From a psychological perspective, it is important to have fun. When people are restricted, such as during lockdowns in the pandemic, we are limited in our ability to experience enjoyment.
The intensity of a pleasurable experience rests on two psychological pillars: hedonistic engagement and liberation.
Our ability to have fun isn’t only affected by external factors, but by internal ones, such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
When people experience mental health issues, they often find fun evasive. Sometimes this is due to their own inability to feel happiness and pleasure. At other times, they may feel guilt when supposedly engaged in a fun activity while unwell.
Some come from an austere upbringing, where it is frowned upon to be frivolous. This core belief becomes limiting when they move away from that strict family/community.
A state of hedonistic engagement features active involvement in and
• Boosting serotonin, dopamine and endorphins, the feel-good hormones.
• Help during episodes of depression and anxiety.
In order to maintain or improve quality of life, it is important to include regular enjoyment. There are five attitudinal factors, which researchers have identified as determinants of different types of fun.
These are:
• Fun involving risk taking. Think car racing, for instance.
Rabbi David Freedman continues to share his love of allthings-Judaica with Jewish Report readers and the feedback has been phenomenal!
Questions reflect his broad-based knowledge accrued over decades of soulful study and service. The result is an original quiz of quality covering myriad themes and topics –from Jewish law to poetry to famous figures to history, geography and more!
Enjoy this at your Shabbat table with your nearest and dearest.
1. In what language is the Kaddish written?
2. The Resh Galuta (lit. The Head of the Exile) was the political head of which ancient Diaspora community?
3. What is the major distinction between Shabbat and Yom Tov in Jewish Law?
4. Which 8th century biblical prophet was born in Judah, prophesied in the northern kingdom of Israel and was both a shepherd and sycamore fig farmer?
5. The opening volume or Seder of the Oral Law is known as Seder Zeraim. What area of law is covered in this section?
immersion into an activity intended for pure enjoyment. How many times have you played a board game or attended a trivia night? Did you do so because you wanted to win or to have fun?
Fun and obligation are two different things. For example, attending a school awards’ night may be the right thing to do because your child is attending that school, but it is not necessarily fun.
In contrast, going on holidays with friends or family after working hard all year can, indeed, be heaps of fun because we are carefree and unrestricted.
Having fun has positive biological effects. When we engage in pleasurable activities, the brain releases dopamine,
which leads to positivity and can counteract more uncomfortable feelings of hopelessness and stress.
As responsible adults, it is easy to take life too seriously and forget how to play. We can observe children, cats and dogs in order to remind ourselves how to have fun.
When they are engaged in play, they are having the best time. We need to take a leaf out of their book.
The psychological benefits of having fun include:
• More energy for you and the people you are with.
• Stress relief, which can do untold damage to our mental and physical health and wellbeing.
6. True or false, a man whose wife dies without bearing children should marry his sister-in-law or undergo a ceremony known as Halitzah?
7. Which Israeli poetess died on April 16, 1931, in Tel Aviv, at the age of 40? She was buried, according to her wishes in the Kinneret cemetery, overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
8. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was overheard criticising the Roman
10. In the Israeli Defense Forces what is Shayetet 13?
11. Who was The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem?
12. What is the meaning of the word ‘Hallelujah’? Who won the Eurovision Song Contest with a song of that name and in which year?
13.Which Jewish practice is associated with the Aramaic phrase, Yerei Malka meaning, "Fear the King"?
• Fun dependent upon fun people. Socialising and engaging in activities with people who you feel are fun to be around. These people are energy givers and have a positive effect on those around them.
• Fun causing happiness. An example is going to the zoo and appreciating the variety of animals.
• Money needed to have fun, that is activities that rely upon a financial outlay.
• Spontaneity as fun. The ability to experience fun in the moment.
So, do yourself a favour. Take some moments in your day to step away from being serious and experience the joy of life. Engaging in pleasurable activities is not time wasted; it is vital for good health.
Anne-Marie Elias is a psychologist in clinical practice for 25 years.
occupation of Judea. Which important work of Jewish literature was produced by scholars living in these cities?
17. In the Book of Kings, a war took place between two countries. One country was led by King Asa, the other by King Baasha. Name the two countries.
18. The Rishon Letsiyon (literally, the first one of Zion) is the honorific title of which office in Israel?
19. What was the unofficial name given to the five battalions of Jewish volunteers, the 38th to 42nd Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers in the British Army, raised to fight against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War?
20. Yaakov ben Wolf Kranz (1741–1804), was a Lithuanian/Ukrainian preacher. How is he better known?
21. Recently deceased, author Paul Johnson was born in which country? In which year was his ‘History of the Jews’ first published?
government in Israel, and had to flee for his life together with his son Rabbi Elazar. The two took refuge in a cave, where they remained for how many years:
a) 2 years
b) 9 years or
c) 13 years?
9. Which Israeli Prime Minister said, “Don't be so humble - you are not that great.”
a) Golda Meir
b) Menachem Begin
c) Ariel Sharon?
14. Which place in Jewish folklore came into being when the Lord sent an angel with a sack of foolish souls to distribute across the entire world, and the angel tripped and spilled them all in one place?
15. The Negev contained what percentage of Israel’s land in the years 1949-1967:
a) 40%
b) 60% or
c) 80%?
16. The cities of Tiberias, Sepphoris and Caeserea were centres of learning during and after the Roman
22. Which animals accompanied:
a) Eliezer on his journey to find a wife for Isaac
b) Moses on his return to Egypt from Midian &
c) Elijah at the Brook of Cherit?
23.Which activity in Spain was characterised by the late Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef as a culture of sinful and cruel people?
24.Which building was located on HaYarkon Street, Tel Aviv until May, 2018?
25.Who plays Golda Meir in the 2023 movie Golda?
Good luck. Enjoy. Hopefully, learn something new about your Jewish heritage and tradition.
RABBI DAVID FREEDMAN
JUDAICA
Women across Australia will collaborate for the UIA Women’s Division 2023 Campaign events in March in Sydney (19th), Melbourne (22nd) and Perth (23rd). The get togethers with inspirational speakers, food and drink all support the People of Israel.
This year’s theme is Celebrating Powerful Women and UIA is pleased to be able to welcome two Israelis who embody this.
They are Ayelet Shaked, Israel's former Minister of Justice and Interior, activist and software engineer, and Liat Shaked, the CEO of Supersonas, a social enterprise business that promotes gender equality.
Sydney supporters can watch on their own or together with family and friends. In Melbourne, guests are invited to attend an in-person supper event at St Kilda Town Hall. Perth has organised a seated dinner at the WA Museum Boola Bardip.
Ayelet Shaked started her career in Tel Aviv's high-tech industry, working as an engineer. She entered public life in 2010, co-founding the My Israel movement, which grew to become one of Israel’s largest grassroots campaigns. In 2013, Shaked formally entered Israeli politics
The unique aspect of Heartbeats is that it encompasses an intervention program that gives young children a stable framework, enabling them to thrive, while providing parents with the tools and knowledge to be better parents. The ultimate goal is to ensure that the
and within two years rose to become Israel’s Minister of Justice.
