The Melbourne Jewish Report - April edition 2023

AROUND THE COMMUNITY

Support is vital

ANNE-MARIE ELIAS

Once upon a time there was a pelican and an echidna. What the bleep, I hear you ask. Please read on and you will have the full story, which starts with the need for social support.

In fact, we humans need a variety of support. We are notoriously bad at recognising what it is that we need and even worse in asking for it.

Berkeley University researchers have defined social connection as the feeling that you belong to a group and generally feel close to other people. Scientific evidence strongly suggests that this is a core psychological need, essential to feeling satisfied with your life.

As we celebrate Pesach, we reflect on the Israelites who had to rely upon and support each other as they left slavery for a new life in The Promised Land. This support was not only social connectedness. The young, the elderly, the infirm and the injured required help on a physical and material level. They relied on the fit and healthy for transportation, shelter and the provision of food and water.

So, who provides you with emotional support, by way of encouragement, empathy, kindness and understanding, in the present day? This type of support

is vital for our wellbeing. There may be several people in your day-to-day life who fulfil that need. They are effectively our cheer squad.

Another kind of support is informational. For example, attending a class to learn a language. There may be no emotional connection, but the teacher and other students can provide information that can foster growth. This is one of the reasons why group therapy can be so successful.

Tangible support is a service provided by another person. It is practical and can encourage a sense of belonging and acknowledgment that help is available when needed. Has someone

seen you struggling to open a door when your hands are full of shopping bags and rushed to open it for you? This is an example of tangible support.

What type of support provides you with affirmation and builds your selfesteem? That usually occurs during activities we are engaged in where we feel respected.

It could be a role you hold within your family or in your community. Moses would have received this support from his leadership. This type of support helps us to keep motivated.

As we evolve through our lives, our supports also change. Some of our connections are lifelong, while others

Test your knowledge

another option for us known as Mechirat Chametz – to what does this refer?

the purification of the soul. In which Egyptian city did Philo live?

may be transitory. It is crucial to have the right people with us at the right times.

It is also important to consider what type of supporter you are and to whom.

At a vulnerable and difficult time in your life, it may be hard to provide support to others. That is also when it can be the most difficult to ask for help.

This brings us back to the pelican and the echidna. At a local wildlife sanctuary some of my hospital patients have been able to engage in an education program. These patients are current and former frontline workers that have found it difficult to connect with others and ask for help.

A metaphor for their own lives is Line. She is a 40-year-old pelican that arrived at the sanctuary some years ago having been injured by fishing line (hence her name). The result of that was an inability to fly. Line has made her home on the lake and is hand fed daily by zookeeper staff, relying on a human support network for her wellbeing.

This is also the case with Turtle, the echidna who was found on his back in a pool of water as an abandoned baby.

My patients can identify with the pelican and the echidna and learn how to lead a different, but still meaningful life, by accepting support.

A support network is vital to ensuring a good quality of life and longevity.

Anne-Marie Elias is a psychologist in clinical practice for 25 years.

Our Festival of Freedom is fast approaching and Rabbi David Freedman has come to the ‘Pesach party’ offering our thousands of readers a quality quiz which attempts to scratch the surface of the length and breadth of his general Passover knowledge!

From Seder night to Jewish history to prayer to practical preparations to Israel and more, we will get the opportunity to look through a Passover prism and learn from each other over Yom Tov and Rabbi Freedman, adding to our understanding of this meaningful and pivotal time of year.

So, embark on this journey with family and friends and explore all-thingsPesach courtesy of a rabbi in our midst who cares deeply about so many issues and topics and above all, our Jewish community.

1. Why is the celebration on the first two nights of Pesach called a Seder?

2. Included in a manuscript compiled by the Babylonian sage Saadia Gaon, in the 10th century CE, is the earliest complete version of what?

3. In the lead up to Pesach we are expected to remove all chametz (leaven) from our homes. However, if we own a number of bottles of whiskey for example, the rabbis provided

4. Emanuel Goldenberg played the part of Dathan in the 1956 version of The Ten Commandments. By what adopted stage name was Goldenberg better known?

5. The Egyptians endured ten plagues, one of which was known as ’Locusts’. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, a

10. What is the significance of Leil Shimurim?

11. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanus, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarphon spent Pesach night together relating the story of the Exodus. Where did their seder take place?

12. Popular in Jewish communities

16. In ‘Tommy Pickles parts the Red Sea’, which cartoon characters learn about the Passover?

17. Who said, “Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility”?

a) George Orwell

b) Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

c) Sigmund Freud

18. Which New York Jewish all-male a cappella group sang its way through the Passover Story using the music of Les Miserables?

19. Who wrote the controversial 1965 book entitled The Passover Plot?

20. Which Nobel laureate said, “I love Passover because for me it is a cry against indifference, a cry for compassion.”

single swarm of desert locusts covering one square kilometre contains up to how many locusts – 20, 40, 60 or 80 million?

6. Complete the following sequence – Shekalim, Zachor, Parah and ---?

7. Which angel known as the Malach Hamovet is mentioned in the Haggadah?

8. A copy of which famous Haggadah was given to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair by the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina at a special awards ceremony in December 2011?

9. Philo, a Jewish philosopher from the first century CE, wrote that Passover, figuratively speaking, represents

throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East and often served at Sederim in Calcutta, Turkey, Greece, Morocco and Tunisia, what are Huevos Haminados?

