said Tamara Bruce, Chairman of the AAP. Surrounded by a unique ecosystem, the R&D Centre strives to increase and broaden the desert-related research being undertaken. To a community living in the desert, it is of utmost importance to reveal its uncovered secrets in order to promote

Jenna Topolansky, Josh Rachbuch sustainability and co-existence. Studies into the natural surroundings form the basis for all environmental and ecological developments.

Jenna holds a Bachelor of Science (Zoology) degree from Monash University and is excited to return to Israel with fond memories of her Birthright Hagshama trip in 2014. “I am extremely honoured and proud to be provided with this opportunity to conduct aquaculture research in a state-of-the-art facility in the Arava. I am very passionate about zoology and look forward to expanding my skill set and knowledge base in relation to the scientific field,” said Jenna.

Josh, who holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Biomedical Science degrees from Monash University, will work

What happens when a wish come true…..

THE MAKE-A-WISH AUSTRALIA & ISRAEL SHARED APPEAL

The Make-A-Wish Australia & Israel Shared Appeal are kicking off 2019 with a number of special events (Sunday February 17th – Tuesday 20th February). Denise BarAharon, Co-Founder and CEO of Make-AWish Israel is visiting Melbourne with Noga Barkan, an inspirational Israeli Wish Child who’s here to share her own personal story of courage and strength.

Noga is an Israeli rhythmic gymnast who was preparing to participate in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games when she was diagnosed with cancer. Her dream to take part in the Olympics was crushed, but her wish to go to Rio and support her Israeli teammates was granted by Make-A-Wish Israel. And then, in January 2018, Noga achieved another amazing accomplishment – she led a team to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Make-A-Wish Israel. Noga also chose to volunteer for the Israeli Army, which wasn’t a requirement as she’d had a critical illness and was recently honoured by the IDF for her service. She now trains rhythmic gymnasts in Israel.

Come along to one of the events to hear Noga tell her moving and motivational story, as well as hearing about how Make-A-Wish make the impossible possible for children diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

EVENTS INCLUDE: Sunday 17th February – A gymnastics masterclass and talk by Noga for

children aged 10+ in conjunction with Kim Factor School of Dance and Edge Gymnastics. 2pm – 4pm. $18 Bookings: www.trybooking.com/BAAQB Sunday 17th February – ‘An Evening at the Empire’ together with Maccabi Victoria. 730pm Age 18+. Guest speaker Noga Barkan. Empire Bar, Hotel Brighton.

Bookings: www.trybooking.com/BAHTE For more details about these and the other events, contact Sarah Singer at the MakeA-Wish Australia & Israel Shared Appeal on 0458 133 280 or s.singer@makeawish.org.au The Make-A-Wish Australia & Israel Shared Appeal is a partnership between Make-A-Wish Australia and MakeA-Wish Israel. All funds are shared equally between the two countries. www.makeawish.org.au/shared-appeal.

on ALS research with Dr Niva Blum and her team. He is looking forward to returning to Israel where he spent 10 months on IBC Australia during his gap year in 2014.

“This is a once-is-a-lifetime opportunity to further my education and apply everything I learnt at university in a real-world setting.

Living in the Arava is certainly stepping out of my comfort zone but will no doubt augment my experience,” said Josh.

Ginette Searle, Chief Executive Officer, Zionist Federation of Australia said “We are pleased to see two of our Israel Program alumni returning to Israel to continue their journey of exploring their connection to Israel and their Jewish identity.

There’s no better place than the Arava to foster meaningful connections with the

people, the land and the unique innovative culture of Israel.”

During their free time the interns will enjoy moshav life in the heart of the desert, as well as additional activities such as; tours, encounters with people from the Arava community and daily life with their adoptive families.

The project serves to enhance the connection between Australia and the Arava, which is the key objective of the partnership.

Partnership2gether (P2G) is the global living bridge project of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Zionist Federation of Australia aimed at connecting Israeli communities with Diaspora communities. The Central Arava region was “adopted” by Australia as our partnership community in 1995, and the relationships and joint projects which have emerged from the partnership have been varied, broad and deep, said Stacy Hayman, AAP Co-ordinator.

Over the years, the Australia Arava Partnership has facilitated various delegations between the communities, including youth and students, to professional and special interest groups. Each of these visits has strengthened the bonds between people, created personal relationships and enriched the respective communities’ cultures.

The AAP is currently recruiting madrichim to lead on a summer camp in the Central Arava in July 2019. To register your interest email arava@zfa.com.au or call Stacy Hayman on +61 3 9272 5531.

Disconnect to Connect

J JUNCTION

When you think about how we lived just ten years ago, the technology we have at our disposal is mind-blowing. There are no limits to what we can achieve these days, but most of us know by now that there are downsides to our hyperconnected world. It seems that the more connected we are to our devices, the less connected we are to what’s real and important in our lives.

We live in a time where finding a match is as easy as swiping your finger across your phone, and yet finding a meaningful relationship can seem impossible.

If you’re sick of these superficial encounters, you’re not alone. The dating

game is harder than ever, but JJunction is there for you. Our mission is to help members of our community find true happiness through genuine connections with real people who are serious about finding a long-term match.

Once you sign up, you will be assigned a connector who will get to know you and will search our database of thousands to find a true match for you. We have algorithms, but our biggest asset is the connectors who have already taken the time to get to know you and your potential partners to make an informed, human decision.

Check out our website: j-junction.org.au or email us at: support@j-junction.org.au

February 2019

community

The Greens - ¡No pasarán!

MICHAEL DANBY By now you will know that I will not be contesting Melbourne Ports at the next election. It has been the greatest honour to represent you over 21 years in Federal Parliament. Like the U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson, I have shown you can have an impact on the national debate and change Australia for the better without sacrificing principle.

However, having won the marginal seat of Melbourne Ports for seven terms in a row, I do not want to see it fall in the next election to the Green Political Party, whose policies and candidates continue to face little scrutiny.

Unlike Labor, or even the Coalition Government, the Green Political Party holds secret national and state conferences that cannot be observed by the media.

The Green Party never face the risk of their economically extreme policies being put into practice, as they have never won government. So most of their policies and actual views are hard to pin down.

However, the Green Political Party has always shown their hand in Canberra when you look at their voting pattern on issues.

What is demonstrable – and what is publicly available for your scrutiny - is the Green Political Party’s consistent voting against all measures that work to secure the safety of all Australians. Many parliamentarians, including myself, strongly believe in and argue for environmental, animal welfare, urban amenity and human rights concerns that the Green political party claims to stand for. However, WHILE THEY PROMOTE

THESE VIEWS, THEIR AGENDA IS MORE EXTREME. Until I published the attached hard-hitting ads, few knew that the Green Party had voted against every proposal in the Australian Parliament to protect the security of our nation against terrorist threats. My research for this claim is based on a vote-by-vote analysis by the Federal Parliamentary Library – a neutral and prestigious organisation – who, at my request, examined every vote of the Green Party on National Security and Counter-Terrorism legislation since the commencement of the post cold war terrorist era (which began with the murder of more than 3000 people at the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11th, including 10 Australians who were amongst the victims).

Within Federal Labor I have been influential in seeing that the Opposition does the right thing by Australia and votes for

these measures that will protect your safety.

National security and counter-terrorism laws have only been passed because Labor has been responsible. My friend Bill Shorten has always insisted that we amend and refine these counter-terrorism bills to allow sunset clauses, civil liberty exceptions and careful judicial oversight before we have voted with the Government. The recent confused nature of the Australian Senate has meant that Labor had to support legislation to achieve a majority to pass these security laws.

I conclude with a message to you as your parliamentarian who passionately advocates strongly for human rights and for our local interests. As mentioned, I will not be standing in the next election. My former Chief of Staff, Josh Burns, will be Labor’s candidate in 2019 and I heartily endorse him.

This ramshackle Coalition Government deserves to be thrown out. I have known Bill

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Shorten well since his student days, when we became friends when I was the editor of the Australia-Israel Review. He and the Labor front bench and are worthy of forming our next government. I will, of course, urge you to support Labor. Yet given the Green Party’s record, you should not support them (Their strategy is to scrape past Labor in primary votes and use Labor preferences to skate into office). Anyone who says that if you vote Labor you must preference the Greens Political Party is wrong. You do not.

How you vote is entirely a matter between you and the ballot box. I will be voting number 1 for Burns, however I will not give my second preference to the Greens party extremists.

Remember that prior to the last Federal Election, the Greens Party Candidate refused to participate in a public forum, because this forum was hosted by this august newspaper- the Australian Jewish News.

I thank you very much for your support over the past two decades. After these twenty years of enjoyable - and I hope you will agree effective and hard-working representation - I look forward to remaining active in our local community.

If you follow my suggestion about the Green Political party, as freedom fighters in the Spanish Civil War declared “¡No pasarán!” (They will not pass).

Michael Danby MP Federal Member for Melbourne Ports (Past Chair of Federal Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: JSCFDT)

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community

February 2019

Cure Cancer Celebrates the Successes of their Class of 2018 Researchers!

CURE CANCER As we enter into the new year, cancer research charity Cure Cancer take the opportunity to celebrate some of the successes of their 2018 funded researchers, all of which were made possible thanks to the generosity of their supporters and donors.

Researcher of the Year 2018: A/Prof Jyotsna Batra - Prostate Cancer Researcher, QUT Cure Cancer Researcher of the Year Jyotsna Batra has been working on examining the DNA sequences of around 140,000 men of European descent in the world’s largest prostate cancer study ever.

With this data, she and her team were able to identify 63 new genetic markers which predispose men to prostate cancer. Using new and known risk variants, an estimated 28 percent of familial prostate cancer risk can now be accounted for. These findings enable the identification of which men should have early and regular screenings and may eventually inform treatment decisions.

Dr Kate Van Dyke - Blood Cancer Researcher, University of Adelaide Kate specialises in multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer which is diagnosed in approximately 140,000 people around the world each year. Many patients find the disease progresses rapidly after treatment because of its ability to spread throughout the body.

Kate’s project was focused on a particular protein which is found in cancer cells in more than half of all myeloma patients. With the

funding from Cure Cancer, Kate and her team found that this protein is a key driver of the spread of tumour cells throughout the body. One of the major findings from 2018 was using a drug that targets this protein to block the spread of tumour cells in a mouse model of myeloma. This is a promising finding, as it could mean that this drug could be used to slow the progression of disease.