Following the formation of the Israeli government in 2021 – the most diverse in its history –
Shaked was appointed as Minister of Interior. She left the Knesset in December 2022 and is regarded as one of Israel’s most significant legislators of the past decade, and the only secular woman to have led an Orthodox party.
Liat Shaked’s strengths lie in reinforcing the connections between sectors, managing communities, entrepreneurship and in establishing and developing programs. These qualities support the main aim of Supersonas – to promote gender equality and ensure
Timor, he completed a commando selection course and later joined the 1st Commando Regiment.
A fallen Australian Jewish soldier will be honoured with a display of his medals at Caulfield RSL later this month.
Private Greg Sher was born in South Africa in 1978 and emigrated to Australia in 1986. He joined the Australian Army Reserve in 1998. After serving in
While serving in Afghanistan, he was killed in a rocket attack in Oruzgan Province on 4th January, 2009. Greg Sher was with the Special Operations Task Group, which had deployed from Tarin Kowt to a provincial patrol base. He was 30 years of age.
Wednesday 22 March 7.30pm
Once it was a synagogue serving Jewish immigrants in a remote Australian mining town. Today, it’s a reminder of a history many have forgotten.
As one of the country’s top mining towns, Broken Hill was put on the map in the late 1800s. Huge deposits of iron ore, silver and zinc were discovered there, which led to a flurry of migration. The town is the ancestral home of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP).
In the mining frenzy, a small group of Jewish settlers, mainly from Europe and Russia, started to make their way there. A Jewish cemetery was consecrated in 1891 and a foundation stone for the Broken Hill Synagogue was placed at 165 Wolfram Street on 30th November, 1910. In its heyday, from the 1910s to the 1960s, the synagogue served some 200 members of the Jewish community.
Today, Broken Hill, with its population of 17,000 remains isolated. It is a threehour drive to the next town of more than 1,000 people. These days, it has no active Jewish community. The synagogue still stands, but in 1991 it was converted to the Synagogue of the Outback Museum, which is owned and maintained by the Broken Hill Historical Society. Behind a stone façade, the building comprises the former rabbi’s residence and the synagogue, which includes the original pews, lectern and ark, as well as a replica Torah. The museum is open three days a week; about 40 people visit each week, including the occasional school or Jewish group. Next month, the museum will hold a special Shabbat service, only the second such service at this location since the 1960s.
“Broken Hill was known around the world as a place where there was opportunity and wealth to be earned from the rich ore deposits discovered in the 1880s,” said Leon Mann, a professor of psychology. He was born in Broken Hill in 1937 and co-authored Jews of the Outback, a history of the Broken Hill community.
Mann’s parents, like many in the community, migrated to Australia from Eastern Europe and British Mandate Palestine. “My parents arrived in Broken Hill in 1929, during the Great Depression,” Mann said. “The entrepreneurial Jewish community who supplied and provisioned the miners fared quite well.”
Armed with the knowledge that Broken Hill was prospering, Jewish immigrants, who were often fleeing pogroms and antisemitism in their home countries, decided to settle in remote outback Australia. Walt Secord, a member of the New South Wales state parliament, who has visited the Broken Hill Synagogue Museum twice, takes an active interest in its well-being. He said since the first transport of convicts to Australia in January 1788 (which included about a dozen Jews), there have always been Jews in Australia.
“I have always been fascinated by Jews in the Australian outback and I was intrigued that a thriving Jewish community existed more than 11,000 kilometres west of Sydney in the middle of the Australian desert,” Secord said.
“When Jews started to arrive in Broken Hill in the 1880s, there was no natural
water there and the region was served by Indian and Afghan camel drivers. All supplies, including drinking water, had to be carried to Broken Hill. But within years, Broken Hill had become the third-largest provider of silver in the world,” Secord said. “Living conditions were harsh and Broken Hill has always been gripped by drought. It did not have a stable water supply until recently, that is, more than 130 years later.”
While there are no known Jewish descendants left in Broken Hill in 2023, Secord knows that the synagogue tells the long-forgotten story of Jews in rural, regional and remote Australia. “The synagogue is more than 110 years old. The community was so vibrant and active that it raised money for the Jewish National Fund. A certificate hangs on the wall in the shule. Jews remained in Broken Hill until the 1960s. Today, their descendants are scattered across Australia.”
The synagogue in Broken Hill closed in 1962 and the remaining Jewish men rented the residence adjoining the building to try and maintain it, before it was sold and purchased by the Broken Hill Historical Society in 1990. Today the museum coordinator is 82-year-old volunteer Margaret Price. For the past 16 years, she has curated exhibitions and shepherds through the visitors who come to tour the museum.
“When I started here, there was a table, an 18-inch word processor, two filing cabinets and a cupboard in the
office,” Price said. “Now the room is so full of folders, filing cabinets, shelving and cupboards, and I’m still discovering new things about the Broken Hill Jewish community.”
While Price was born and bred in Broken Hill, she has always known Jewish people and went to school with a Jewish girl. “Our life (in Broken Hill) had Jewish people in it,” she said.
“There was a Jewish doctor in Broken Hill. He delivered three of my children and my baby sister. I left school and worked for a Jewish man. I shopped in Jewish shops.”
“I’ve always been fascinated by Judaism, even as a kid,” she said. “Both my grandparents on my dad’s side had Jewish ancestry, but everyone changed their names getting on and off the ships (and) we can’t formally find a link.”
Price fondly remembers 2018, when a group of Jewish visitors came to hold Broken Hill’s first Shabbat services in years. The mission was led by Rabbi Shneur Reti-Waks, a congregational rabbi from Melbourne, who brought a group of 60 Jews from across Australia, many of whom had personal connections to the Broken Hill Jewish community. The group visit made the front page of the Broken Hill newspaper.
“It was one of the most emotional things I’ve been part of,” Rabbi RetiWaks said. “You felt the presence of everyone there – the incredible story, the idea that you had this vibrant, close-
knit Jewish community that used to live in Broken Hill.” The group also visited the Broken Hill cemetery, where they saw many of the Jewish gravestones and recited Kaddish. “It had such an intensity – not so much from sadness and grief, but from a feeling of all those that were,” said Rabbi Reti-Waks.
After an extended hiatus in showing visitors through the museum due to the pandemic, Price and Mann are now making plans for next month’s Shabbat service.
In addition, they will hold a naming ceremony for two benches that will be placed outside, in honour of important former members of the Broken Hill Synagogue. One will be in the name of Reverend Abraham Berman (a title used by many Orthodox rabbis in early Australian communities) and his wife, Franziska Berman.
They were the synagogue’s last full-time rabbi and rebbetzin, who left Broken Hill in 1944. The second bench will acknowledge the former synagogue trustee Alwyn Edelman and the former Broken Hill Historical Society president Harold Griff. The pair forged the agreement for the synagogue be maintained in perpetuity as a Jewish building.
This story originally appeared in Tablet Magazine (tabletmag.com) and is reprinted with permission.