13. On April 17, 1506, why were some people arrested for having in their possession, "some lamb and poultry prepared according to Jewish custom; also unleavened bread and bitter herbs”?

14. In 1882, Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin of Jerusalem invited to his seder two English princes, one of whom eventually became which king of England?

15. Which religious group in Israel continues to celebrate Passover each year at Mt Gerizim accompanied by prayers and sacrifices?

21. The prayer known as Yizkor in which we remember the souls of deceased relatives is said on which day of Pesach?

22. John Montagu or Hillel – they are both said to have invented what?

23. What are the five types of grain which, if fermented, become chametz?

24. At the end of the Seder service it is a tradition to say, Leshana Haba’ah Birushalyim – Next Year in Jerusalem –but what would one say if one lives in Jerusalem?

25. True or false: In Israel you can buy Kosher for Pesach ice cream with seasonal flavours such as Charoset or Matzah Crunch.

Good luck. Enjoy. Hopefully, learn something new about your Jewish heritage and tradition.

RABBI DAVID FREEDMAN

JUDAICA QUIZ

DR YVETTE ALT MILLER COURTESY: AISH.COM

With the passing of Chaim Topol, we remember the film that catapulted him to fame. Israeli actor Chaim Topol, famous for playing Tevye on stage and in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof, died on Thursday, March 9th at the age of 87 after battling Alzheimer’s.

Growing up, a surprisingly large amount of what I knew about Judaism came from my favourite movie, Fiddler on the Roof. The musical captures much of the joy of Jewish life and traditions, and gets some key points wrong as well.

Here are a few things Fiddler gets right and two things it gets wrong.

Based on Yiddish stories

The 1964 Broadway musical was based on stories written by the famous Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem. His series of short stories about Tevye the Dairyman introduced readers to Tevye, a father living in a shtetl named Anatevka in an obscure corner of the Russian empire who’s “blessed with five daughters”, as his character says with heavy emphasis in the movie, which came out in 1971. (In the stories, he has seven.)

Tevye’s five daughters

When it comes time to marry, Tevye’s daughters rebel, each pushing the envelope a little farther. Tzeitel, the oldest, refuses to consent to marry the old widower Anatevka’s matchmaker picks out for her, insisting that she marry a young penniless tailor named Motel for love. Tevye relents, concocting a crazy excuse for countenancing the marriage.

Next, his daughter Hodel refuses to marry a religious Jew, choosing instead to follow a young secular Jewish Communist named Perchik to Siberia.

Finally, at the end of the film, the next youngest daughter, Chava, breaks with Jewish tradition completely: she announces she’s marrying Fyedka, a non-Jewish local man. In the Broadway musical and subsequent movie, Tevye agonises, then ultimately gives his blessing to the match, telling the couple “God be with you”. In the original stories, Tevye remains steadfast, refusing to countenance the match. (The original stories are also darker in tone, with his other daughters suffering difficult trials and sad fates.)

Sholem Aleichem was the pen name of Sholem Rabinivitz. Born in 1859 into a middle-class family in the prosperous town of Pereyaslav in the Ukraine, he grew up speaking Hebrew and Russian, as well as Yiddish. He always said he based his Tevye stories on a real-life milkman named Tevye – he once met in a tiny Jewish shtetl – who had a wry way of looking at the world and was committed to his Jewish religion. Sholem Aleichem wrote him as a comic character and envisioned him being portrayed on stage; a 1919 Yiddish play did capture Tevye’s stories to an appreciative Yiddishspeaking audience, followed by a Yiddish movie produced in 1939.

Depicting Shabbat and community

By the time the Broadway musical and Hollywood film came along, the shtetls that Sholem Aleichem had described were long gone. More than six million Jews had been murdered in the Holocaust just a generation before. Sholem Aleichem, like so many other European Jews, had moved to the United States. In the 1960s and 1970s, many American Jews were abandoning the tight-knit bonds that had held them together in immigrant neighbourhoods and were moving to more affluent, spacious suburbs. Fiddler on the Roof came along at a time when nostalgia for the old ways of life was bumping up against the new, secular reality of American Jewish communities.

The musical conveys some of the joy of a traditional Jewish lifestyle. One of my favourite scenes takes place late on Friday afternoon. Tevye’s rounds have taken longer than usual because his horse is lame and he’s had to pull his heavy milk wagon himself. As he approaches his ramshackle home, his

What Fiddler on the Roof gets right – and wrong

about Jewish topics. “As Abraham said, ‘I am a stranger in a strange land …,’” Tevye confidently intones in one scene, only to be told that it was Moses who said that. “Ah. Well, as King David said, ‘I am slow of speech, and slow of tongue,’” Tevye replies, only to be told that this too was said by Moses. “For a man who was slow of tongue,” Tevye replies testily, “he talked a lot”.

The denizens of Anatevka are steeped in religious discourse, but in the Broadway and movie version there’s never any indication that they take it too seriously. The town’s rabbi is elderly and out of touch, and religious comments are confined to Tevye’s garbled pronouncements. That is a far cry from the way life was in actual shtetls and even different from the Tevye in Sholem Aleichem’s writings. “On the Shabbat, I tell you, I’m a king,” Tevye proclaims in the short story “Tevye Strikes it Rich”, before describing the Jewish books he studies on Shabbat: “The Bible, Psalms, Rashi, Targum, Perek, you-name-it ...” It’s a far cry from the more ignorant Tevye of modern depictions.