Dr Orazio Vittorio Childhood Cancer Researcher, CCI Neuroblastoma claims more lives of children under the age of 5 than any other cancer. The survival rate for high-risk neuroblastoma is about 50% and the rate for the most aggressive form can be as low as 15%.

Last year, Orazio and his research team

found that the antioxidant, Catechin (found in green tea amongst other foods), significantly reduces the capacity of a neuroblastoma tumour to accumulate copper from the blood.

Copper is an emerging target for the treatment of cancers, and Orazio’s paper (published in the journal Theranostics) is the first in the world that demonstrates how PET imaging techniques can be used to reveal elevated copper levels in neuroblastoma and to monitor tumour response to therapies.

Dr Esther Lim Skin Cancer Researcher, Macquarie University Esther’s project last year investigated means of stimulating the immune system as a form of therapy for patients with advanced melanoma, an aggressive type of

skin cancer. Her work entails looking at the genomic and protein profiles of these patients to identify who will benefit from this treatment and anticipate whether patients will develop life-threatening side effects due to treatment.

This research may take the medical community a step closer to personalising effective therapies with greatest benefit and lowest risk of adverse effects.

Congratulations to all these researchers on their inspiring work. Thanks to them, we are one step closer to making this the last generation to die from cancer.

If you’d like to support inspiring, innovative cancer research from our brightest young minds, head to curecancer.com.au/support.

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community

February 2019

An Exciting Campaign For Our Community UNITED ISRAEL APPEAL CARLI DVASH With only a few weeks to go, UIA Victoria is gearing up for another epic Campaign season.

We pride ourselves on bringing the community the most relevant and diverse speakers. Our Campaign season commences with the Gala Dinner on Tuesday 26 February headlined by The Rt. Hon. David Cameron - Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a true Zionist and friend of Israel. Cameron was seen as the most proactive British Prime Minister in his support for Israel; his unwavering commitment translated into policy change, developing a foreign policy addressing the challenges of the Arab Spring.

Joining Cameron is UIA success story Nataly Zagaya. Born in Israel to Ethiopian parents who made Aliyah as part of Operation Moses, Nataly participated in UIA’s flagship project Net@. By empowering youth from Israel’s peripheries, this extremely reputable program turns high risk into hi-tech, thus enabling her to join elite units in the IDF. Nataly represents one of the thousands of youth from disadvantaged populations living in the geographic and social periphery that Keren Hayesod – UIA, together with you as our partners, support.

Our Women’s Division brunch on Wednesday 27 March, which is almost sold out, will raise funds for the Youth Futures Project in Sderot for youth-at-risk. Many of these youth are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder derived from living close to the Gaza border. This event will feature The Hon. Julie Bishop MP, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is a staunch and enduring supporter of Israel. She has been at the forefront of Australia’s determination to quash resolutions in international forums that

condemn Israel; ensuring only ‘balanced’ UN resolutions receive its support. Guests will also hear from Tzameret Fuerst, a dynamic and vibrant serial entrepreneur who is the CoFounder and former CEO of Circ MedTech which developed a ground-breaking HIV preventive device called PrePex - the world’s only non-surgical male circumcision procedure.

This has been publicly endorsed by Bill Gates and hailed by the head of UNAIDS as ‘a revolution in HIV prevention.’

Our ’Young at Heart’ group can enjoy a Community Afternoon Tea o n Wednesday 13 March and hear the inspiring story of heroism and determination told by Former IDF Captain Ziv Shilon, who was critically injured in his last operational mission in Gaza in 2012. Undergoing over 14 surgeries and intensive rehabilitation, the story of his injury and recovery is a remarkable tale of the strength of one’s spirit and the ability to overcome challenges. Due to his immense motivation and willpower, he succeeded to rise above physical hurdles including those he

thought were impossible. Shilon completed the Berlin Marathon and is now training for the Iron Man competition.

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, Founder and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy will also speak at the Community Afternoon Tea. He is an outspoken supporter of Israel and believes that Muslim organisations and leaders need to be held to a litmus test to see whether they recognise Israel as a state. He regularly briefs members of the House and Senate on the threat of Political Islam, and testified before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.

Ziv Shilon will also be presenting at the YoungUIA Campaign Launch on Wednesday 13 March at Hobba.

Our 2019 Campaign will once again focus on raising funds for the wellbeing of the People of Israel. Not only will it identify the different programs and avenues in which we do so, but also celebrate the vibrancy and layers of the Israeli melting pot and how UIA projects are

tapping into modern and new areas, whilst still retaining our core values and dedication to our mission. Essentially, our projects return to the fundamental premise of empowering the People of Israel – not only continuing to bring them to Israel, but provide them with a multitude of programs and the tools for a successful and better future. The Campaign events will be a unique opportunity for the Jewish Community to come together and show their support in what should be some of Australia’s largest gatherings celebrating the People of Israel in 2019.

UIA Victoria President Hayley Southwick said: “We fundraise locally and collaborate with our global family to empower and strengthen the People of Israel. This Campaign not only provides the community with the most relevant and inspiring speakers, but also serves as the bridge for us to show our support as a collective.

These events enable our donors to have a real impact and play a meaningful role in creating a better future for the People of Israel.”

Events are selling out – so now is your final chance to secure your place.

Follow UIA on Facebook for updates on our 2019 Campaign: facebook.com/uiaaus Gala Dinner - Tuesday 26 February 2019 YoungUIA Campaign Launch Wednesday 13 March 2019 Community Afternoon Tea Wednesday 13 March 2019 Women’s Division Brunch -

ALMOST SOLD

OUT

Wednesday 27 March 2019 To book and for events details, contact 1300 ISRAEL (1300 477 235), info@uiavic.org.au or visit uiaaustralia.org.au/our-events/vic

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Register now for the savlal biluarbslaery ee belo w Scopus Experience for entry in Year 7, 2020 We invite Year 6 students in 2019 to join us for the day on

Wednesday 6 March, 2019.

Bookings are essential.

Full means-tested scholarship for secondary school and other fee assistance packages are available. Enquire now.

For further information, or to register your interest, please contact Enrolments, on 9834 0070 or admissions@scopus.vic.edu.au.

Scopus Values Excellence in Learning

Holistic Development

Jewish Identity

Community and Service

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February 2019

Yiddish offers cool path to Jewish connection FAY BURSTIN YIDDISH is cool in 2019. Be’emes!

No longer just the secret language of grandparents and a vestige of a bygone era, these days there are Yiddish podcasts, Yiddish cooking blogs, Yiddish comedy webseries such as the Canadian phenomenon YidLife Crisis and a growing interest among a younger generation for whom it represents an alternative, offbeat and exotic link to their Jewish identity.

Yiddish teacher Esther Singer, who runs the Kadimah’s beginners’ classes in Brunswick and Elsternwick, describes a swell of interest from younger people who have never heard Yiddish spoken before.

Rather, their curiosity in the language and culture comes from a desire to connect to their roots in a different way, reflecting a growing worldwide contemporary scene exploring Yiddish as an alternative Jewish world.

“There’s a global community of people who think Yiddish is part of a really interesting cultural period in history and who want to learn more about the art and politics of the time,” Singer said. “The most active scenes are in New York, Paris, Israel and here in Melbourne, but there are pockets in Warsaw, London, Sweden and Canada. Learning Yiddish gives you the key to understand what prewar culture was like in Europe and opens you up to a global community of people who appreciate Yiddish literature, music, comedy and culture.”

Singer says most of her students are drawn to learn Yiddish through a desire to reconnect with family roots.

“Often they’re learning from scratch,” she said of her novice students, who vary in age from 20-something to about 70. “They

may have heard a bit of Yiddish spoken around them as they were growing up and want to refresh their knowledge and learn more about Yiddish literature, song and culture generally. Others think Yiddish is an interesting language that gives a nostalgic sense of warm memories and history and they want to learn more about something they didn’t get told about.’’

The Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre, Australia’s home of Yiddish culture, offers about ten weekly classes and shmues (chat) groups catering to all ages and levels, from absolute beginners to fluent speakers. Singer teaches beginners’ classes at two levels in both locations: Aleph is for absolute beginners and Beys for continuing beginners with some experience. The classes are designed to be fun, easy, interesting and enjoyable,

she said.

“Everyone really enjoys the community of the class,’’ she said. “It’s very warm and welcoming and friendly, people look forward to seeing each other each week. People often think that learning a language is difficult but these classes are geared towards having a good time rather than strict grammar lessons. Lots of people enjoy learning languages as a creative activity, so for Jews with an Eastern European background, why learn Italian when you can learn Yiddish and get all that culture and history and warmth that comes with it?”

Term 1 classes start Mon February 4. The 10-week term costs $225 and scholarships are available. For information contact e.j.singer@gmail.com or visit www.kadimah.org.au

YIDDISH REAWAKENS FAMILY JOY FOR East Brighton community worker and new mum Deborah Liebhaber, 33, learning Yiddish in Esther Singer’s beginners’ class at the Kadimah has reawakened a nostalgic joy.

“Yiddish always surrounded me growing up,’’ she said. “It was infused into our grandparents’ stories and lullabies, our day-to-day mealtimes, in-jokes and family life.” But after her grandmother passed away, Ms Liebhaber felt the absence of Yiddishkayt around her. Around the same time, her sister started taking Singer’s Yiddish classes in Brunswick.

“My sister would come over and sing Yiddish songs to my newborn, sharing new words and jokes she had learned in class,’’ she said. “Sparking my curiosity and nostalgia, I signed up to the Elsternwick Yiddish classes.”

A year on, she still loves walking into her Monday night Yiddish class.

“Classes are relaxed, fun and wellpaced,” she said. “The best feeling was when I recently played some old Yiddish songs that my Bubby used to listen to and found — to my surprise — that I actually understood a lot of the lyrics, for the first time ever. I would really love to grow my Yiddish so that I can surround my own kids in its unique colour, character, history and charm. That would really make me kvell!”

For information on times and venues contact e.j.singer@gmail.com or visit www.kadimah.org.au

2019 Green Sunday: Supporting Naveh

JNF VICTORIA

This Sunday, 10th February, JNF Victoria will once again call upon the community to help build and green Israel.

This year, funds raised from the Green Sunday Appeal will support the remote, pioneering, border community of Naveh in Israel’s Negev.