We have just experienced Purim in all its jubilance, but how do we hold onto the happiness? If you went to Amazon right now and typed in “happiness + books” you would get roughly 80,000 results. That’s a lot of secrets, so what if we just start with three?
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks highlighted the following paths to happiness: inner peace, covenantal community and sacrificing for a cause.
1. Inner peace. True happiness comes from finding peace and serenity from within yourself. I learnt this from Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku who called himself the happiest man on earth. When asked how he could be so happy after surviving Auschwitz, he told me that his secret to being happy was his capacity to find peace. He was able to let go of negativity and open himself up to the beauty of the world and find the inner peace that led to happiness.
2. Covenantal community. Every Friday night I close my eyes and smile when I sing this verse in the Lecha Dodi prayer, “your God shall rejoice over you, as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.”
At that moment I think about the most important covenantal partnership of my life, my marriage to my wife Renana, a partnership that has enabled us to build a Jewish family and covenantal community. Being a part of a partnership and community built around a shared covenant of faith and identity gives one a sense of belonging and
peace that leads to happiness. Think of the last time you felt part of a community or spent time with those close to you. Did you not feel true joy?
3. Sacrificing for a cause. How can we derive joy from sacrifice? Think about the last time you sacrificed something for a cause you believed in? Didn’t you feel a deep sense of fulfilment, joy and happiness? Abraham’s life was riddled with hardships. Despite that, we’re told that he lived a wholesome life and ultimately found true joy. More recently, the earliest Zionist pioneers sacrificed to turn what was uninhabitable land under onerous conditions into the future of the Jewish State, resulting in the ultimate joy in seeing the State of Israel born and growing. Now, as we hold on to the happiness from Purim, we can forget about all the “secrets” and access one of these 3 pathways that are revealed to us all.
How many common words of five or more letters can you spell using the letters in the hive? Every answer must use the centre letter at least once. Letters may be reused in a word. At least one word will use all seven letters and have a direct Jewish connection.
Proper names and hyphenated words are not allowed. Score one point for each answer and three points for a Jewish word that uses all seven letters.
Rating: 6 = Good; 8 = Excellent; 10 = Genius
Yoni Glatt has published more than 1,000 crossword puzzles worldwide, from the LA Times and Boston Globe to The Jerusalem Post. He has also published two Jewish puzzle books: "Kosher Crosswords" and the sequel "More Kosher Crosswords and Word Games".
ANSWERS PAGE 14
Here is a list of some common words (Yes, we know there are more words in the dictionary that can work, but these words are the most common): Jewish Answers- TRADITION, ORDINATION. Other words: ADORATION, RADIATION, ADDITION, RADIATOR, DONATION, DONATOR, RADIANT, ANDROID, TORNADO, ORDAIN, INDOOR, INROAD, DOODAD, TORRID, INDIAN, ADROIT, RADAR, TRIAD, RONDO, RADII, RADIO, DONOR, DRAIN, ARDOR, DROIT, ADORN, DINAR, NADIR Questions/comments- email Yoni at koshercroswords@gmail.com
We need to incentivise the Israeli prime minister to ensure changes to the Basic Laws require a super-majority – for the sake of the country.
Everyone knows the scene in Fiddler on the Roof when someone says, “He’s right, and he’s right? They can’t both be right!” and Tevye strokes his beard and says, “You know, you are also right.”
That’s where we are right now with judicial reform in Israel: everyone is right.
The right wing is right. It’s no coincidence that it was about 30 years ago, when the Israeli Left began to lose elections, that the (appointed, not elected) judiciary began to expand beyond their formerly acknowledged boundaries. No one really empowered the courts with the authority to transform “advising” the Knesset, to ”ordering” the Knesset, effectively cancelling new legislation before it was even introduced. Right-wingers accurately saw this as a Left-wing power grab. Nor are they wrong to think the self-perpetuation of letting the current court appoint new court members is far from ideal.
The Left wing is also right. Because Ben Gurion avoided creating a proper constitution, because the executive and legislative branches here are effectively the same, because there is no Federalist power, Israel doesn’t have the checks and balances that protect citizens in most democracies. If the Israeli judiciary doesn’t have a way to overrule the executive branch, then a very thin veneer of Knesset good-will is all that protects Israeli citizens from possible excesses. The Left doesn’t want things like religious coercion. They don’t want a ruling coalition that can change election law and stay in power forever. They don’t want a Knesset that can overrule the High Court with just the slimmest of 61 votes.
So, everyone is right. And recent polls prove it: we’re agreed. Seventy percent
requires a full pardon for various politicians, so be it; if it requires handing out more money or more appointments, that’s okay too. Our priority needs to be the country; the high moral ground isn’t always the smartest path.
We need to appeal to Gantz and Lapid, to compromise for the common good. We need to appeal to Herzog, to take a leadership role before it’s too late. We need to appeal to the members of the Likud, to use their control over the coalition to restore calm. We need to appeal to friends and influencers worldwide, to put pressure on our politicians.
We need to appeal to Prime Minister Netanyahu to choose to be remembered by history for the legacy of creating Israel’s constitution and soothing what could have been a civil war.
of Israeli voters oppose the details, and the speed, of the current judicial reform. Right wingers, Left wingers, religious, secular, Arab, Jew. We’re communally united in our discomfort with what is happening.
Even some of those who support judicial reform think it’s gone too far, too fast. The external ramifications are frightening and likely to get worse. Businesses and financial institutions are fleeing; world leaders are resoundingly opposed.
There’s probably no such thing as good timing for a civil war, but given how perilously close we seem to another intifada, not to mention uranium enrichment courtesy of Iran, and with antisemitism at an all-time high when Jews worldwide may need us as a refuge, Israel right now can ill afford internecine discord.
Don’t think civil war is possible? What will happen when the Knesset and Supreme Court give the IDF, or the police,
different orders? It’s already happening: reservists are threatening to boycott miluim (reserve duty). That is how civil wars start; that’s how totalitarianism starts. No one really wants this (except maybe Iran.)
We need to figure out a way to begin compromising. What we need is a middle ground and fast: an agreement that if we want to continue to be a democratic nation, we can’t limp along without something resembling a constitution much longer.
We need a bi-partisan agreement that Basic Laws should require a supermajority (perhaps 80-100 members of Knesset), rather than a simple majority. That would mean you’d really need a national mandate for significant change, rather than just one fluky election or two.
What we need to consider now is how to incentivise the various players to bring this about. We need to consider what can be offered, and to whom, to actualise this. If such a negotiation
Of course, we shouldn’t have waited until now to initiate this conversation. We should obviously have held it under the government that recently disbanded. And the level of rhetoric and hyperbole, the calls for violence, from both sides, are dismaying. But we need to put that into our past and move forward. We need to put the sweeping changes on hold, until tempers have calmed and a discussion can take place.
We should see this time as an opportunity and a challenge: to harness the energy created by this real-life civics lesson, to engage the young people of Israel, to pull together to combat the existential threats we face.
Let’s not celebrate Israel’s 75th birthday this spring with a civil war. Let’s celebrate it with a constitutional overhaul and prove that our start-up nation is as resilient as we like to think it is.