The writer Pauline Wengeroff (1833-1916) wrote about her life in the type of closeknit, Yiddish speaking Jewish communities to which Fiddler on the Roof refers. She and her husband were highly educated, fluent in German and Russian, as well as Hebrew and Yiddish. Yet, her husband, like most of the Jews they knew, spent long hours prioritising Jewish study. “My parents were God-fearing, deeply pious and respectable people,” she wrote in her masterful two-volume work “Memoirs of a Grandmother”. “This was the prevalent type among the Jews then, whose aim in life was, above all, the love of God and of family. Most of the day was spent in the study of Talmud and only appointed hours were set aside for business …”

In a real-life shtetl like Anatevka, there would have been much more Jewish learning and a greater familiarity with Jewish books and wisdom.

More than “Tradition”

wife Golde tells him, “Hurry up, it’s nearly the Sabbath!” She’s already dressed in her fine Shabbat dress. Golde looks regal, her dress adorned with a strand of pearls. It’s a realistic scene in Jewish homes across the world each week: as sunset on Friday approaches, Jews don their finest clothes to prepare for a regal meal, as the lady of the home lights Shabbat candles.

Tevye feeds his animals (singing If I Were a Rich Man as he works), then washes up and changes into his Shabbat suit and kippah. He begins reciting prayers under his breath as he enters his home. Usually shabby, tonight it looks beautiful. Typically hard-working and harried, tonight Tevye and his family have time to relax and focus on one another. Tevye and Golde bless their children and Golde makes a blessing over her Shabbat candles. The musical gets the grandeur and holiness of Shabbat right.

Fiddler on the Roof also gets right the tightly knit Jewish communities. A traditional Jewish community fosters a lot of togetherness: men typically pray together three times a day with a minyan; children attend Jewish schools or classes; women get together to study and recite Psalms. That community is evident in the world of Fiddler, where the bonds that unite the dwellers of Anatevka are palpable. Norman Jewison, the non-Jewish director of the film, described sitting next to Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (who grew up in a Yiddish speaking home in Ukraine) at the film’s premiere screening in Israel and watching her wipe away a tear.

Do you love me?

One of my favourite songs in the musical is Do You Love Me?, sung by Tevye and

his wife Golde after their daughter Hodel announces she is marrying a penniless young Jewish Communist named Perchik “for love,” without any involvement from a matchmaker or her family. When Golde objects, Tevye tells her Perchik “is a good man … I like him … And what’s more important, Hodel likes him. Hodel loves him. So, what can we do? It’s a new world. Love.” Tevye starts to get up then suddenly asks Golde if she loves him.

Singing, they describe their own arranged marriage 25 years ago, when their parents told them that, eventually, love would grow. “And now I’m asking, Golde, do you love me?” Tevye sings. In response, Golde describes all the ways they’ve worked together through the decades: she’s milked the family cow, raised their children, cooked and cleaned, and so much more. “If that’s not love, what is?” she concludes.

Tevye – who has slaved away through the years, as well, building their family, gazes at her fondly as they finally realise they’re in love: “It doesn’t change a thing, but even so, after 25 years, it’s nice to know.” This touching song conveys a deep Jewish truth: love grow through giving. The Hebrew word for love, ahavah, has as its root the word hav, “give”. Giving to another person helps us keep their needs and perspective in mind and fosters closeness. When we give to another person, and particularly when we make the series of commitments to our spouses that marriage demands, we begin to foster the deep, abiding love that comes from being true life partners.

Getting Torah right – and wrong

A lot of Fiddler on the Roof’s comedy comes from Tevye’s bumbling through quotes

If there’s any song in Fiddler on the Roof that grates on my nerves, it’s the opening song Tradition! “Because of our traditions, we’ve kept our balance for many, many years,” Tevye sings. “Here in Anatevka we have traditions for everything – how to eat, how to sleep, how to wear clothes. For instance, we always keep our heads covered and always wear a little prayer shawl. This shows our constant devotion to God. You may ask, how did this tradition start? I’ll tell you – I don’t know! But it’s a tradition …” Nonsense. A committed Jew like Tevye, who made the time to study Jewish texts, would be familiar with the sources for the Jewish practices he describes: he’d likely spend time studying about them each week. Jews don’t live Jewish lives merely because of “tradition”. On the contrary: they grappled with Jewish texts and eternal questions for most of their lives.

In Sholem Aleichem’s final Tevye story, after the residents of Anatevka have learned they must leave their town, Tevye is philosophical, relying on his deep faith to sustain him. As he packs up to leave, he quotes the Torah and Jewish prayers. He remembers how our ancestor Abraham was commanded by God to leave his family and his land too. Tevya hopes for the coming of the Messiah. And he takes our leave, saying he’s done talking, because now he has to go and be with his children and his grandchildren, who need him.

Like him, they were living a rich Jewish life, not out of tradition, but based on a deeply held commitment to Jewish ideals.