In 2005, the now residents of Naveh were evacuated from their homes in the southern Gaza Strip. With little warning and no place to go. Embodying a true pioneering spirit, they asked the Israeli government where they were needed most. So they relocated to Halutza, an isolated area in the Negev… and the birthplace of Naveh.

Rabbi Aharon Tzohar and his wife Amana were among the first to arrive in Naveh 10 years ago. They were one of only 20 families – all living in caravans and surrounded by nothing more than sand dunes.

Today, Naveh is home to 130 courageous families, all determined to keep their community growing despite the daily fears they face. As Aharon explains: ‘Sirens go off almost every day and when they do, we only

irrigation. This was a game-changer for our community – and an economic lifeline for our people,’ says Aharon.

Located in the town centre, the Naveh synagogue is the community’s hub of daily life. But it’s still surrounded by sand.

That’s why, this Green Sunday, JNF Victoria will be raising funds to transform this area into a lively family haven… complete with trees, benches, lighting and recreational spaces. With the generosity of the Melbourne Jewish community, we can help to instill Naveh with life, joy – and most of all, normality.

‘We’re so grateful to JNF for all they’ve done. It’s been a tough but rewarding journey, and we’re so excited to give the people of Naveh this crucial new piece of hope they’ve been longing for,’ says Aharon.

have 15 seconds to find shelter. It’s hard living here, but we’re not afraid. We built this place from nothing… and we’ve already achieved so much.’

Now, with fresh water, roads, homes and a

town centre, Naveh is getting stronger by the day. This is largely thanks to the work of JNF Victoria’s generous supporters. ‘A couple of years ago, JNF helped us connect Naveh to the treatment plant which gave us water for

Rabbi Aharon Tzohar will be in Melbourne for a series of “Green Week” events from 1 -10 February. To learn more about this incredible project, sign up as a volunteer or to donate, please visit www.jnf.org.au/vicgreensunday.

February 2019

Holocaust Remembrance Day ARK CENTRE RABBI GABI KALTMANN

On 27 January the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a date on which every member nation of the U.N. will honour the memory of Holocaust victims and encourages the development of educational programs about Holocaust history. Growing up in Melbourne, which is home to the largest number of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel, the Holocaust was never far from my childhood and my Jewish experiences.

My childhood was filled with proclamations of gratitude that thanked the wonderful country of Australia for allowing us to live as Jewish people freely and without oppression.

My grandfather, Mr Yossi Kaltmann was a Holocaust survivor who survived six concentration camps and lost almost his entire family, including his grandparents, parents, sister and brother.

Like so many in Melbourne, the Holocaust is deeply personal and does not relate to a vague ‘six million’ but rather, thousands of Bubbas, Zaidas, Uncles, Aunties and relatives that were killed from our immediate family. As the years go on and the number of Holocaust survivors amongst us diminishes, the question as to how to remember such atrocities so that they never occur again, anywhere in the world, is something we grapple with.

A few years ago, to commemorate Yom Hashoah, Israel’s official Holocaust Memorial Day, an image was widely released to try to provide some context which contextualises the current reality of Holocaust memorial (the image accompanies this article). The powerful image depicted an elderly Holocaust survivor standing alone with a walking aid and reflected in the shadows were his family

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which were deceased during the Shoah.

In addition, the shadow of the Holocaust survivor in the image depicted a little boy, showing that he was a child survivor who had now grown old.

As these survivors pass from our world on to the next, we on earth are left with the important mission of “Zachor! (Remember!)”

The older I become, the more I reflect on the difficult challenges that people faced.

While in theory one can learn about the tough decisions that people fleeing persecution made, whether the stay with the mistaken belief that things would get better, or to flee the unknown, the choices that people faced were exceedingly difficult. Who knows if in the same situation, I would have chosen to uproot my life, wife, children and move away from my family to flee to the great unknown?

Hindsight provides us with amazing clarity, once the outcome has already happened and we know the end result.

I recently read the book “Who will Write Our History? Emanuel Ringelblum, the Warsaw Ghetto and the Oyneg Shabbos Arvchive” written by historian Samuel Kassow and which was recently released in a documentary style film. The book delves into the activities of the Oyneg Shabbos Archive who operated in the Warsaw Ghetto and its leader, esteemed historian Dr Emmanuel Ringelblum. Dr Ringelblum gathered a group of persons in the ghetto who were dedicated to recording their daily life during the German occupation. This group, including historians, writers, rabbis, social workers, men and women from a variety of backgrounds, recorded information such as essays, diaries, wall posters, daily records of ghetto activities, final wills, photographs and manuscripts of the Jews living in the Warsaw ghetto.

Buried in three troves, two were discovered

after the war and contained over 6,000 documents (about 35,000 pages) and are housed in the Jewish historical Institute in Warsaw. One is yet to still be recovered.

The importance of these documents and the history they record are globally recognised and are included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register.

They record the suffering, the kindness, the good, the bad, the terror and the humanity of people in the ghetto. As 19 year old Dawid Graber recorded in 1942 in the archive: What we were unable to cry and shriek out to the world we buried in the ground….I would love to see the moment in which the great treasure will be dug up and scream the truth at the world. So the world may know ….We would be the fathers, the teachers and educators of the future….May the treasure

fall into good hands, may it last into better times, may it alarm and alert the world to what happened…in the twentieth century….

May history attest for us.”

As historian Smauel Kassow notes in the introduction to his book about Dr Ringelblum’s purpose in recording all aspects of ghetto experience for future generations: “….Ringelblum also wanted to cast a ‘stone under history’s wheel.’ He was absolutely convinced that the story of Jewish suffering, no matter how terrible, was a universal, not just a Jewish story. And evil, no matter how great, could not be placed outside history. The archive could … become a weapon in the struggle for a better future.

Even though he … knew that most Polish Jews would not survive, he … continued the Oyneg Shabes…. One of his most important goals was to explain for future historians the behavior of the “Jewish masses” during the war….”

And so, as we enter into this period of reflection leading into International Holocaust Remembrance Day, educate yourself and those around you. If one forgets history, it is doomed to repeat itself. We have an obligation to ensure that the memory of those who were killed are not forgotten and that those who are amongst us ensure that the world does not repeat itself and again subject any people of any nation to such atrocities.

Take an extra minute to learn something new that you did not previously know about the Holocaust and teach it to someone else, so that the memories of those who are deceased is not forgotten, even after the Holocaust survivors who help us to understand the magnitude of the Shoah are no longer amongst us.

Jewish Refugees During and After the Holocaust JTA Jews fleeing the Nazis had difficulty finding countries that would take them in.

Between the Nazi rise to power in 1933 and Nazi Germany’s surrender in 1945, more than 340,000 Jews emigrated from Germany and Austria. Tragically, nearly 100,000 of them found refuge in countries subsequently conquered by Germany.

German authorities would deport and kill the vast majority of them.

Around the World After Germany annexed Austria in March 1938 and particularly after the Kristallnacht pogroms of November 9–10, 1938, nations in western Europe and the Americas feared an influx of refugees. About 85,000 Jewish refugees (out of 120,000 Jewish emigrants) reached the United States between March 1938 and September 1939, but this level of immigration was far below the number seeking refuge. late 1938, 125,000 applicants lined up outside US consulates hoping to obtain 27,000 visas under the existing immigration quota. By June 1939, the number of applicants had increased to over 300,000.

Most visa applicants were unsuccessful.

At the Evian Conference in July 1938, only the Dominican Republic stated that it was prepared to admit significant numbers of refugees, although Bolivia would admit around 30,000 Jewish immigrants between 1938 and 1941.

In a highly publicized event in May–June

Jews demonstrating against the White Paper in Jerusalem, May 18, 1939. (Wikimedia). Zionist demonstration at the BergenBelsen DP camp in 1946. (US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy Fred Diament) 1939, the United States refused to admit over 900 Jewish refugees who had sailed from Hamburg, Germany, on the St. Louis.

The St. Louis appeared off the coast of Florida shortly after Cuban authorities cancelled the refugees’ transit visas and denied entry to most of the passengers, who were still waiting to receive visas to enter the United States. Denied permission to land in the United States, the ship was forced to return to Europe. The governments of Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium each agreed to accept some of the passengers as refugees. Of the 908 St.

Louis passengers who returned to Europe, 254 (nearly 28 percent) are known to have died in the Holocaust. 288 passengers found refuge in Britain. Of the 620 who returned to the continent, 366 (just over 59 percent) are known to have survived the war.

British Mandate Palestine (Pre-State Israel) Over 60,000 German Jews immigrated to Palestine during the 1930s, most under the terms of the Haavara (Transfer) Agreement.

This agreement between Germany and the Jewish authorities in Palestine facilitated Jewish emigration to Palestine. The

main obstacle to emigration of Jews from Germany was German legislation banning the export of foreign currency. According to the agreement, Jewish assets in Germany would be disposed of in an orderly manner and the resulting capital transferred to Palestine through the export of German products.

The British White Paper in May 1939, a policy statement approved by the British Parliament, contained measures that CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

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February 2019

Lily Widner, 97, survived the Holocaust and much more. Why does Poland say she’s dead?

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ (JTA) — Lily Widner has cheated death too many times to remember each close call.

The 97-year-old Jewish Floridian survived starvation in the ghetto of her native Polish city of Lodz, two Nazi death camps and one of humanity’s worst aerial bombardments.

By the end of World War II, she was the sole living member of her nuclear family of six.

Widner’s remarkable ability to survive is one reason that her family was outraged to learn recently that Polish authorities in 2010 issued a death certificate for her. She not only is alive but actively fighting in Polish courts for restitution of her family’s assets in Lodz.

After issuing the death certificate, authorities also declared that Widner has no heirs, voiding her restitution claims.

This despite the fact that she has a son whose existence was made known to Polish authorities, documents seen by JTA indicate.

“I think it’s a travesty,” Mark Widner, Lily’s son, told JTA about the curious pronouncement of his mother’s death by Lodz city authorities. “I don’t think it was an honest mistake.” He cited an ongoing restitution trial that dates back to decadeslong efforts by his mother to retrieve family property.

The City of Lodz and Poland’s Interior Ministry have not replied to JTA’s requests for comment on the case. As with many claims, part of the problem may have been that Widner, nee Miriam Goldring, had changed her name (Polish authorities have been made aware of that).