Fern Reiss runs JewishSpeakersBureau.com
Recently, I visited Sotheby’s to see an exhibition with a difference.
In Sotheby’s luxurious galleries, there were the usual impressive works of art, scheduled for future sale, from artists as varied as Kandinsky and Munch to Lucien Freud and Anish Kapoor. Among this glittering array, tucked away in one of the smaller galleries there was a single volume – the Codex Sassoon – the oldest and most complete Hebrew version of the bible in existence.
It is intended to be sold later in the year by auction in New York. The guide price is US$50 million which, if achieved, will be the highest price ever paid for a written document in any language. It would pip Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook, the Codex Leicester, which was bought by Bill Gates for US$30.8million and the copy of the US Constitution bought by Citadel founder Ken Griffin for US$43.2 million.
If you were narrating the history of the Jewish people in 100 objects, this artifact would come close to the top of the list. It is named after its most notable private owner, David Salman Sassoon, who acquired it for the princely sum of £350 in 1929. Carbon testing of the document, along with calligraphic and other examinations, all point to a date
the difficulties incurred in doing so. The Codex, a bundle of stacked handwritten sheets, bound on one side, overcame this difficulty and was, therefore, a huge technological advance, compared by some to the invention of printing.
Nevertheless, the Codex was not popular among Jews, possibly because it was associated with the spread of Christianity whose followers used codices to promote the spread of the gospels.
towards the end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth century CE. The Codex was written in Syria or Israel.
The Jews in these countries, alongside almost 90 per cent of world Jewry, lived under Muslim rule.
The books of the bible were first written on scrolls of parchment, rather like the Torah scrolls from which we read in Shule every Shabbat, except that they were
historical and the modern, the religious and political aspects of life in Israel, and reach their own conclusions.
At the end of 2022, The King David School’s largest cohort ever spent a month in Israel on its signature YESH (Yisrael Sheli – my Israel) program, an immersive learning experience. Traditionally involving Year 10 students, last year included Year 11 students who missed the opportunity to attend the year before due to COVID restrictions.
The overarching emphasis of YESH is the educational triangle of Land, People, State. The program is an opportunity for students to gain a deep understanding of Jewish history and to personally experience the cultures of the country they learn about at school. Pupils are challenged to compare the
Key goals of YESH include cultivating independence and resilience, as well as strengthening friendship and trust within the cohort.
Some of the highlights included exploring the ancient cities of Jaffa and Masada, visiting the Negev, including hearing from a member of the Bedouin community, hiking in Ben Gurion National Park and Shabbat at Kibbutz Lotan.
The culmination of this life changing experience was a final Shabbat in Jerusalem, touring the Old City and coming together at the Kotel.
With support from generous donors, The King David School is committed to continuing to make YESH accessible to all Year 10 students.
written in a completely different alphabet from the one that we use today. Though scrolls were an advance on previous methods of recording information, such as tablets of wax or stone, they had their drawbacks, one of which was that they did not permit random access. Only sequential access was possible.
Anyone tasked with moving from one place in a Sefer Torah to another and having to roll the scroll can testify to
Possibly as a result, after the Dead Sea Scrolls, we have a period of roughly seven hundred years for which we can find no signs of Hebrew writing. This period of darkness was ended by the Sassoon Codex, which was followed fairly shortly by several other Codices –the Leningrad Codex, the Aleppo Codex and the Codex Cairensis to name but a few. Soon the Codex came to be the preferred way of writing holy books.
The Sassoon Codex is remarkable in another way as it shows the development of the Masorah – the notes added to the holy text by the masoretes, scribes and scholars living in various places in Israel and Iraq, but principally in the town of Tiberias.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
LEO BAECK CENTRE
Leo Baeck Centre – 31-37 Harp Road, East Kew – has opened a new, free retrospective exhibition in what used to be called the kiddush hall and is now known as the Leo Baeck Arts Centre.
The Melbourne Jewish Report spoke with photographer Judi Schiff about her show, titled Entrances Around the World. Tell me about the exhibition. What does it involve?
There are 21 exhibits in all. Nineteen are collages of 10 to 12 photographs of entrances, doors, facades and architectural features. Two are newer works printed on aluminium, which gives the images the “wow” factor. All the exhibited works are from limited editions of 10 and are for sale, with all proceeds to be shared between the Leo Baeck Centre and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
How did you come to be interested in doorways and entrances? When did that “obsession” start?
My husband and I were on a visit to Spain, where he was attending a scientific conference. As usual, I went sight-seeing, taking photos as I’d done for many years. When I came home, I noticed that I’d taken many photos of Spanish doors in Madrid and Toledo, which I spread over the dining-room table. They looked very good together, so I decided to have them professionally
mounted and framed. Fortuitously, a Rotary Art Show was advertised, in which I entered the framed collage, titled Spanish Entrances I was more than a little surprised when I learned that someone had bought it. That was in 1990. I have been photographing entrances and doors ever since.
Do any of the collages have a Jewish theme?
There are three collages of photos taken in Israel: June in Jerusalem, 1995; Israel is Real, 2007; and April in Israel, 2007 Of particular interest is the collage titled Jewish Monuments, Memorials and Memories, Hamburg and Berlin, Germany, 2002, which is accompanied by explanatory notes. Some of the collages, such as Spanish Entrances, feature synagogue doors.
Where to next? What else would you like to photograph?
I’d like to concentrate on photographing interesting murals, especially as murals by excellent artists seem to be becoming a highlight in our city of Melbourne. How and when can people see the exhibition? When is it on till?
The exhibition is open during Leo Baeck Centre office hours, between 10am and 2pm Wednesday to Friday, and after Saturday morning services until Sunday, 23rd April.
The Menorah on the Arch of Titus in Rome. This photo is the centrepiece in the collage Roman Holiday, 2005. One of the most significant Roman artefacts to have survived, the Arch of Titus has been of significance for Jews and Christians for nearly two millennia. The image of the seven-branched menorah that appears on the Arch was chosen as the symbol of the State of Israel in 1949.
Josh Aryeh is helping sick children live out their dreams.
When Josh Aryeh was a child growing up in the Five Towns, New York, he was surrounded by wealth. He got picked on in school for not having what the other kids did. So, he decided that when he grew up, he’d become Bruce Wayne. He’d be incredibly rich and own private jets, beautiful houses and, of course, exotic cars.
As he got older, his priorities shifted, but he retained his love of sports cars. He ended up working for wealthy friends and would enjoy driving their fancy cars when he was running errands for them.
One day, Aryeh realised that if he loved these kinds of cars when he was a child, other kids must love them too. He started calling different organisations who help children with cancer to see if any of the kids would want to ride in one of the sports cars – with permission from the owners, of course.
Aryeh received a call from the family of an eight-year-old girl in Queens. She was sick and her dream was to ride around in a Lamborghini. He drove over there, excited to see the little girl’s reaction.
“When she saw this bright yellow convertible Lamborghini, her face lit up,” Aryeh said. “She had one of the biggest smiles you’ve ever seen. Her parents took her out of her wheelchair and we drove around for 15 minutes.”