Dr Alt Miller lives with her family in Chicago and has lectured internationally on Jewish topics. Her latest book Portraits of Valor: Heroic Jewish Women You Should Know describes the lives of 40 remarkable women who inhabited different eras and lands, giving a sense of the vast diversity of Jewish experience. It has been praised as inspirational, fascinating, fun and educational.

More delicious treats than ever

Sharon and Yinon Hacham moved from Israel to Australia with their then twoyear-old daughter in 2012.

They have since built a unique and thriving, gluten free, dairy free, nut free and kosher business, incorporating sweet and savoury items at 439A Kooyong Road in Elsternwick.

The Jewish Report spoke with Sharon ahead of Passover 2023.

Tell me about developments regarding 4me gluten free.

We are very excited to be expanding our shop. We will be expanding into the premises next door. At the moment, our store operates from a doorway, which is nice in that I am able to interact with our customers and have gotten to know each one by name.

However, when we have a larger shop, people will be able to come inside, browse and choose from a large selection of goodies.

How soon are you planning to extend?

By mid-year, at the latest.

Exactly what you are going to do?

The store will have plenty of displays and shelves for people to see our full range of desserts, savouries and celebration cakes.

Will bigger floor space result in more goodies?

Definitely. We will have more yummy treats to try in future.

So, what new items are you planning to introduce?

We will expand our vegan range, as well as our sugar free products.

Now, let’s focus on Pesach. What would you be recommending this year?

This year we will be focusing on the classics: the marble babka, chocolate mousse, raspberry and coconut cake and, let’s not forget, our coconut and chocolate macaroons. We will also be introducing a strawberry Swiss roll and bringing back our chocolate lamington and chocolate orange jaffa cake. Both were a real hit last year and are coming back due to customer demand.

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 Jewish word will use all seven letters.

Proper names and hyphenated words are not allowed. Score 1 point for each answer and 3 points for a Jewish word that uses all 7 letters.

Rating: 19 = Good; 23 = Excellent; 28 = 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):

2023

ION. Other words: ADORATION, RADIATION, ADDITION, R, RADIANT, ANDROID, TORNADO, ORDAIN, INDOOR, INROAD, , RADAR, TRIAD, RONDO, RADII, RADIO, DONOR, DRAIN, ADORN, DINAR, NADIR Yoni at koshercroswords@gmail.com

‘

4ME GLUTEN FREE

Sharon and Yinon Hacham

The Jewish world has changed significantly in recent decades. It faces challenges of assimilation that were virtually unknown to our grandparents – challenges that are becoming increasingly difficult to address as society becomes more secularised.

Newfound freedoms, affluence and cultural osmosis have blurred the boundaries of traditional Judaism and created an appetite, if not an expectation, for us to change the very fabric of our Jewish identity.

On the one hand, this can be seen as a positive. It means many Jews no longer mindlessly adhere to the status quo. They question, engage and necessarily challenge the upbringing of their parents. They force a rethink of what it means to be Jewish and how we choose to identify as Jews in the 21st century. But, if left unanswered, this challenge can also erode the foundations of a 4,000-year-old faith.

Ironically, this dilemma goes straight to the heart of Pesach. At Passover, we were emancipated from slavery and born as a people.

Previously held under Egyptian rule against our will, we were now free to leave behind the chains of slavery.

Chag Pesach sameach

could say and what we could think. The exodus segued into an unconditional acceptance of G-d’s laws – all 613 of them.

And yet, herein lies the answer to our dilemma. The Sages had no qualms in dubbing Pesach the festival of our “freedom”, because freedom does not mean the absence of boundaries. Freedom is not a licence for unbridled choices in life. It must be coupled with discipline and self-control. In the context of Judaism, we must embrace the freedoms of the modern era, while remaining true to the core values that have shaped us since our inception as a nation.

As Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks so succinctly puts it in his Haggadah, “Do not think that the story of Pesach ends with the exodus. It only begins there. It is one thing to believe in G-d when you need His help. It is another when you have already received it. Affluence, no less than slavery, can make us forget who we are and why”.

This should have ended the servitude and heralded an epoch of newfound liberties and self-determination – a time to escape the shackles of imposed dictates and become masters of our own destinies. But it didn’t.

The 10 modern plagues

As I reflect on my cherished memories of the Pesach Seder, one moment stands out: the playful singing of one of the Haggadah's opening paragraphs set to the tune of "Row, row, row your boat." The words of the Haggadah – stating that in every generation, one must see themselves as if they had personally left Egypt – ring true.

While living in a free country, where we are able to practice our faith without fear, it can be difficult to comprehend such an edict. However, the story of the exodus from Egypt is much more than just a historical event. It holds deep spiritual, emotional and psychological significance that remains relevant today. The 10 plagues that befell Egypt serve as a central theme. Regrettably, Pharoah chose to disregard the Jews’ suffering and refused to allow them to leave.

Unfortunately, today society often turns a blind eye to modern plagues that strike at different times. So, let me examine each of the original plagues and determine how they can be applied in a modern context.

Blood: Water, the source of life, is contaminated in many parts of the world, rendering it unfit for consumption. Numerous people in Africa lack access to this essential resource. Like Pharaoh, world leaders and populations often pretend the problem doesn't exist.

Content with our own comfort and luxury, we become apathetic to those suffering.

Frogs: Each strike to stop them only caused further multiplication. Violence begets violence and striking out at problems only causes more problems. Today, instead of looking for peaceful solutions, violence is all too often the sledgehammer approach taken.