But to some activists seeking restitution for Jewish property in Poland, Widner’s case is indicative of systemic failures in the Polish restitution process. Its critics say it is Kafkaesque, ineffective and insensitive to survivors.

Widner’s case is “not atypical” of others in Poland, Gideon Taylor, the chairman of operations of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, told JTA. “The bigger picture is that the Polish court system does not act in the interest of justice,” said Brian Kramer, a Florida-based lawyer

Brian Kramer, shown in Warsaw in 2016, is the Florida-based lawyer representing Lily Widner in her restitution case. (Courtesy of Kramer) who is representing Widner and specializes in restitution claims in Poland.

Despite pledges to compensate Holocaust survivors for property that was first stolen by the Nazis and then confiscated by Polish authorities, post-communist governments in Poland “have constantly been putting hurdles before claimants, and Mrs. Widner’s case epitomizes this,” he said.

Restitution is a painful subject across Europe, but Poland is often singled out for criticism because it is the only major country in the former communist bloc that has “not passed any comprehensive legislation to return private property confiscated by the Nazis or nationalized” by the communists, Taylor said.

Hania Rosenberg, an 84-year-old Polandborn survivor from Sweden, has been fighting for years for restitution for her family’s property in Ledziny, near Krakow.

She described her fight as a “carousel.”

“You go around and around and around and around,” she told The New York Times in 2017. “You have to produce the documents that they need, and then it’s not enough.

There are always more documents you need to provide.”

Even families with the required documents, like that of Yoram Sztykgold in Israel, are waiting indefinitely until Polish authorities agree to accept their claims.

It’s a policy with large-scale implications for restitution in a country that had 3.3 million Jews before the Holocaust – by far the largest Jewish population on the continent.

The magnitude of property stolen — estimated in the billions of dollars — is among the reasons that the issue of restitution is divisive and frightening to many in Poland, which is one of the European Union’s poorest nations. It also raises considerable resistance in a nation where 3 million non-Jews died in World War II and whose nationalist government defiantly rejects any notion of local culpability for the fate of Jews.

And, finally, acknowledging that Jews have a case for restitution risks setting a precedent for other populations and groups whose property was stolen, principally churches and the Polish nobility.

Notwithstanding, pressure on Poland is mounting.

Last year, President Donald Trump signed the Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today Act, which requires the State Department to monitor the activities of European countries on the subject and report their progress to Congress.

Last year, 59 U.S. senators signed a letter protesting proposed legislation in Poland that would have made it even more difficult for most survivors to claim property. The bill

eventually was withdrawn.

In 2014, 50 British lawmakers protested in a letter how “Poland stands out in its failure to fulfill – or even recognize – its responsibility to victims.”

Only six months to act In 2016, as part of legislation that was trying to close old moribund claims in Warsaw, the municipality was required to announce that there were still pending claims, many of which dated to the immediate postwar period. This related to 2,613 properties that had been claimed in the past but where the procedure was never completed.

Once the city announces a claim’s reopening, claimants have only six months to act. Taylor of the Claims Conference says it’s an unreasonably short period of time for claimants and heirs to meet the requirements for original and notarized documents for assets lost decades ago to people who are often no longer alive.

Only about 300 cases have been opened, resulting in no compensation for any claimant. The city recently stopped reopening cases.

In Warsaw, some claimants now have hope of following a restitution procedure – however flawed it may be – but outside the capital “there are no means to recover property,” Taylor said, except for a handful of cases where claimants can prove that the original process of confiscation was somehow technically flawed.

That’s bad for countless claimants and for Polish-Jewish relations, which last year deteriorated because of government legislation that made it a crime to blame the Polish nation for what happened to its Jews in the Holocaust.

Taylor argues it’s also harmful for Poland itself.

“For any society, not resolving major property issues and having them remain open for decades into this era, that’s not a positive place to be,” he said.

“The problem isn’t going away, and the question that Polish governments need to ask themselves is whether they want to continue having long-term ownership challenges going into the future.”

Jewish Refugees During and After the Holocaust FROM PAGE 9 severely limited Jewish entry into Palestine. As the number of hospitable destinations dwindled, tens of thousands of German, Austrian, and Polish Jews emigrated to Shanghai, one destination that did not require a visa. Shanghai’s International Settlements quarter, effectively under Japanese control, admitted 17,000 Jews.

Stricter Limits, Despite Reports of Mass Murder During the second half of 1941, even as unconfirmed reports of the mass murder perpetrated by the Nazis filtered to the West, the US Department of State placed even stricter limits on immigration based on national security concerns. Despite

British restrictions, limited numbers of Jews entered Palestine during the war through “illegal” immigration (Aliyah Bet).

Great Britain itself limited its own intake of immigrants in 1938–1939, though the British government did permit the entry of some 10,000 Jewish children in a special Kindertransport (Children’s Transport) program. At the Bermuda Conference in April 1943, the Allies offered no concrete proposals for rescue.

Switzerland took in approximately 30,000 Jews, but turned back about the same number at the border.

About 100,000 Jews reached the Iberian Peninsula. Spain took in a limited number of refugees and then speedily sent them on to the Portuguese port of Lisbon. From there, thousands managed to sail to the

United States in 1940–1941, although thousands more were unable to obtain US entry visas.

Displaced Persons After the War After the war, hundreds of thousands of survivors found shelter as displaced persons in camps administered by the western Allies in Germany, Austria, and Italy. In the US, immigration restrictions were still in effect, although the Truman Directive of 1945, which authorized priority to be given within the quota system to displaced persons, permitted 16,000 Jewish DPs to enter the US Immigration to Palestine (aliyah) remained severely limited until the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948.

Thousands of Jewish displaced persons sought to enter Palestine illegally: between

1945 and 1948, the British authorities interned many of these would-be immigrants to Palestine in detention camps on Cyprus.

With the establishment of Israel in May 1948, Jewish refugees began streaming into that new sovereign state. Some 140,000 Holocaust survivors entered Israel during the next few years. The United States admitted 400,000 displaced persons between 1945 and 1952. Approximately 96,000 (roughly 24 percent) of them were Jews who had survived the Holocaust.

The search for refuge frames both the years before the Holocaust and its aftermath.

Reprinted with permission from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Holocaust Encyclopedia.

February 2019

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Chinese company set to manage Haifa’s port, testing the US-Israeli alliance JNS YAAKOV LAPPIN

According to China’s Ministry of Transport, a total of 52 ports in 34 countries are managed or were constructed by Chinese companies, and that number is set to grow as Beijing expands its Belt and Road Initiative.

The presence of Chinese state-owned companies at Israel’s seaports is acting as a thorn in U.S.-Israeli relations.

These include Haifa’s new private seaport, which the Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) will begin to manage from 2021 for 25 years. Meanwhile, China’s Pan Mediterranean Engineering Company (PMEC) is currently building Ashdod’s private port and is due to complete the project in 2021.

The Israeli government views both new sites as alternatives to the older, state-owned ports, which are prone to costly strikes, but which will continue to operate.

In particular, the Haifa port project is drawing the concern of the U.S. Navy, which often docks at the Israeli naval base in the northern coastal city. That close cooperation could change if the nearby civilian port comes under Chinese management, American officials have warned.

With the issue continuing to stir controversy and debate in Israel, a number of commentators have expressed concern over the harm that it might cause to Israeli-American naval cooperation.

“There is no doubt that this has reached a crucial junction,” Professor Uzi Rabi, director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, told JNS. “The American antagonism is clear to all, and Israel will—like on many aspects of the

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, along with U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman during a visit on the U.S. navy ship “USS ROSS,” which is docked at the Ashdod port, on Oct. 11, 2018. Credit: Marc Israel Sellem/POOL. Middle East and in general—find a middle way that is very creative.”

Asked whether Israel can indeed find a path that would let it enjoy the economic benefits of relations with Beijing, Rabi said that Israel will have to “dedicate a lot of energy and creativity” in charting a future of reciprocal economic relations. Such relations would have to ensure that China does not “take control of central pillars of the local economy, or taint relations

with the U.S.” An early sign of pressure on Israel to keep China out of the loop of new infrastructure projects may have emerged last week, when Israel reportedly restricted a tender for the construction of a major new international airport to NATO nations only.

‘Israel will not be able to deal with security risks’ Washington has made no secret of its displeasure over developments at Haifa.

During his visit in mid-January, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton conveyed the Trump administration’s concern about China’s involvement at the port.

Dr. Ofer Israeli, a geostrategist and international-security policy expert, said that while the construction of the Ashdod port is nearly complete—meaning that the matter is closed—the situation at Haifa port is very different.

“In Haifa, a Chinese company would operate the port for 25 years, and therefore, the possibility of withdrawing from the deal is possible and essential to Israel’s security,” said Israeli.

Israeli, who lectures at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, argued that giving away the keys to a strategic port to any foreign party means a loss of Israeli control over a central gate to the outside world.

Israeli is also concerned by numerous reports of China taking advantage of the infrastructure it builds in other countries for surveillance, intelligence gathering, or cyber warfare.

The proximity of the civilian port to the Israeli Navy base at Haifa could allow the Chinese to track Israeli naval activity, which is supposed to be classified, warned Israeli.

“In my view,” he said, “Israel will not be able to deal with the security risks—not just in terms

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

The wisdom behind Israel’s crazy multi-party system JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli politics looks like a big mess right now. In the past few weeks, three new parties have been launched and one party has kicked out a former partner. More changes are likely, too. It probably will get messier still if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted before national elections are held on April 9.

The latest polls show 12 to 14 parties entering the new Knesset, many with the bare minimum of four seats. (The Knesset has 120 seats.) That would be up from 10 in the recently dissolved parliament. But expect those early tallies to change. The polls diverge widely in their counts, and more political surprises are surely in store.

For Brits and especially Americans, who are used to two-party politics, this fluid situation may seem like a weakness of Israeli democracy, but it is actually a sign of its strength. As they say in the tech world, Israel’s political condition is a feature not a bug.

Why is that? The games of musical chairs, with parties breaking away and others being fired, are not only being driven by political egos. That’s not to say no egos are in play.

But the emergence of new parties and the shrinking of older ones are based on the notion that the Israeli voter is “woke” and caring. Voters have demands, opinions and desires, and the country’s politicians are trying to find out what they want. Hardly any voters are in the back pockets of politicos, who cannot take anyone for granted.