After returning to the house, the girl’s mother started crying hysterically. Aryeh was worried.
“I said to her, ‘If I did something wrong or insensitive, please let me know.’ I thought it was maybe something I said. She said, ‘No, you don’t understand. My daughter got cancer when she was four. She’s had over 20 surgeries. She was partially paralysed from an infection. This is the first time I’ve seen her smile since her diagnosis.’”
Aryeh saw what an impact he could make and he wanted to do more.
“At the end of the day it was just a car,” he said, “but I realised I could make a huge impact. I shifted my focus from wanting to be Bruce Wayne to using these cars for a greater purpose.”
Aryeh decided that he was not only going to drive up in a nice car; he was also going to dress as Batman. He’d heard about Lenny B. Robinson, a Jewish man who would visit sick children in hospital dressed as Batman. Sadly, Robinson was killed after he got out of his Batmobile on the side of a highway and another car hit him.
“I never got to meet Lenny, but I wanted to continue his legacy,” Aryeh said. “I decided to become Batman as well.”
Today, Aryeh has formally established his organisation, Smiles Through Cars, as a non-profit. He volunteers all day Sunday through Thursday, going on hospital visits and sending his friends out in superhero and princess costumes.
Now, he’ll show up in either the Lamborghini or Rolls Royce that belongs to his organisation. Avi Karadi of ASAP Restoration in Hewlett, New York, the non-profit’s main sponsor, donated the two cars.
Along with visiting hospitals and homes, Smiles Through Cars feeds the hungry during Chanukah and provides Shabbat needs to those in need.
They also give out gift cards to children so they can go on shopping sprees and take kids to basketball games. If a child doesn’t live in New York or nearby, Aryeh will arrange a FaceTime with one of the volunteers.
He estimates that he’s helped more than 50,000 people in states like New York, Florida and Nevada, and he posts inspiring stories on his group’s Instagrams, @batmanrealaccount and @smilesthroughcars, which have nearly 500,000 followers.
Aryeh frequently receives messages from followers who are touched by what he’s doing. “People message me and say I’m the reason they’re alive,” he said.
“They tell me they’ve been going through some of the worst times of their life and they’ve been contemplating suicide because they’ve had enough. But seeing our page day after day and
what we’re doing gave them hope. You never realise how far your small, random act of kindness will go.”
Unfortunately, Aryeh is no stranger to pain. Seventeen years ago, his sister Aviva came back from seminary in Israel before Passover and one night she fell ill. Aryeh woke up to the sound of paramedics in his home.
“I thought they were there for my dad who had health issues,” he said. “But I saw my sister’s lips turning blue from a lack of oxygen.”
For the next week, Aryeh and his family were by his sister’s bedside at the hospital. She almost passed away multiple times.
“It was a complete rollercoaster,” he said.
After a week, Aviva tragically died and her family sat shiva until Passover.
“I know what it’s like to be in the hospital, praying for a loved one to pull through,” Aryeh said. “I couldn’t save my sister, but I could try to save someone else’s daughter, sister or sibling. I could be there for them. That’s why I’m so empathetic and passionate about what I do.”
Aryeh isn’t afraid to be open about his personal struggles. In addition to
telling his sister’s story, he also posts about going to funerals for children who sadly didn’t make it. He wants people to see the reality of the situation.
“It’s not easy whether I do it once or a million times,” he said. “I see a child suffering. It’s a horrible thing; you see what families go through.
It’s really tough, so it’s important to know it’s okay to be sad and speak to someone. I go to a therapist once a week because it’s so sad at times. It’s important to surround ourselves with people who understand.”
Even though his work might be upsetting sometimes, Aryeh wouldn’t trade it for anything else. Instead, he transforms his pain into positivity.
“I say a prayer that whatever pain a child is going through will go away,” he said. “You just can’t understand why a three-month-old, or any child, would have cancer. All you can do is say there’s a greater plan and you’re a part of it. We’re all a part of it.”
Being part of it means treating one another with kindness and love. It doesn’t take much to do that, Aryeh said. “It can start with one good deed at a time. It could be as simple as putting on a costume.”
I have had a very interesting experience in the past month, advising on a Hollywood film, being shot in Melbourne.
I am referring to the Peter Farrellydirected comedy Ricky Stanicky, starring Zac Efron, John Cena and William H. Macy.
The movie includes some Jewish scenes, which is where my role as a rabbi comes into play.
Looking for accuracy, I was approached to oversee a bris in the picture. That involved being on set and giving an outline to the cast and crew about Jewish practices in relation to circumcision.
It was a wonderful to witness the care and attention to detail taken.
I must say it was quite something to be surrounded by Hollywood royalty, to witness the talent on display and their capacity to shoot scene after scene over and over.
I had been under the impression that acting and show business was reasonably light on and glamourous, but spending time on set and with the production team, I learned it was
quite the opposite. These actors work tirelessly to perfect their craft; each element – from the most basic prop upwards – is discussed and planned.
It was a pleasure to meet the
celebrity cast and crew. A particular highlight was hanging out with proud Jewish comedian and Roastmaster General Jeff Ross who had me laughing the entire time.
Ricky Stanicky, which has been bought by Amazon Plus, promises to delight audiences. Some scenes will, no doubt, resonate with the Jewish community.
Legislation introducing the death penalty for terrorists passed its initial Knesset vote earlier this month.
The bill passed by a vote of 559. The vote was boycotted by most members of the opposition who went to join street protests against judicial reforms. But other opposition members, including the Israel Beiteinu party, supported the legislation.
According to the bill, capital punishment would be applied to someone who, “intentionally or out of indifference causes the death of an Israeli citizen when the act is carried out from a racist motive or hate to a certain public … and with the purpose of harming the State of Israel and the rebirth of the Jewish people in its homeland”.
The death penalty bill faces further legislative hurdles before becoming law.
After the vote, Israel Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Liberman said, “Even in the largest democracies in the world, it can be seen that in the USA since 2015 more than 160 death sentences have been carried out and in the second western democracy, Japan,
more than 30. Therefore, as those who are in an existential war, we certainly can and must change the law.”
Reacting against the legislation, the Arab Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction said in a statement that the bill is “crossing a clear red line as part of Israel’s deterioration into total fascism”.
Attorney General Gali BaharavMiara has voiced opposition to the death penalty, arguing that it does not lead to deterrence.
The only individual ever executed by Israel was Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi architect of the Holocaust. He was hanged in 1962 and his ashes scattered at sea after he was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.
An Israeli court sentenced John Demjanuk to death in 1998 for crimes against humanity while working at different concentration camps. However, Israel’s Supreme Court overturned the sentence in 1993. Israel eventually extradited Demjanuk, who died in Germany while appealing a conviction there.
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Matt Dubb, née Mutti Weiss, began his music career at the age of 17. While in high school he and some friends started jamming in the basement as a pastime. They formed a makeshift band called EvanAl and started booking gigs. It got serious pretty quickly and soon enough they were playing at weddings several nights a week throughout the US and Canada.