The exodus didn’t result in absolute freedom. Instead, it precipitated our acceptance of the Torah. New rules were imposed. New dictates were enacted. Laws restricting who we could marry, what we could eat, what we

The world has indeed changed and we must adapt accordingly if we are to survive as a people. But this cannot be done at the expense of what created us a people in the first place – our faith and our timeless traditions.

Lice: Although tiny, lice caused frustration and trouble in Egypt. Ignoring hygiene and "invisible" dangers can be risky, and we must prioritise our physical health and well-being.

Wild Animals: People were terrorised by them. Unfortunately, as domestic violence figures will attest, many today behave like wild animals. Real change, not just social media posts, is required.

Pestilence: A deadly disease that killed most domesticated animals, pestilence threatened the concept of the home. Today, with technological advancement, family dinners and outdoor play are becoming increasingly rare. That is not change for the better.

Boils: Just as the boils that afflicted the Egyptians caused immense physical pain and suffering, discrimination based on gender, identity and religious beliefs inflicts profound emotional and psychological pain on those that experience it. Discrimination can take many forms, including verbal harassment, physical violence, exclusion and unequal treatment. It can lead to feelings of shame, isolation and despair, damaging mental health and wellbeing.

Hail: The Torah instructs us to respect our elders, but today disrespect for teachers, parents and the elderly is rampant. Our youth must be heard, but not at the expense of rudeness and disrespect.

Locusts: The locusts that destroyed everything green in their path in Egypt serve as a metaphor for the Western world's insatiable appetite for material

goods, wealth and power. The pursuit of materialistic goals has become so pervasive that it has caused us to forget what it means to be content with what we have. The result has been a society plagued by obesity, anxiety and depression, with many struggling to find happiness and fulfillment in their lives. The focus on the material has also led to environmental destruction, as natural resources are exploited and depleted at an alarming rate. We must reconsider our priorities and shift towards a more sustainable and equitable way of life that prioritises human wellbeing and the health of our planet.

Darkness: Egypt was enveloped in a thick and impenetrable veil of darkness. We must not ignore the plight of those in front of us. We should remain mindful of our brothers and sisters and not allow selfishness to overtake us.

Death of the First Born: Protecting our children is paramount in every setting. With so many distractions, each person has a vital role to play. The community working together must remain vigilant.

So, it is incumbent upon us not to turn a blind eye to the issues that plague our society. Our forebears overcame great adversity to leave the land of Egypt. We, too, possess the power to effect positive change. Every one of us has a role to play in shaping a better world. By joining together, we can enact a meaningful and lasting transformation. As we strive towards this goal, we seek the divine blessings of Hashem to enable us to triumph over adversity.

YAAKOV GLASMAN

RABBI DANIEL RABIN

RABBINIC THOUGHT

Rabbi Yaakov Glasman AM discussing Pesach with Premier Daniel Andrews

Rabbi Daniel Rabin

Empowering the children of the Negev Fashionable clothing

JNF PANADA BOUTIQUE

JNF continues its vital work in growing and nourishing the land and supporting the people of Israel through lifesaving projects.

This Pesach, with your support, JNF –through Lasova Kadima Youth Centre – will provide new opportunities for youth at risk in the Negev communities.

Children participating in the program are at risk and from severely distressed families and are referred to the centres by local welfare departments. These disadvantaged youth are provided with care, personal attention and individualised programs that aim to empower each child. Programs run daily and year-round in a safe setting.

Kadima Youth Centre provides nutritious meals to young children who do not have

access to lunch and dinner at home. Its staff help with homework and enrichment lessons when parents are unavailable to assist. These dedicated personnel teach English and run computer programming courses to help develop life-changing skills. Kadima Youth Centre enables exploration of Israel’s nature parks and national sites through inspiring day tours. It also encourages children to give back to their community by volunteering their time to help others.

One of the special mitzvot of Pesach is to make space at your table and in your heart for those in need. This Passover, JNF hopes for a brighter future filled with essential opportunities, as it continues its important work supporting the growth of the residents along Israel’s southern periphery.

For more information about JNF Blue Box campaign, visit: jnf.org.au/blue-box-vic

Panada Boutique at 1202 High Street, Armadale has been providing high quality clothing for discerning women in their 40s and beyond for more than three decades.

It was started by proprietor Emelia Stockdale’s mother in Hawksburn Village in 1989, after she saw a gap in the market.

Today Emelia continues to maintain an extensive range, but a limited number of each size, primarily sizes 8 to 18, with select styles also available in sizes 6 and 20.

The Melbourne Jewish Report spoke with her.

So, a new season is upon us – what is hot when it comes to fashion?

Beautiful knitwear and faux leather, ruffles and pussy bows, and dresses, dresses, dresses!

What new trends have you picked up on?

New trends this season include a play on textures, like silk with wool or wool with faux leather. Colour blocking is also important and will modernise your outfit instantly.

What are the colours of the season?

New colours include blush pink and raspberry, apple green and mint, cobalt blue, chocolate and all the earthy neutral tones too.

Can you give women any fashion tips? Is it about layers or signature pieces or both?

It’s a great year to pick up a dress or two, as there’s a fantastic selection on offer this season.