Most Israelis no longer vote based on family traditions, ethnic loyalty or rabbinic directives. They change their minds every campaign. Old and influential

Miki Zohar, center, chairman of the House Committee of the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem, chairs a vote on the split of Ayelet Shaked, Naftali Bennett and Shuli Muallem from the Jewish Home party to form a new party called The New Right, Dec. 30, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) Zionist movements like Labor and the National Religious Party are losing ground politically, even though people still believe in the ideologies. Voters are making specific demands of their leaders and will not be loyal to a politician just because he or she heads a particular party.

These continuing splits have also shattered the traditional support networks of the old-line parties. Labor cannot count on the support that its “ground troops” from the Histadrut labor unions and kibbutzim used to provide. The religious parties used to be able to count on their B’nei Akiva youth

groups and yeshiva students. Such networks are less important in an era of internet campaigning, and that traditional support is certainly not showing up on Election Day. Not even the haredi Orthodox vote en bloc anymore. You would have thought that in a right-wing government they would get what they want. But they didn’t and in the end, there will be army conscription of young haredi men, even in a right-wing coalition.

Overall, the haredim hold fewer seats than their demographics would suggest. It is even possible that the Sephardic haredi party Shas won’t receive enough votes to gain

Knesset seats. With right-wingers Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked exiting the Jewish Home party, its remnants, primarily the old National Religious Party, also may not exceed the electoral threshold of four seats.

Other examples of such fracturing abound. Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party doesn’t represent Russian Israelis anymore. The Arab political parties are a more complicated matter, but on numbers alone, one would think they could hold more than 20 seats in the 120-member Knesset, as Arab Israelis represent 20 percent of the country’s population. But they are stuck in the low double digits.

By my estimates, only 20-25 percent of voters cast their ballots according to tradition, and they are clustered in the Likud and haredi parties. That is not a large enough percentage to be a game changer.

The game changer is the other 75 percent.

The Israeli political map in the 2019 election is different from 2015’s, which was different from those in 2012 and 2009.

This is not a sign of chaos. Rather it is a sign of a mature democracy and shows voters’ critical thinking about politics. They say, “I won’t vote for you just because I voted for you last time or because I was raised in your educational system.” There are no loyalties.

This direct influence of the individual citizen on politics is the real check and balance in our political system, especially as we don’t have a constitution and the courts are under attack. Even Benjamin Netanyahu, a great CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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February 2019

Right-wing killings eclipsed all other extremist-related murders in 2018. The numbers don’t lie JTA NEW YORK (JTA) — Every year, extremism takes a deadly toll around the world. No region is immune — not the Middle East, not Europe, and not the United States. In 2018, there were at least 50 Americans killed by extremists from different movements.

Many of the victims were Jews. Eleven members of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh lost their lives in October at the hands of a vicious white supremacist convinced that Jews were engineering mass immigration of nonwhites into the U.S. Blaze Bernstein, a young gay Jewish man, was murdered in California last January by a former classmate who allegedly was a member of a violent neo-Nazi group. And five of the 17 victims of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, a budding white supremacist, were Jewish.

But Jews were hardly the only victims of deadly extremist violence in 2018.

A white supremacist at a Veterans Affairs home in Tennessee allegedly set his African-American roommate on fire, then boasted about it to a white supremacist group.

Just months before the Tree of Life shooting, another Pittsburgh white supremacist was charged with stabbing an African-American man to death while on a quest to visit bars and repeat the “n-word” until being kicked out. In November, Scott Beierle opened fire at a Florida yoga studio, killing two and wounding four others in an apparent spree of misogynistic violence.

In 17 different incidents across the country last year, people lost their lives to extremists.

Some attacks were ideological in nature, others personal; for a few, the motivation remains murky.

The 50 deaths topped the 37 individuals killed by extremists in 2017 and made 2018 the fourthdeadliest year on record for domestic extremistrelated killings since 1970.

Largely absent from this list of killers were extremists motivated by radical interpretations

Protesters and counterprotesters clash during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Aug. 12, 2017. (Calla Kessler/The Washington Post via Getty Images) of Islam. Only one of the 50 murders had any connection to Islamist extremism — and even then the perpetrator had ties to white supremacy.

In 2018, the U.S. was thankfully spared the mass murders by Islamist extremists we’ve seen in recent years.

To be clear, there were Islamist-inspired terrorist plots and people arrested on charges such as providing support to such individuals.

And we have seen real challenges from this type of violence abroad. However, it is a reminder about the unfairness of peddling anti-Muslim bias or making hysterical claims about faith-based extremists grounded in fiction rather than fact.

And yet these statistics communicate a clear

Chinese company set to manage Haifa’s port ...

FROM PAGE 11 of spying, but also on other matters, such as the Chinese desire to bring ships to the port that could be on their way to train or assist Syrian forces or Hezbollah.”

Washington will in all likelihood “force us to withdraw from the deal, and Israel will pay a higher price to the Chinese for every passing day, through the rising exit fines, and through the harm that would come to relations with China,” he cautioned.

‘Washington and Beijing competing over areas of control’ Roie Yellinek, a doctoral student in the department of Middle East Studies at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, recently published a paper at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, in which he placed the Haifa-port tension within the wider context of growing, global American-Chinese competition.

Yellinek, a fellow at the China-Med Project, which monitors relations between Beijing and regional countries, wrote that “while the direct implications of the port’s management are of interest to China and the U.S., their concerns are more related to a Cold War-type struggle.”

“Similar to the Soviet-American struggle during the Cold War, Washington and Beijing are competing over areas of control and patronage. The question of influence over Israel is very important to both countries,” said Yellinek. “From the American perspective, Israel is its oldest and most important ally in the Middle East, and one of the current administration’s closest friends. From Beijing’s perspective, the opportunity to increase its influence on a country that maintains such close ties with the U.S. can have deep implications for China’s international status.”

Speaking to JNS, Yellinek said that he believed that Israel could deal with the potential security challenges created by the

Chinese company’s presence at Haifa. But the strain this issue would cause to relations with the United States would be too costly for Jerusalem to bear, he argued.

“My personal view is that we need to satisfy American expectations because they guarantee Israel’s security, while China has few sentiments for Israel’s security needs,” said Yellinek. “I think the government will have to act. … Ultimately, China is closer to Iran than it is to Israel.”

Yellinek noted that China has quietly begun establishing soft power channels in Israel to promote its cause.

He also noted that Chinese companies operate ports around the world, and that there is nothing inherently unusual about the Israeli case.

As the world’s second-largest economy after the United States, China has been rapidly expanding its global presence. Under President Xi Jinping, the country launched its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, creating a lucrative network of land and sea trade hubs across Eurasia. It is a network that greatly expands China’s access to and influence on global trade.

In September 2018, Rear Adm. Oded GourLavie (Res.), a former head of the Israeli Navy’s Strategic Task Force, told JNS that given its location in the eastern Mediterranean, and coastline on the Red Sea, Israel is well suited to benefit from China’s initiative. But in a situation in which economic interests clash with security interests, Israel will have to make future decisions differently, “so that we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Lavie.

From Yellinek’s perspective, the alliance with Washington is the most important factor to defend.

“The Israeli government should tell the U.S. that yes, Washington is undoubtedly Israel’s best friend, but also that no American company offered to manage Haifa’s port,” said Yellinek.

“And that this is aboveboard.”

message that the U.S. must pay more attention to dangers posed by domestic right-wing extremism — without neglecting the genuine need to prevent all forms of extremist violence. There are more than a dozen active right-wing extremist movements in the U.S. that are violent, such as white supremacists, anti-government sovereign citizens and militias, and anti-Muslim and antiimmigrant extremists.

The fact is right-wing extremists collectively have been responsible for more than 70 percent of the 427 extremist-related killings over the past 10 years, far outnumbering those committed by leftwing extremists or domestic Islamist extremists — even with the sharp rise of Islamist-extremist

killings in the past five years.

These murder statistics send us a clear message: Right-wing extremist violence needs to be addressed. It will not go away on its own. Indeed, as our Center on Extremism has documented, the white supremacist movement is growing. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in October was a reminder of what can happen when anti-Semitism, a key ingredient of white supremacist bile, is left unchecked. If we want a safe society for Jews and all Americans, we must address this problem.

Extremist, right-wing violence is a problem that can be addressed. Congress should ensure that the executive branch is tracking and focusing on domestic terrorism through legislation like the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act. The federal government should collect data on domestic terrorism and provide for training for law enforcement on best practices.

Hate crimes laws can also be improved. Five states still don’t even have a hate crimes law on their books. Many other states have significant gaps or weaknesses in their laws.

We also need to address our broken hate crimes reporting system because it is woeful.

Hate crimes are significantly underreported to the FBI because of victims not coming forward or by law enforcement agencies failing to report hate crimes. This, too, must be addressed.

We can and must do more to counter this growing threat of extremism. We can promote anti-bias and civic education programs. We can promote programs within communities to counter extremist propaganda and recruiting. We can help educate the technology sector about the need to combat hate and extremism on its platforms.

We can’t solve extremism. But there is so much more we should do to make sure the people who died at the hands of extremists in 2018 — and those who died before them — did not perish in vain. We can do better.

The wisdom behind Israel’s crazy multi-party system FROM PAGE 11 politician, has to seesaw back and forth among differing ideas. You cannot fool Israelis, and he knows it.

The argument that most of Israel’s Jewish population is right wing is a fact, but it’s a result of the current situation. It wasn’t like that always, and it won’t always be like that. Bibi won’t be here forever.

Even though Likud looks as if it is the last of the old-line parties to retain its deep core intact, the day that Netanyahu goes – and that day will come – Likud will implode as its historic rivals and partners have. He’s the only one holding the Likud together.

A governing coalition with many small parties is a problem. But I prefer a fragile system that is sensitive to the different opinions in society than strong leadership like a presidential system.

Israel’s politics may seem chaotic, but it gets things done. Innovative legislation of cannabis exports, child vaccinations and cigarette labeling made it through the system before the Knesset dissolved.

The two-party, presidential system in the U.S. has ground to a halt, the result of a polarized electorate and differing parties running the two houses of the Congress. America’s founders wanted governing to be difficult, but they also wanted consensus of a sort — seemingly impossible in a system that demands a stark choice between two sides of a

divide.