As their popularity started to explode, Matt began to dabble with electronic music. While traveling across Europe, he was exposed to more electronic dance music and found a deep connection to it. “In Europe, electronic music is part of the culture. I would hear it everywhere and it just spoke to me. Maybe it should have been (Rabbi Shlomo) Carlebach, but I was in my twenties and travelling and experiencing new cultures and I felt a connection to it. I find it very spiritual. It talks to me like Carlebach.”
He began to DJ under the name Matt Dubb, as in the letter “W” for Weiss, and things began to pick up.
“I came back from Ibiza one summer and felt like I could do this. This music talks to me. I started watching YouTube videos on how to produce electronic music. With my background as a musician, it made the process much simpler. I created my first song in a week.”
Matt put up a few remixes on YouTube and released his first official single with Lipa Shmeltzer, a religious artist, and produced and wrote several other popular songs.
Matt was enjoying some success in the Jewish market and was making connections. A well-known music manager overheard Matt’s music in the studio and said, “This is dope; what is it?” Someone at the studio said, “It’s some kid from Brooklyn and the lyrics are Hebrew.” The manager didn’t understand Hebrew, but felt “this kid” could be successful with a mainstream audience. He approached Matt a few days later and said, “Why don’t you try to produce mainstream music? I can help you.”
Bridging the Gap
“I started producing under a different artist name, MNTII,” he explained, a spinoff from his Hebrew nickname Mutti.
His second record, “Matter of Time” was signed to ARMADA, one of the largest international dance labels, which was founded by Armin Van Burren, who Matt calls, “one of the biggest DJ’s on the planet.” And it was featured on the Armada Today Ibiza 2022 collection, alongside some of the most successful DJ’s in the world.
Matt’s music carries a very positive, spiritual message. “It doesn’t feel like I’m crossing over from the Jewish market. I’m producing popular music that’s clean and has good messaging and can appeal to all audiences. My song, ‘Matter of Time’ has a very positive message, but it’s also very current.”
After its first week of release, that song debuted on SiriusXM BPM, one of the biggest dance radio stations in the world, fulfilling one of Matt’s dreams.
Then famed DJ Sam Felt aired it on his weekly radio show.
His most recent Matt Dubb release, “L’Chai Olamim” with Mordechai Shapiro and Benny Friedman, is one of his most successful songs. Within its first few months, the song had over two million streams.
“The song blew up. It became an international sensation and is currently played at weddings and events throughout the world. Every day I’m getting tags from everywhere, New York to Australia – it’s an incredible and humbling feeling.”
Matt wants to bring his positive messages through music to as many people as he can.
and observant and enjoy good music. I am not listening to controversial or inappropriate music. Electronic music to me is very spiritual.
“Sometimes, people might think I’m not spiritual because of my external image. But really, I’m deeply religious and spiritual. Similarly, my music breaks boundaries and bridges the gap between spiritual and not spiritual.”
Judaism plays a huge role in Matt’s life and animates every part of his day. “Judaism is the best thing in the world because it grounds me and gives me a lot of purpose and meaning. I don’t view Judaism as a restriction; I view it as a guide to life. All my music comes from a very spiritual place. I feel more
do music, my business will fall apart. I’m passionate, but I can’t let it take over my business.
“The music industry has a lot of ups and downs. It’s a lot of hard work. It could happen overnight for some people, like winning the lottery. But what I realised is that it might look like an overnight blowup, but really it was five or ten years of hard work.”
“When I get feedback from followers, it keeps me going. The more people I reach, the greater I feel. People are responding with such positive messages. Someone on YouTube commented that my music caused him to put on tefillin for the first time in 10 years. Another person wrote, ‘this song got me through hard times.’ All these comments make me want to keep reaching more and more people, and will hopefully make a difference.”
Matt was once stuck in Germany for Shabbat because his flight had experienced an emergency landing.
He’s still working as a DJ, but mostly for Jewish events and parties. He is hustling, playing in venues and simultaneously trying to build the success of MŪNTII, which is a lot of work. “I’ve gotten messages from people from college campuses all over the US telling me they love my MŪNTII songs.”
He wants to bridge the gap between secular and Jewish music, as well as build bridges between people. “Music unites people like nothing else.”
Priorities
Matt is very spiritual.
“I view myself as a religious Orthodox person. I keep Shabbat, kosher and pray daily with a minyan. At the same time, I am very open-minded. I don’t feel that it’s a contradiction to be religious
connected when I am working on my music.” Matt also prioritises learning Torah and also maintains a relationship with Rabbi Gershon Ribbner, a teacher who encouraged him to play gigs while in yeshiva.
Matt is also focused on his business. He founded a finance company, which provides working capital for businesses. He explains that balancing his finance business and musical career is his biggest challenge.
“Even though the majority of my day is focused on my business, my passion is for music. So, no matter how busy I may be with work, I will still take a day off for a studio session. Or I might stay up late working on music and therefore will get to the office a bit late. These two priorities create inner conflict. If I only
“I was davening at The West End Synagogue in Frankfurt. I met this couple, soon to be getting engaged. He was in the process of converting and told me my music gave him inspiration while becoming a Jew. He expressed how much my music helped his process.”
It’s stories like this that fuel Matt’s passion.
“Music enables me to connect to millions of people. I may not know them or ever see them, but I feel that I can make a difference in their lives. That’s what makes this all worth it.”
Someone once approached Matt and asked, “Why do you do this? Don’t you have a successful business?” Matt responded, “My passion for music is bigger than money. Find your passion and pursue it.”
Look out for Matt’s upcoming MNTII collaboration with Alex Clare and other exciting projects.
SARAH PACHTER COURTESY: AISH.COM
CONSIDERED
“Judaism is the best thing in the world because it grounds me and gives me a lot of purpose and meaning.
I don’t view Judaism as a restriction; I view it as a guide to life.”
Matt Dubb
Several years ago, I had the privilege of visiting an aged care facility and spending time with an elderly woman who had recently lost her husband. She was feeling lonely and sad. As I began to walk past her, I could sense that she needed someone to talk to. I sat beside her and listened to her stories, and immediately I could see her face light up. She told me about her life and shared experiences with her husband. By the end of our conversation she was smiling and laughing, grateful for the time we had spent together.
Unfortunately, as our society becomes faster-paced and technology-driven, seniors often feel left behind and isolated. However, by simply taking the time to connect with them, we can enrich their lives and our own. Engaging with the third and, for the lucky few, the fourth generations in our community is a vital aspect of building a healthy and connected society. Our elders have a wealth of knowledge, experience and wisdom that can benefit us all. So, please do take the time to listen to them, learn about their lives and hear their stories.
The Talmud teaches us to respect and value our elders, not only for their longevity, but also for the wisdom they
have gained throughout their lives. Rabbi Yose bar Yehuda said: “One who learns from young ones is compared to what? To one who eats unripe grapes and drinks wine from its press. And one who learns from elders is compared to what? To one who eats ripe grapes and drinks aged wine (Pirkei Avot 4:20).” In fact, the Midrash Tanchuma (Ki Tisa 27 ) tells us: “One should greet an elderly person as one greets the Shekhinah (the presence of God).’