Do you target a particular demographic?

We love nothing better than when mother and daughter both find something to take home. It was and still is my favourite way to shop.

JNF Blue Box Pesach

RABBINIC

THOUGHT

RABBI DR BENJI LEVY

Can any of us honestly say that in the past week we sat down for five minutes and thought about how to solve a problem in our lives? Not a metaphorical five minutes. Rather, literally five minutes.

A recent study at the University of Virginia involving hundreds of participants found that most chose to repeatedly give themselves an electric shock, rather than sit and think. All these people had previously said that they would rather pay money than be shocked and yet when they were presented with the alternative of spending time thinking by themselves, they chose self-inflicted pain.

Look around next time you catch public transport or are sitting in a waiting room and watch how many people take their phones out immediately. Spending time with ourselves and thinking shouldn’t be difficult and yet we constantly seek distractions. Many times, we allow others to think for us through rapid-fire news feeds, which give us everyone else's opinions before

Let’s make Pesach count

we have a chance to form our own. Generally, we are happy to let major issues around us pass by because they are not “technically” our responsibility, or we can’t immediately think of a solution. We are so used to having others think for us – be they marketing gurus, consultants or cognitive specialists – that we have lost the ability to be self-sufficient thinkers. If there is one favour that we should be doing for ourselves today, it is to look at our lives objectively and ask ourselves “are my opinions really my own and am I happy with what is going on around me?”

If the answer to either of these questions is “no”, maybe it is time to find a clock and sit and think for a change.

Often people tell me that they get to Pesach each year and it is the same seder it has been for decades. They are correct, but what changes is us!

Leading up to Passover, I am getting together with people of all ages in the community, in homes, in shuls and in schools to share some fresh ideas for Pesach. It is incumbent upon all of us, as the teachers of our children and ourselves, to think differently. Rather than letting it pass over, let’s make Pesach count and find some time in the days leading up to the festival to think.

Act on freedom Practical life training

RABBI GABI KALTMANN THE KING DAVID SCHOOL

I dare say most Jews would know why we eat matzah during Pesach.

Of course, doing so recognises that Pharoah reversed his decision on Moses’ request to “let my people go”.

As a result, he and his people were in such a hurry to leave that they couldn’t wait for the dough in the bread they were baking to rise.

The question I pose is why was that the case? Surely, after 210 years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites should have properly arranged provisions for their future travels in the desert.

Matzah is more than a symbolic food we eat to commemorate our ancestors.

Rather, it serves to tell us that when it comes to setting oneself free, we don’t have time to wait (or waste).

The unleavened bread is effectively a metaphor signalling that we must do what we must do "now" – we must make that decision that we have been avoiding.

So it is that Pesach is a time to change our behaviour and bad habits for the better.

When the Israelites fled Egypt, they were freed from their servitude as slaves, but true liberty is an internal voyage.

Holocaust survivor and psychologist Victor Frankl in his book Man's Search For Meaning defined freedom as "to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances … to choose one’s own way”.

So, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be trapped in a “quasi-Egypt”. We need to unburden ourselves of self-imposed restraints and those applied to us by others, as long as doing so is for the greater good.

On their journey of self-discovery, Year 9 students are participating in a signature program for the school year, named Nitzan (bud).

It is designed to teach them practical life skills.

Each Wednesday begins with “kick start” – jogging, yoga, gym exercises or drawing. Students eat breakfast –cooked by their peers – together. This term the cohort has already learnt how

to unblock toilets, change a washer, sew buttons and clothes, knit, repair bicycles, make solar-powered lights, use a lawn mower, build with wood and make coffee with a commercial espresso machine.

The program also includes selfdefence training, basic first aid, rudimentary car maintenance and money management.

Among special projects, they have received instruction in how to build a pinball machine and a deck for the school’s treehouse.

Rabbi Dr Benji Levy’s wife, Renana, and their children making matzah in Israel

The King David School Year 9 student Zara Jachimowicz

Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann

COMMUNITY

Naale Elite Academy provides fully subsidised, three- or four-year scholarships to Jewish teens seeking high level education in Israel. The program caters to diverse religious backgrounds, offering excellent education in religious and secular studies. Students make lifelong friends and earn an internationally recognised diploma, while gaining invaluable tools for life and a deeper connection to Israel.

Students participating in the program attend schools throughout Israel and make up a small but significant proportion of the student body. Some of Naale schools are religious, single-sex schools, and others are co-educational and non-religious. A few of the schools involved are described below, with the first four having a religious focus.

Shaalvim Yeshiva: Excellence in Torah and general studies in a tranquil environment. An established boarding school located in Kibbutz Shaalvim, offering a warm atmosphere and a high level of Jewish and secular studies. The school fosters strong connections among students from diverse religious backgrounds.

Ulpanat Amana for Girls: Creating future Jewish leaders with a proud religious identity.

Building a deeper connection with the Promised Land

The school embodies Rav Kook’s vision, offering matriculation tracks in theatre, music, film, dance, plastic arts and highlevel Jewish studies.

Beit Chana for Girls: High standards in Chassidut, along with academic excellence.

Located in Safed, Beit Chana offers a warm and nurturing environment for Chabad girls. The curriculum is designed to integrate Jewish values and the spirit of Israel into students' everyday lives.