Unlike Donald Trump, Netanyahu cannot just play to his “base.” The forming and reforming of factions means he is always in danger. You can argue that danger paralyzes him from acting, but it also demands more caution. In a society with a lot of friction, it gives more representative power to different parts of society, which is what democracy is about. I prefer that to some kind of political tyranny or a democracy that grinds to a halt.

A democracy is not tested by the power of a ruler but by the constraints it imposes on power. A prime minister in a parliamentary system must be open and listen. He or she has to make concessions, even to small parties. There will always be people who are unhappy, and here, virtually every political group is both happy and unhappy, depending on the moment.

One of the proofs of this is our high voter turnout. Nearly 72 percent of Israel’s eligible voters cast their ballots in the 2015 election, compared to 58 percent in the United States in 2016, a presidential year, and less than 50 percent in 2018 — itself the highest midterms turnout since 1914. Either Israelis are naive – they are not – or they think the system is working.

Elections in Israel are an example of the trust people have in the political system, and the greater the noise and chaos, the greater the involvement and engagement.

schools / shul

February 2019

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What’s new at Scopus in 2019 MOUNT SCOPUS Mount Scopus College’s Wellbeing focus will continue in 2019, with an expanded program for Year 11 students, and a new Wellbeing parent education series for parents in both Primary and Secondary. An educational partnership with Flying Fox will further develop our Inclusion curriculum for Years 7-12 students.

In the Secondary School, the College is excited to announce the expansion of the Hebrew Immersion Program, with two Hebrew Immersion classes to run at Year 7 in 2019.

Ms Amanda Castelan-Starr will take on the new position of Jewish Studies Curriculum Director (Prep - 10). Amanda has held a similar role in Secondary for a number of years and looks forward to extending her expertise across the entire school.

New Year 9 elective subjects on offer will include Studio Journalism, Script and Production and a new Jewish Studies Talmud elective, while at Year 12, English Literature Units 3-4 will run as subject for the first time in many years.

A new addition to the Year 10 Jewish Studies curriculum will see the introduction of a Life Values and Intimacy Education Program, which will explore rights and responsibilities in different relationships based on Jewish teachings.

Early morning boot camps for Year 7 Maths and Year 12 Maths Methods trialled in 2018 will continue in 2019 and starting this year, an accelerated Year 8 Maths class

Students pictured enjoying Hebrew Immersion Camp. will also be offered. Following the success of the weekly GPS (Girls Prayer Service) for senior students, a Junior GPS program for girls in Years 7 and 8 will start in 2019. The program will feature a combination of tefillah and learning/discussion.

In 2019 Mount Scopus College welcomes two year old children as part of the new Little Learners program. Based at the smaller Fink Karp Ivany Campus in South Caulfield, Little Learners will operate as a long day care program for children in the year before commencing Lower Kinder. Little Learners is designed to engage and stimulate children in a warm and caring environment. The Scopus Little Learners program will offer

Yesh Israel Program THE KING DAVID SCHOOL Our largest group ever of Year 10 students embarked on our Yisrael Sheli (Yesh) experience recently.

A customised program with Israel Experience® offers our students a meaningful experiential learning opportunity to gain insight into Israel’s many facets including the geo, socio and political landscape. Our Yesh program also fosters

independence and resilience, creating life long memories and social bonds.

There is a comprehensive program of activities including historical tours of Jerusalem, Shabbat at the Great Synagogue, sunset visits to the Kotel, hiking in the Negev, cave crawling at Tel Azeka, an archeological dig at Beit Guvrin, the Arava Partnership Program on Kibbutz and a Bedouin experience at Kfar Hanokdim in the desert.

inquiry-based learning to develop and extend children’s natural curiosity and will provide the first steps in a child’s learning, discovery and the development of their Jewish identity. Families have the flexibility to enrol for the number of days needed, from a minimum of two days up to five days per week. The program commenced in January and operates 48 week a year.

Music tuition and after care, including a number of different workshops will be offered to Primary students at Fink Karp Ivany Campus at no extra cost to parents in 2019.

The Emmy Monash Savta program, which sees residents visit the upper kinder

classes on a weekly basis and build strong connections based on mutual understanding and tolerance, will expand to include all upper kinder classes at both campuses in 2019. The trial program last year was extremely beneficial for the residents and students alike, who each looked forward to the weekly visits.

A new sensory movement track will be installed at Gandel Besen House in the playground adjacent to the Prep and Year 1 classrooms. It will feature painted lily pads to jump to, Hebrew and English letters to follow by hopping and jumping, numbers, lines and footprints painted to jump and hop on in different ways. It will be used by students for movement breaks and for fun by all the children.

An expanded Bat Mitzvah program will offer Year 6 girls who wish to lein (read from the Torah), the opportunity to learn their Parsha over the course of a year, with a female teacher, to enable them to deliver their Parsha at the time of their Bat Mitzvah celebrations.

A Peer Mediator Program for Years 4, 5 and 6 students trialled last year will expand in 2019. Designed to enable students to mediate low level disagreements between two of their peers, the students mediators are trained at school in a full day workshop and selected through an interview process and in consultation with their teachers.

Student mediators elect to be ‘on duty’ two play times a week and mediate any conflicts which arise between students.

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schools / shuls

February 2019

The Ten Commandments - A Lesson in Life ST KILDA HEBREW CONGREGATION RABBI YAAKOV GLASMAN A monkey suddenly went missing from the zoo. The zookeeper looked frantically in every nook and cranny but couldn’t find him anywhere. Finally, the zookeeper decided to look in the only place he hadn’t yet checked – the zoo library. To his astonishment he found the monkey sitting at one of the desks holding a Bible in the one hand and Darwin’s “Origin of the Species” in the other.

Incredulously, the zookeeper asked the monkey “What on earth are you doing here?!” The monkey turned to the zookeeper with a confused look on his face and said “I was trying to work out whether I am my brother’s keeper or my keeper’s brother!”

Corny jokes aside, interpersonal responsibility, or assuming the role of our brother’s keeper, goes to the very heart of our Jewish faith. Whilst some people make the common error of dismissing those commandments that exist between man and G-d, focusing solely on those that exists between man and man, others make the same error in excluding those mitzvot between man and man, justifying their behaviour by carefully fulfilling the laws between man and G-d. So which approach is the preferred one?

Judaism teaches us that both these approaches are equally erroneous. The Torah places mutual emphasis on both sets of laws and neither may be practiced to the exclusion of the other. The two are in fact complimentary. To be sure, one of

(L-R) Rabbi Yaakov Glasman, Benjamin Cohen who recently read the Ten Commandments on his Bar Mitzvah, Chazzan Brett Kaye. most critical components of Judaism - the Ten Commandments - are split right down the middle on this issue. Five of them are interpersonal commandments and the other five are inter-Divine. This teaches us that belief and worship of G-d necessitates a respect for G-d’s creations (our fellow man) and respect for G-d’s creations is predicated

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on an appreciation for the divine being who created them.

The shocking scene depicting the famous Biblical story of the ’Eglah Arufa’ serves as a stark illustration of this point. It speaks of the lonely corpse. A human being who was murdered and left alone in an open field.

The killer is nowhere to be found and there

South Caulfield Shule’s newest project engages kids to be passionate about Judaism and community!

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seems to be no clues as to who committed this atrocious act. The law in this tragic case is simple yet profound. The spiritual leaders of the closest city to which the corpse was discovered must travel to the scene of the crime and atone in accordance with the prescribed ritual. The priests (Kohanim) must then recite blessings and invoke the name of G-d to further this atonement.

The question is asked: The rabbis and Kohanim were not responsible for this man’s death so why should they have to atone for it? And if atonement is indeed necessary why couldn’t they simply send a delegate or agent in place to carry out the task? Surely the rabbis could find better things to do with their time than spend the day traveling to the outskirts of the city for this most morbid of rituals?

The lesson, however, goes to the very core of what Judaism stands for. It’s not enough to be a good Jew without regard for those around us. We cannot turn a blind eye to other people’s plight while enjoying the security of our own wellbeing. If we are aware of someone else’s misfortune, the metaphoric “corpse” in their lives, we may not turn our backs or simply delegate responsibility to someone else. If we are in a position to help then we must do so no matter what our standing is in the community.

Ultimately the buck stops with everyone who possesses a moral compass to travel to the allegorical outskirts of the city by to assist some in need. After all, if we are not our brother’s keeper, who else will be?

South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation is launching their latest program which runs on a Friday afternoon and leads into the Friday night service.

The program is geared toward children ages 5-8 years old for now but aims to expand in the nearby future. It will also involve the parents and incorporate various aspects of Judaism. Hannah Schauder, a passionate an energetic young women will be running the program supported

by Rabbi Daniel and Rebbetzin Sarah

Rabin. Board member Kollen Sussman has been working on this project and is excited at the potential it offers the community. Rabbi Daniel Rabin said the program is an important part of their ongoing efforts to engage and support the next generation of Jews and to keep them connected and inspired by Shule and community.

The Shule also recently launched their 2019 Bar/Bat Mitzvah program as well as a weekly morning playground run by Rebbetzin Sarah and Morah Ilana! For more info contact the South Caulfield Shule office.

schools / shuls

February 2019

Melbourne’s Masorti congregation celebrates 20 years and inducts its new Rabbi KEHILAT NITZAN During the weekend of March 8-10, Masorti congregation Kehilat Nitzan will be celebrating two milestones: the induction of its latest rabbi, Rabbi Yonatan Sadoff, and its 20th anniversary.

Rabbi Sadoff came to Kehilat Nitzan in May 2018 from Congregation Magen Avraham in Omer, Israel, near Beersheva. He received his ordination from the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem, and also served as the assistant rabbi at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka, Minnesota (near where he grew up). Rabbi Sadoff has a great passion for the study of Kabbalah, Hasidism, Musar (Jewish Ethics), art, film and music, and has great hopes of growing the Masorti approach to Judaism in Australia generally, and in Melbourne specifically.

Rabbi Sadoff is joined by his wife Merav and their two daughters Tiferet Tehilla and Maayan Tekhelet. Previous congregation rabbis were Rabbi Ehud Bandel and Rabbi Adam Stein.

Special speakers at the Rabbi’s induction on March 10 will include Rabbi Mauricio Balter from Israel, Executive Director of Masorti Olami and MERCAZ Olami and a member of the Executive of the World Zionist Organization. Rabbi Balter previously served as co-president of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel and was a member

of the Administrative Committee of the International Rabbinical Assembly.