By connecting with our elders, we can learn from their experiences and pass on their knowledge to future generations.
At Caulfield Shule, we have a regular Tuesday Shmoozeday, where we gather
In late 2021, I was privileged to become the first rabbi appointed to the Human Research Ethics Committee at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. Earlier this year, I was again honoured to be appointed the first rabbi to the Human Research Ethics Committee at Deakin University.
When I started in these positions, human research and the role of ethics committees was new to me. But after having been involved in this area of work for well over a year now, I can attest to the enormous contribution researchers make to society.
Indeed, human research is a fascinating science, which has brought tremendous benefit to humanity over decades. It has enabled doctors and scientists to increase overall life expectancy and to reduce pain and suffering among people experiencing severe illness.
Still, like many advancements in the 21st century, human research has its risks. If unmanaged, the dangers associated with research and experimentation on us can outweigh the benefits. This is especially true if those carrying out such research lack a moral compass.
Notorious examples include the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study, conducted on African American men between 1932 and 1972 by the US government. In this “research”, 399
men diagnosed with syphilis were not offered penicillin even after the drug became widely available. That was so the researchers could continue a longitudinal study into these men’s disease. Provision of penicillin could have saved many of the participants’ lives. After this injustice became public, then US President Bill Clinton issued a public apology on behalf of the American people.
with seniors and spend time together. The simple act of sitting down and chatting over a cup of tea can make a significant difference to someone's life. Listening to seniors can be incredibly inspiring and uplifting. By engaging with them, we show that we value and respect their contributions.
I also visit Arcare Caulfield each Friday afternoon to share the spirit of Shabbat with the residents. Recently, I asked our Chazzan Dov Farkas and our Chevra choir to join me. They sang songs from the Kabbalat Shabbat service and other classic Jewish songs, and the seniors started to sing along. The atmosphere was tremendous. Everyone had a great
time. There are many ways to engage with the elderly in our community. We can visit them in aged-care, volunteer at events or programs geared to seniors, or just stop by for a quick chat.
You might be surprised at how eager they can be to learn new skills, but they may not know where to start. Consider offering to teach them how to use a computer, smart phone or tablet.
If they are up for it, you could also provide instruction in cooking, painting or crafts. Why not share a hobby you enjoy? Whether it's playing a musical instrument, knitting, or gardening, it can be a fun way to spend time together and learn from each other. Many seniors may find it difficult to get out and about, especially if they no longer drive. Offer to give them a ride to the grocery store, our Shmoozeday, doctors’ appointments or other errands.
The impact of these small acts of kindness can be immense. They can help bring joy and happiness to those who may feel isolated and alone. It is important to reiterate that connecting with seniors is a two-way street.
While we may be giving them our time and attention, we can also learn from their experiences and gain valuable insights. By taking the time to connect with them, we can build stronger, more inclusive communities and honour the wisdom and contributions of our elders.
checks and balances for human study.
In Australia, it is against the law to conduct a research project involving humans until approval is sought from and obtained by a registered Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). HRECs must be comprised of medical professionals, qualified researchers, legal practitioners, lay people and pastoral carers. My appointments to both the Children’s Hospital and Deakin University HRECs are within the pastoral carer division.
Our role is to review all research applications to ensure they are meritorious and beneficial, risks are mitigated, participants are respected and the process followed has integrity and is just. These values and criteria are explained in the government’s National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. Failure to achieve any of these values results in rejection of a research project.
The Jewish community does not need to look past World War II and the shocking mistreatment of Jews and other victims of Nazi brutality to understand the evil abyss to which humanity can descend in the name of so-called “research”.
Joseph Mengele perpetrated inhumane tests on innocent people, earning him the notorious nickname “the Angel of Death”. It was shortly after the war that many countries began legislating ethical
On a personal note, the values and morals espoused in the Torah have also guided me in my approach to reviewing research projects. So much of Judaism is centred around the core belief that all humans are created in G-d’s image and deserve to be treated with respect.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside my fellow committee members, particularly those from other faith communities within the pastoral care division. I look forward to continuing to contribute to this important area of work.
These were designed to elucidate how the Torah was to be read, punctuated and pronounced. Now they are part and parcel of every printed version of the Hebrew bible.
The history of the physical volume is almost as interesting as that of the text. The current owner, Jacqui Safra, is a member of the Safra family of Lebanese-Brazilian Jewish bankers.
A previous owner was the British Rail Pension Fund. In the late 1970s, when the fund’s trustees bought the Codex, they were roundly criticised for investing funds, intended to provide for the retirement needs of railway workers and their dependents, in assets which were hardly mainstream investments. Yet the
fact is that everyone who has owned the Codex has prospered.
David Sassoon, regarded as a geek by his banking cousins, put together a collection more valuable than their bank, depleted as it was by the Chinese Revolution in 1949. Similarly, the British Rail Pension trustees achieved a profit on this investment unlikely to have been matched by their ventures in stocks and property.
The Codex will go under the hammer in May this year. We do not know who the buyer will be. We can only hope, however, that like the previous owners he/she/they will allow access to the Codex to be given to the general public and particularly to those members of it interested in the bible and the history of Jewish heritage.
1. Aramaic
2. Babylon
3. One may cook on Yom Tov. (Naturally, if a Yom Tov such as Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Pesach or Shavuot falls on Shabbat – the stringency of Shabbat applies and one is not allowed to cook food)
4. Amos
5. Agriculture (however the opening section deals with prayers and blessings)
6. False – it is the reverse. In Jewish Law, a childless widow should marry her brotherin-law or undergo a ceremony known as Halitzah
7. Rachel Bluwstein
8. c) 13 years
9. a) Golda Meir
10. It is one of the most secretive units in the IDF – it is a unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary reconnaissance units of the Israel Defence Forces. Shayetet 13 specialises in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and boarding. The unit is trained for sea, air and land actions
11. Luna Armoza (The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is an Israeli television series, currently showing on Netflix. It is based
on the novel of the same name by Sarit Yishai Levy. Swell Ariel Or plays the lead part - Luna Armoza)
12. Praise the Lord. Milk and Honey in 1979
13. Wearing a Yarmulka i.e. covering one’s head out of respect for the Almighty
14. Chelm
15. b) 60%
16. The Talmud Yerushalmi otherwise known as the Palestinian Talmud
17. King Asa was the King of Judah, King Baasha was the King of the neighbouring kingdom of Israel
18. The Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, currently Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
19. The Jewish Legion
20. The Dubno Maggid
21. Manchester, England. The History of the Jews was first published in 1987
22.
a) Camels
b) Ass
c) Ravens
23. Bullfighting
24. The US Embassy, now located in Jerusalem
25. Helen Mirren
Jewish Answer – BENCHING. Here is a list of some common words (“yes”, we know there are more words in the dictionary that can work, but these words are common to today’s vernacular)
– BEECH, BEGGING, BEGIN, BEIGE, BENIGN, BEGINNING, BENCH, BIGGIE, BINGE, BINGEING, EBBING . Questions/comments – email Yoni at koshercrosswords@gmail.com
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Geelong-born, Melbourne-based former street artist Rone (birth name Tyrone Wright) has crafted a remarkable time capsule three years in the making.