Ayanot: A cooperative community where individuality and innovation flourish.

activities. A large variety of extracurricular activities – such as art, krav maga, mixed martial arts, yoga, meditation, Zumba, volleyball, running and music – is available.

Nahalal Youth Village: An exceptional education for exceptional minds.

Nahalal is a top co-educational, academic institution for local and international students, training leaders in science, technology, high-tech, medicine, academia and politics.

Located in the city of Kfar Saba and considered one of the premier girls’ religious schools in Israel, the school provides students with a warm family environment. The staff works with the Naale program to assist girls academically and socially.

Ulpanat Haleli: A world based on a combination of faith, art and deed.

Ideal for modern Orthodox girls who want to study in an arts-oriented atmosphere within a religious lifestyle.

Upholding core values of meaningful work, joyful cooperation and boundless creativity. Individual attention and classes with emphasis on academics and farm experiences as well as a special earth sciences track at the prestigious Weizmann Institute. Extracurricular activities are available in sports, art, music, technology and more.

Mosenson Youth Village: A multicultural hub where learning is an experience.

Mosenson celebrates diverse backgrounds and integrates students into Israeli society. It offers electives, a Hebrew ulpan program, matriculation test preparation and coeducational

Ideal for gifted students who excel in STEM subjects, it offers a full range of academic subjects, including additional classes in chemistry, physics, robophysics and engineering.

With social interaction and recreational activities, Nahalal accommodates religiously observant students (there is a synagogue, Shabbat services and kosher food), but it is not a religious school.

For more information, contact the Naale Regional Manager Oceania by email: naale.australia@gmail.com or click onto www.naale-elite-academy.com

NAALE ELITE ACADEMY

AROUND THE

Naale Elite Academy students attending Mosenson Youth Village

CONSIDERED OPINION

Reflecting religion in art

paint align with my spiritual beliefs or what I am inspired by. There is no friction between my beliefs and my artwork.”

Nomi Kaltmann speaks to five Hasidic painters about the relationship between their religious life and their art.

DovBer Naiditch remembers the disappointment he felt when he received a B grade on a philosophy essay he wrote while studying for his Master of Fine Arts at the University of Pittsburgh.

Despite working hard on the piece, he was unaware he had not structured his essay in the classic academic format required for this assignment.

Naiditch approached his teacher to plead his case.“I argued that I structured the essay in a Hasidic way,” he chuckles. The teacher was convinced and upgraded his essay to an A.

Today, Naiditch, 40, and the father of 11, uses his writing talents to produce short stories for children. He has worked as a writer for shows on Netflix and YouTube, including the globally popular Mighty Little Bheem, Netflix’s first animated series from India.

While most stories he writes are not for an exclusively Jewish audience, he says his Hasidic background influences his creative talent. “My own art reflects who I am. I’m a Hasid, so I love little stories that tell big things. As Hasidim, we are always seeking union with God. We seek mysticism. And we try to live above nature. I just make it more magical with my writing.”

Some might think there is a tension between living a religious Jewish life and the free expression of an artist’s life. This tension was captured by US Jewish author Chaim Potok in his best-selling novel My Name Is Asher Lev. The main character is born into a Hasidic family and wants to be an artist, but is unable to reconcile the tension he feels in wanting to freely express himself alongside his upbringing.

However, it need not be that way. Plus61JMedia spoke to five Hasidic artists, some of whom are just starting out, others with decades of experience. Not one regarded their religious life as an obstacle to creating their art.

The majority of the artists are ultraOrthodox Hasidic Jews, a sect of Orthodoxy which believes that all gifts, including creativity, are given in order to elevate a sense of spirituality and godliness in the world.

Yitzchak Moully, a 40-something American/Australian rabbi based in New York, is a conceptual artist whose work explores the intersection of spirituality and the material world. Prior to working fulltime as an artist, he worked as a youth rabbi, until he found himself at a crossroads.

“My art was secondary to my [role as a rabbi], but it was taking all my emotional energy and focus. There was an imbalance. I knew which one was more important … I

was ready to give art up to focus on my [role as a rabbi].”

As part of this process, he sought advice from a trusted mentor. “[My mentor] said: ‘Can you take the gifts that God gave you to impact people?’ When he said that I realised that my contribution to the world is a unique ability to share Torah and [Judaism] through the unique lens that I’ve developed and created.”

Known as the “Pop Art Rabbi”, Moully’s work distils ethereal Hasidic concepts into relatable works of art. He makes his livelihood by selling his art via his website, and through private commissions from buyers around the world.

“In My name is Asher Lev there was a friction between creativity and Judaism. To me, one compliments the other,” he says.

“The truth is, my gift is the art. Someone asked me: ‘As a rabbi are you only allowed to paint Jewish subjects?’ I choose to paint about what I’m passionate about, but for me, thank God, today I am passionate about Judaism.”

DovBer Naiditch echoes this sentiment. “I’ve never felt restricted by my Yiddishkeit

… I am an artist who seeks to explore and create, someone who desires freedom of expression and, in general, I get to do all of those things.”

While Naiditch may occasionally find tension in his work, he does not regard this as a bad thing. “As a writer the first thing you learn is that stories are terrible without tension. You need tension or nothing happens.

“I think the same is true of being an artist. If you’re not struggling with something, it’s just bad art. The question is are you struggling through or struggling against? Struggling through something has always been the most fulfilling form of art for me.”