Kehilat Nitzan is the first and only Conservative (Masorti) congregation in Melbourne, and is affiliated with Masorti Olami, the World Council of Conservative Congregations. It was established in 1999 by foundation president Professor John Rosenberg together with Itzik Yossef; both had been active participants in the Masorti minyan at the Emanuel Synagogue in Sydney and were interested in developing a Masorti chavurah when they moved to Melbourne. From that initial meeting with 41 participants, the congregation has grown to a self-sustaining kehillah of approximately 225 families.

Services are traditional galitarian and participatory and led by the rabbi and members of the congregation.

Rhona Rosenberg, President of Kehilat Nitzan said “Our Friday night services are very special. During the summer months, the lead-in to Kabbalat Shabbat is celebrated by guitarists accompanying the communal singing.” The synagogue offers a variety of programs for young people from ages as young as 2 to bar/bat mitzvah classes.

Members also participate in community activities such as a weekly food van that serves disadvantaged families in Port Melbourne and a choir that performs in aged care homes.

Rebuilding the Beit Hamikdash CHEDER MENACHEM EARLY LEARNING CENTRE We held our end of year concert on Monday 17 December, the day before the fast of 10 Tevet commemorating the destruction of the First Temple. Our theme was the building of the Beit Hamikdash and how it came to be located on Har HaMoriah.

Our students built a wall of the beit hamikdash using mitzvah bricks to illustrate that the more mitzvot we do, the quicker the Beit Hamikdash will be rebuilt. The children then presented their parents with a personalised challah board.

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schools / shuls

February 2019

Back to School BIALIK COLLEGE After topping the state VCE results in 2018 for the second time in three consecutive years (and having been in the top five of the state for a remarkable 22 of the last 23 years), Bialik College–a non-selective school–is proudly heading into the new year with lots to look forward to.

Realising the College’s vision to grow the Bialik family, the freshly-built creche opens its doors in July 2019. Children as young as three months through to three years are warmly welcomed into our inclusive, nurturing community. With a Hebrew educator in every room as well as Art, yoga and music taught by specialist teachers, applications are already open and places are filling fast.

Flexible and child-centred, the Bialik Creche is Reggio Emilia-inspired and part of Bialik’s award-winning ELC, which is renowned for its leading pedagogy, outstanding educators and excellent educational outcomes. It is in a stunning new building on the Bialik campus, a secure and safe environment with access to Bilaik’s best-in-class facilities.

From ELC through to VCE, there are exciting initiatives in 2019 that will encourage students to pursue excellence in all aspects of College life. Leadership, Health and Wellbeing, Jewish Life, social growth and learning will all be undertaken within the Cultures of Thinking framework.

Bialik’s Creche opens its doors in July 2019 This approach began at Bialik over a decade ago as a joint research project with Project Zero at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and is now a world-renowned, professionally lauded method of teaching.

We know that some of the best learning takes place out of the classroom and with this in mind, the Year 9 cohort will embark on a new program (replacing the more traditional City Week offered in other schools) ‘Entrepreneurship Week’. Promoting unbridled, independent and innovative thinking, this exciting experience is also designed to enhance the students’ life skills and independence.

Based in the innovation hub of Richmond

and Cremorne, during the week, students will use public transport to navigate their way to businesses, organisations and coworking hubs. They will engage with CEO guest speakers, interview successful entrepreneurs and pitch their own ideas to respected figures in the business world.

Mentored by Bialik alumni who themselves have had success as entrepreneurs, the students will learn the basics of running a business and present their pitches to a panel of judges at the end of the program.

In the past few years, students throughout Bialik’s Primary, Middle and Senior schools have been recognised for their amazing achievements in external STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering

in their viewpoint; their absolute certainty that they have the only possible answer or solution to the complex issues that confront us. While extremism today is most obvious in the religious world with fanatical Muslim murderers, frenzied Hindus, belligerent Buddhists and, to our regret, some wildeyed Jews in Israel, it is not confined to religionists. Violent fanaticism dates back earlier than Judaism, Christianity or Islam and is evident today in those who bomb abortion clinics or fanatical vegans who, as Oz puts it, “sometimes sound ready to devour people who eat meat.” It was obvious in the right-wing rally in St Kilda just a few weeks ago.

This is not to downplay or overlook the fact that the most extreme form of global fanaticism today is fundamentalist Islam.

We, however, overlook the root causes of zealotry when we conveniently consign it all to al-Qaeda, Hamas, Isis or Hezbollah.

As the questions and issues of our time grow more complicated, people long for more simple answers, a culprit who can be blamed for our perplexity-‘the Muslims,’ ‘the permissive protagonists of our society,’ ‘the immigrants,’ ‘the left-wing radicals,’ ‘the right-wing Zionists’ – if only we wipe them out, then all our troubles will vanish…

Zealotry, says Oz, begins with innocuous symptoms, not with beheadings, car bombs, or burning people in their homes, but rather in the bosom of the family. We all harbour corners of extremism in our selves .It may begin with the milder form of wanting to change our spouse or our children ‘for their own good.’ It may start with seemingly noble impulses of self-sacrifice (‘look how

much I am willing to do for you’) but selfsacrifice is not necessarily about putting my ego aside for others, it can mask a destructive emotional or manipulative purpose and “those who are eager to sacrifice themselves will not find it difficult to sacrifice others.” We are all capable of surrendering to the violent passions of our hearts.

So what, if anything, gives us some immunity against fanaticism? Oz contends that partial immunity comes from curiosity and imaginative power. These allow us to step into the inner world of the other, to use it especially when we feel wronged by another. To ask once in a while: ‘what if I were him or her?’ This curiosity, he argues, will not necessarily lead us to moral relativity or abdication to the other, but rather: “It will lead us, sometimes, to an exhilarating discovery which is that there are many rivers, each of whose banks can show us a different landscape that may be fascinating. Fascinating even if they’re not right for us, surprising even if they do not appeal to us…”

Amos Oz through his writing invited us to explore the different landscapes of emotion and intellect. In this sense he was quintessentially Jewish for what is Judaism if not an invitation to open our minds to different ideas, our hearts to different emotions.

Reading these letters of Oz, I was reminded of the definition of a prophet by Rashi (Exodus 7:1): wherever you find the term prophecy it refers to a person who speaks out and lets the nation hear critical

Dear Zealots CAULFIELD HEBREW CONGREGATION RABBI RALPH GENENDE OAM “Dear Zealots” is the name of one of the last published works of Amos Oz, Israel’s celebrated writer who died recently. Oz was not only a popular novelist, having penned over 20 novels, he was also an essayist, his non-fiction focusing on his life’s passions: the case for Israel and his ardent beliefs in the peace process and the centrality of family.

Even though he was a founder of the “Peace Now” movement, he was never idealistic or starry-eyed about the attainment of peace between Palestinians and Israeli’s. As he once said: “It is crystal clear to me that if Arabs put down a draft resolution blaming Israel for the recent earthquake in Iran, it would probably have a majority, the US would veto it and Britain and France would abstain.”

He sought not reconciliation with the Palestinians, but a necessary separation; a separation as in a divorce settlement is about a painful compromise. The failure to compromise will only deepen the divide and cause more sorrow. Again he expressed this powerfully and poignantly: “The opposite of compromise is not integrity. The opposite of compromise is not idealism. The opposite of compromise is fanaticism and death.”

And in his last works, “Dear Zealots – Letters from a divided land” and “How to Cure a Fanatic,” he focused on the thirst for simplification in a complex world. The zealot or fanatic is defined by the inerrant belief

words. In old French he is called preideor

and Maths) initiatives, like the Victorian Science Talent Search, FIRST LEGO League Regional Robotics Competition, the Everybody Dance NAO Robot Dance Competition and BrainSTEM’s Innovation Challenge. These and many other thrilling opportunities will be available to students this year, as well as many programs that are aimed at getting more girls involved in STEM. Health and Wellbeing continues to be a key focus in 2019. From Prep to Year 12, students will benefit from the College’s exceptional program that develops the whole student and deals with building healthy relationships, healthy minds and healthy bodies.

Of course, Bialik’s regular offerings will continue through the year– Dogs for Life in Primary classrooms, an outstanding Sports program, Visual and Performing Arts events, Science Week and, of course, the bi-annual Secondary School musical production. This year, students will enthral us with their production of Seussical.

Finally, in August, over 400 educators from across the globe will descend on the College for the 7th Biannual Cultures of Thinking Conference with keynote speakers from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Enrol your child now in the Bialik Creche by calling the ELC on 9822 4599 or email creche@bialik.vic.edu.au

– preacher…

In other words a prophet is not a predictor of the future but a preacher, a perspective-bringer, one who speaks the uncomfortable truth, one who is also willing to speak truth to power. In this sense the poet and novelist like the responsible journalist (especially the investigative journalist) are the prophets of today. (Even though it sounds selfserving, I would also like to think the rabbi who tackles uncomfortable issues is acting in the role of prophet!) Oz was a modern-day prophet, part of the forthestate or the forth force of today’s society.

Torah and Judaism are about the willingness to engage with different viewpoints and opinions. Talmudic debate is a training in discerning the differences.

The Torah is a sensationally subtle work. To read the Torah is to appreciate the curious complexity of humanity and relationships.

It doesn’t mean I will embrace everything of the other, I may even fiercely disagree with them, but I will be a more respectful Jew and better human being, for having opened myself to them with understanding and empathy.

And that is why Rabbi Jonathan Sacks could say after his dialogue with Amos Oz, a passionate secularist, at Bar Ilan University in 2001: “After a genuine dialogue both participants change. Each has learnt something from the other: one’s horizons are widened. I think something special has occurred this evening and for this I thank Amos Oz very much. I pray that there will be more people like him in Israel.”

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lifestyle

February 2019

JEWISHLearning QUESTION OF THE MONTH:

WORD OF THE MONTH

Why do we keep the name of a baby boy a secret until his bris?

Derech Eretz (‫)דרך ארץ‬ Pronounced DEH-rech EHH-retz, this Hebrew phrase literally means “the way of the world” and is the way the ancient rabbis referred to common decency.

S

ome behavior must be legislated in order for society to function.