It is set in the long-abandoned third floor wing of iconic, heritage-listed Flinders Street Station.
Time is a nostalgic love letter to mid 19th century working class life in one of the world’s great cities.
It is an ode to faded yet enduring beauty, capturing the spirit of Melbourne’s industrious past.
It is inspired by an era when European migrants powered the city’s booming manufacturing industries.
There are a dozen multisensory installations in separate rooms, each adorned with Rone’s signature murals that feature his beautiful muse, model Teresa Oman.
They were applied onto rice paper because he was, understandably, not allowed to paint directly onto the interior walls of the building.
When the exhibition finishes, they can then be peeled off without causing any damage. The works contain fine detail of a period of Melbourne’s history long lost to progress.
They combine visualisations with classical music composed by sound designer Nick Batterham.
Using photo references from across the decades, Rone pieced together a vision for each of the rooms.
THEATRE REVIEW
Time continues beyond the third-floor space.
A few doors down at ground level is a free newsagency installation, which features historic papers and a magazine wall.
Rone’s Time is mighty special and transformative.
In my case, not only do I greatly admire the work, but it caused me to reflect on the professions of my mother and father, who have since passed on.
Both came by ship from Europe in the early ‘50s and landed jobs in a matter of days.
My dad worked for the fencing company Cyclone before studying at night school to become an accountant.
Mum was a comptometrist, a profession that is no longer. A comptometer was the forerunner to the adding machine, which – in turn – became a calculator.
Among them are a glorious floor to ceiling library with not one, but two tight, steel, spiral staircases.
Fourteen old-style manual typewriters appear on metal tables alongside weathered chairs.
Sewing machines and benches proliferate, next to a custom-built cutting table. A classroom, wooden chairs, a blackboard and books strewn about sit next to a small artist studio.
There’s a pharmacy, old bottles, signs and bric-a-brac, all carefully sourced or created anew to look old.
A mail sorting station is adjacent to a phone switchboard of yesteryear.
And the piece de resistance is a 12-metre long glasshouse overrun by creepers, the highlight of which is another large, striking mural of Teresa Oman.
Old newspapers adorn the windows of the lengthy corridor that leads from one room to the next.
All appears dusty, with cobwebs in abundance.
Those responsible for this colossus of an exhibition include set builder director Callum Preston, set decorator Carly Spooner and a team of more than 120 Victorian creatives and professionals.
But, wait, there’s more.
I dare say everyone who chooses to see this exhibition will become lost in their own thoughts … and that is just as it should be.
Rone’s Time is a work of bold creativity and dedication, just like the workers who helped make this city what it is today.
An hour is all you need to see it all, but you better get in quickly because tickets are selling fast (many days are already sold out) and the exhibition closes on April 23rd.
The entry point is close to Boost Juice in Flinders Street, opposite Elizabeth Street.
To book and get more information, go to https://rone.art
The performances are terrific.
Anna O’Byrne sets the scene by fussing over detail, before Alex Rathgeber arrives to assist with final preparations for the Ralstons’ first intake.
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap opened in London’s West End on 25th November 1952 and has been running continuously (save for the COVID lockdown) ever since.
It is fast approaching 30,000 performances, making it by far the longest running show (of any type) in the modern era.
The play is also known for its twist ending – the audience asked not to reveal whodunnit upon leaving the theatre.
The Mousetrap began life as a short radio play – broadcast on 30th May 1947 – called Three Blind Mice in honour of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V.
The piece had its origins in the real-life case of a boy, Dennis O'Neill, who died while in the foster care of a Shropshire farmer and his wife in 1945.
So, to what I can say about the plot of the stage play.
It is set in 1952 in a British home converted into a guest house by a young couple – Mollie and Giles Ralston (Anna O’Byrne and Alex Rathgeber).
It concerns the interactions of them with their five guests and a police sergeant.
He – Detective Sergeant Trotter (Tom Conroy) – arrives in the wake of a murder in London.
We hear about the killing on the radio as Mrs Ralston prepares for the arrival of their first guests.
That is despite blizzard conditions outside, with snow falling heavily.
Before interval the tentacles of the murder in the British capital will be felt 30 miles away, namely in the guest house, which is snowed in.
Inside the stately home, the finger of blame is being pointed and no-one is beyond suspicion.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Mousetrap from the get-go, namely from when the characters were introduced.
The Ralstons were only married a year earlier. As the guests arrive, we gain some insight into their character traits – childish, combative, authoritarian, insular and questioning.
The Mousetrap combines old world charm with good humour and a cracking whodunnit plot. A dramatic incident occurs just before interval to set up the second half interrogation.
Each character is quizzed and, of course, pleads innocent.
Laurence Boxhall is a scene stealer as nervous prankster and architecture student Christopher Wren.
Gerry Connolly is lively, cheeky and provocative as Mr Paravicini.
Geraldine Turner presents a stern, argumentative visage as former magistrate Mrs Boyle.
Charlotte Friels is secretive as Miss Casewell.
Adam Murphy brings a stiff upper lip quality to Major Metcalf.
Tom Conroy is all business as the good sergeant, who arrives on skis to solve the mystery.
I greatly appreciated the set design, distinguished by traditional wood panelling, stained glass windows and armchairs, enhanced by the lighting. In other words, attention to detail served to heighten a most positive experience.
Direction by Robyn Nevin is flawless.
It is not hard to see why Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has well and truly passed the test of time.
Steeped in nostalgia, it remains intriguing and a piece of theatrical excellence.
The 70th anniversary production of The Mousetrap is playing at The Comedy Theatre until 26th March, 2023.
Applications close mid-March, so don’t miss out on your opportunity to join a fully sponsored trip to Israel, specially positioned between the country’s 75th Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations and Shavuot.
Highlights of this Mission include briefings by some of Israel’s leading scientists and academics as well as visits to prime Jerusalem tourist spots.
The time is now to let your imagination run wild and experience the exhilaration of being in the Israeli capital at one of the most exciting times.
Join in making history at The Hebrew University through the new Centre for Computational Medicine, the first of its kind in Israel.
It is yet another example where Israel and The Hebrew University are paving the way for a better future.
Imagine not just the wonders of Israel and Jerusalem, but the wonders that its pre-eminent university have brought to the world.
Imagine enabling victims of spinal cord injuries to recover some of their former mobility by activating neural pathways.
Imagine identifying the placental genes that can help prevent miscarriages and pursuing their use.
Imagine turning the tables on cancer tumours by identifying their individual idiosyncrasies and using that information to destroy them.
Imagine replacing invasive biopsies to diagnose cancer and other diseases with a simple blood test.
Imagine contributing to the global battle against malaria by discovering how a clever parasite evades the human immune system.
The fantasies of the future? The hopes and dreams of future generations? No, rather a continuation of The Hebrew
University’s tradition of innovation. The way to look after generations to come is to join the Legacy Mission.
For more information, contact The Australian Friends of Hebrew University CEO Robert Schneider on (02) 9389-2825 or email ceo@austfhu.org.au