We need to have tax regulations, traffic rules, bankruptcy laws, and trial procedures. But then there are things that should not need to be the subject of bylaws, statutes, or house rules: chewing gum is not to be disposed of on furniture or a floor; answering a telephone requires a pleasant demeanor; in a crowded parking lot one should park within the lines. In Hebrew, such basic, obvious consideration for others is called derech eretz, which might be translated literally as “the way of the world.”

A Slippery Concept The concept of derech eretz is slippery, because it is often used to describe ideas one could have expected to remain unspoken. The term can mean “common decency,” as when the Rabbis inform us that the Torah is teaching us derech eretz when it instructs us to greet others even before they greet us, or when it instructs us not to enter another person’s home (or even one’s own) abruptly. In this usage, derech eretz is reminiscent of a rhetorical ploy adults often use on children–the firstperson plural as a veiled instruction, inculcating a sensitivity for social expectations: “We don’t do that,” “We do such-and-such this way,” implying that one is aberrant or, at least, impolite if one does otherwise.

However, the phrase can also have

a sense closer to its literal meaning, something like “the way things work,” or “the way it is.” It is this sense of derech eretz that the Rabbis have in mind when they teach us to invite or allow our elders or teachers with whom we dine to take food first, or when they instruct us that we are judged in our home towns by our reputation but elsewhere by our clothing. That’s the way life works, they seem to be saying, and if you’re wise, you’ll recognize it and act accordingly.

You Have to Make a Living One of the earliest senses of derech eretz is one’s livelihood. In the Mishna’s tractate of wise aphorisms, Avot, we read that Torah is good ‘im derech eretz, “along with a worldly occupation,” because engaging in both pursuits keep a person away from sin (Avot 2:2).

Derech eretz refers here to how one sustains oneself in the material world.

That sense, especially as it appears in the dictum that “derech eretz precedes the Torah” (Leviticus Rabbah 9 and elsewhere), underlies its most famous modern usage of the term. The 19thcentury German rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch who espoused a theology that has become associated with Modern Orthodoxy, called his religious approach “Torah with derech eretz,” using a traditional term to promote the idea that one’s learning should engage both traditional Judaism and the secular world.

I

know not everyone loves delayed gratification, but one of my favorite things in life is watching the crowd react to a name at a bris. I love the built-up anticipation that you can feel as everyone waits for the big moment, and I love hearing the parents talk about how they chose the name. It’s just so exciting!

But waiting for eight whole days to announce a baby’s name can be hard on the parents, and on all of the well-wishers.

So what gives?

Well first of all, we now have the custom of giving the baby a name at the bris.

According to Jewish law the bris has to take place on the eighth day after the boy is born. So that means we give baby boys their names on the eighth day.

But why the secrecy? I asked Cantor Philip Sherman, who has been called “the busiest mohel in New York” why Jews keep baby boy names under wraps until the bris, and he had this to say: “Keeping the name a secret is based on superstition, i.e. not giving the Angel of Death the opportunity to identify the child and kill him before the bris. Two practical reasons for not disclosing the name until the bris are: 1. In case the parents decide

on a last minute change, they will not have painted themselves into a corner by announcing the Jewish name in advance and 2. It helps the parents avoid meddling relatives.

This Angel of Death business might sound a bit scary, but it’s nothing more than a bubbe meise (a superstitious belief). It probably stems from high infant mortality rates that were the norm until quite recently. It wasn’t unusual for a mother or a baby to die shortly after a birth, and so all kinds of superstitious practices arose to try to ward off the risk of death.

In the spirit of egalitarianism, some families have the tradition of waiting until the eighth day to announce girls’ names, too. Other families will announce a girl’s name at the Torah service after her birth.

Because the Torah is read on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, these families don’t ever have to wait too long. In any event, there’s no real rule about this. It’s customary (and maybe just a sensible idea) to wait before broadcasting your choice to the world, but it’s not actually an obligation, so if you’re itching to tell, don’t worry about it.

18

lifestyle

February 2019 news

Sleep is important for happy babies and toddlers seven hours of sleep that they are lacking,

THE SLEEP COACH CHERYL FINGLESON

which can make a big difference to the

Babies and toddlers sleep a lot, but not necessarily in an unbroken block between 6.30pm and 6am the way their desperate parents want them to.

By the age of two, most children have spent more time asleep than awake, and rightly so. Sleep has been proven to be equally as important as nutrition and stimulation in the nurturing of young people, and is absolutely vital for their healthy development.

Most of the growing babies and children do is while they are sleeping. Sleep impacts mental and physical development, fosters comprehension, memory, alertness and wellbeing. Rested children are more alert and happier, they are able to concentrate better and are more even tempered than a sleep deprived child. Children who are well rested also have stronger immune systems compared to their classmates who are possibly not getting enough sleep.

Growing brains produce growth hormones in the pituitary gland during the sleep process, and this is vital in stimulating various biological events occurring in the muscles, organs, blood and bones. Research shows that if a child doesn’t get the right amount and right quality of sleep, growth can be greatly affected, slowed or potentially even stunted.

Sleep doesn’t only affect a child’s height but in some instances can also have an impact on the child’s heart and lung strength as well as their immune system.

In a similar way, childhood obesity has also been linked to a lack of sleep. Both adults and children produce a hormone called ghrelin which regulates appetite and tells us when to stop eating, but when children or adults are sleep deprived, this hormone becomes ineffective and we are more likely to overeat or crave higher calorie nutrition.

Many adults and carers know all too well, tiredness greatly affects a child’s behaviour, contributing to behavioural problems and mood swings. Lack of sleep can also affect emerging motor skills and concentration, making toddlers and children prone to accidents and bruises.

I suggest you invest in blockout blinds if needed, in both children and adult bedrooms.

If your little one is losing out on as little as one hour of sleep a night due to early morning waking or by going to bed a little too late, by the end of the week that’s an accumulated

growing mind and body.

Parents may feel keeping their toddler

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up later will mean they will wake later in the morning, but this is often not the case. In fact, the opposite is usually true. It may seem counter-intuitive but once a child becomes even the smallest bit overtired from late bedtimes or poor daytime naps, then this is carried forward and the whole sleep cycle can be upended with earlier wakeups and later bedtimes being the unfortunate by-product.

at any one of the following outlets:

It is imperative toddlers get the right amount of sleep. Without sleep, a child cannot function properly. For my clients who are struggling with sleep in their children and toddlers, I advise them to take control of their sleep routine straight away. It’s not worth deferring, as sleep loss has been proven to have significant impacts on the wellbeing of these precious young people. There are plenty of tools available to improve sleep and settling. And if they can’t do it alone, there is plenty of professional help on hand.

I always stress the need to start at the very beginning, with a consistent and predicable bed routine. Its impossible to underestimate how important this is. It allows little people to know what’s coming next, that sleep time is near and it helps their small bodies to wind down a notch and prepare for sleep. Avoiding screens and over stimulating activities right before bed is crucial, as keeping the child’s room dark, having clean natural linens and a safe comforting sleep environment.

Parents who are looking to address all these issues and develop a good routine and healthy sleep with their children, make the call and get help.

Cheryl ZZZ For more sleep tips and advice, please visit www.cherylthesleepcoach.com.au Or why not like our facebook page? www.facebook.com/thesleepcoach

Cheryl Fingleson is a paediatric sleep consultant. As a mother of two, she very well knows the feelings of agony and desperation when you have a child that struggles to settle and sleep. She doesn’t believe in leaving babies or children to cry it out, nor in the practices of controlled crying. Her approach is to empower parents with the right tools and techniques to teach their babies and children to go to sleep calmly, happily and independently.

SHABBAT TIMES DATE

LIGHT

CANDLES Friday, February 8, 2019 8:09pm Friday, February 15, 2019 8:01pm Friday, February 22, 2019 7:52pm

RETAIL

Astoria Paper Products Bagal 55 Bar Bambra Deli Booran Rd Newsagency Cafe Delish Cafe Uffizi Cambridge Cellars Chai Books Coles Balaclava Coles Bentleigh Coles Church Street Brighton Coles Glenferrie Road Coles North Brighton Community Pharmacy, Bennettswood Community Pharmacy, Glen Huntly Continental Kosher Butchery Daneli’s Danny’s @ 525 Discount Pharmacy, Ripponlea Dom’s Balaclava Fruit Mart Falafel Omisi Food Works, Caulfield South Gefen Liquor Glicks Carlise Street Glicks Centre Road Glicks Glenferrie Road Glicks Glen Hawthorn rd Golds World Of Judacia IGA X-press Ripponlea Kimberly Gardens Hotel Kleins Gourmet Foods Kosher Kingdom Kraus Foods Lennie’s Deli Shiloh Restaurant Loco Cafe Taboon Woodfire Bakery Mr Brightside Party Bazaar Pharmacy NEO, Malvern Central Sandwich Bar 55 Savion Cakes and Bagels Shemesh Vegetarian Pizza Simeon’s Florist Spot On Cafe Terry Whire Chemist: Centre Road Bentleigh The Fruit Shop Elsternwick The Shuk Victoria Fruit Palace, Ripponlea Woolworths, Bentleigh Woolworths Glen Huntly Woolworths Malvern Central Woolworths Middle Brighton Yumi’s

Zavdiels

OTHER

Arcare Buba Aged Care Caulfield (349-351 North Road Caulfield Recreation Centre IDF Training Krav Maga Michael Danby Community ORG Beth Weizmann C Care JBD JCCV Jewish Care Gary Smorgon House Jewish Care Montefiore Homes Community Residence Jewish Care Smorgon Family Nursing Home Jewish Holocaust Centre Jewish Museum Lamm Jewish Lbrary of Australia Maccabi Meals On Wheels National Council Of Jewish Women

JEWISH SCHOOLS

Bialik College King David School Leibler Yavneh College, Elsternwick Campus Yeshiva-Beth Rivka Colleges

SHULES

Beis Chabad Ohel Devorah Beit Aharon Synagogue Beis Menachem community centre Chabad Bentleigh Cecil Street Blake Street Hebrew Congregation Brighton Hebrew Congregation Caulfield Hebrew Congregation Central Shul Chabad Chabad House of Glen Eira Elwood Talmud Torah Kehilat Nitzan Mizrachi North Eastern Jewish Centre, Doncaster Shira South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation Spiritgrow St Kilda Hebrew Congregation Etz Chaim Progressive Synagogue The Ark

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