Miami-based Rivka Krinsky, 36, specialises in oil paintings. Her art often features Hebrew letters and religious motifs, and is popular around the world. “When I first started, it felt scary. Because you don’t want to mess it up. Whenever you paint someone [or something] holy, it’s a big responsibility,” she says.

She does not feel a tension between being Hasidic and an artist, noting, “I paint what I want and usually the things I want to

Canadian-born artist Mendel Treitel lives with his wife and baby in Sydney, where, in addition to working as an artist, he runs adult Jewish education at a large synagogue.

While Treitel has always loved creating art, his Judaism is central to his identity. “I never planned on being an artist. Growing up I was intensely involved in yeshivah. I was passionate and engaged. I would learn a lot [of Torah]. Early mornings and nights,” he says. He only began considering working as an artist in his later years of yeshivah.

“I was a [young man] in Los Angeles [working for two years] in a [Jewish] high school. I would draw these little drawings on paper. The kids would collect the drawings like cards. It was a real shtick among the boys about who could collect the most drawings. I think at that point I still had no plan to become an artist, but I noticed that people were interested in the art I was creating.”

In 2018, Treitel landed an apprenticeship with Michoel Muchnik, a well-known Hasidic artist in New York, where he was able to learn new skills and hone his craft. Unlike Muchnik, whose work primarily reflects Hasidic and Jewish concepts, Treitel’s art does not exclusively focus on Jewish themes, although he knows his upbringing deeply influences his work.

“I wouldn’t say that Hasidic culture … is filtered through my work, but as a religious person and a learner of Hasidic philosophy, together with all other areas of Torah, these influence my perception,” he says. For now, his style certainly resonates, with a recently sold-out show at Sydney’s Lyons Gallery, where many of the buyers were not Jewish.

Hendel Futerfas, a US-born artist living in Melbourne, says: “I am a curious individual and, by their nature, artists are very curious. We express what we see, and we express what we are.” He creates art in a variety of mediums including drawing, painting with oils and acrylics and carving wooden sculptures. “The things we see are the paint we dip into. The people we are, are the tools we bring,” he says.

Like the others, Futerfas does not see an inherent conflict or tension between being a Hasidic artist and artistic freedom.

He does create some Jewish-themed art, though much of his current work does not obviously reflect his Hasidic lifestyle. However, to him these influences are the basis of his creativity.

“Is my work Jewish? Absolutely. I don’t know if you’ll be able see it. Maybe if it’s paired next to something Hasidic it will jump out at you. But I know that I made it and I am religious, and I work hard on my Judaism. So, the work is undoubtably coming from a Hasidic artist.”

NOMI KALTMANN COURTESY: PLUS61J.NET.AU

Hendel Futerfas with his portrait of the Lubavitche Rebbe (Instagram)

Rivka Krinsky in her studio (Instagram) Yitzchak Moully (Instagram)

Mendel Treitel’s work (Instagram)

Support the People of Israel this Yom Tov

Jews celebrate Pesach to commemorate the liberation of the children of Israel, as commanded by G-d in Exodus. This year, as we sit down to enjoy our sedorim across the world with family and friends, for many it will be their first Pesach in Israel as an Oleh Hadash (a new immigrant). When we reflect upon the connection between Pesach and

UIA, we think about returning to our homeland. This is the essence of the organisation’s vital work. In 2022 alone, UIA supported the Aliyah of 75,000 Olim from 93 countries. More than 45,000 of these came from Ukraine and Russia as a result of the war. These are numbers that had not been budgeted for and exceeded expectations. Moving from

the emergency rescue phase – which was much of the focus of 2022 – to the long-term integration phase requires substantial funding to ensure the smooth absorption of these Olim. By providing many absorption services, such as accommodation in absorption centres, Ulpan classes, professional fast tracking and more, UIA can ensure that these new Olim will become productive and valuable members of Israeli society.

Pesach teaches us not to take our freedom for granted. It is our mutual responsibility at this time to think of our fellow Jews. This Pesach, in lieu of gifts,

UIA asks you to consider sending a UIA e-card to your family and friends to support this national priority area and the focus of its 2023 campaign.

As we read in the Haggadah, “b’chol dor v’dor”, in every generation evil rises to harm us. This Pesach, each one of us can help support these new Olim in their new home – the Promised Land, the State of Israel.

To send a UIA e-card, please visit https://donatenow.uiaaustralia.org.au/ecard or call the UIA office on 9361-4273.

THIS PESACH SUPPORT THE PEOPLE OF

Community spirit aplenty She runs the game

Dozens of musicians played, spanning a wide genre of Jewish music, while five painters and a potter also plied their craft.

MACCABI VICTORIA

She worked on the “Change Our Game” program, which looked at why girls drop out of sport and how to deal with that.

Earlier this month, a festival that celebrates the vibrant diversity of Melbourne’s Jewish community was held in Selwyn Street, Elsternwick.

In One Voice, co-presented by SKIF and Kadimah, saw 80 community groups represented, alongside upwards of 40 market stalls serving food and handicrafts.

Cult worship

MEGAN NORRIS

Cult exit counsellor Raphael Aron’s debut crime fiction novel takes readers on a disturbing journey that centres around complex themes he knows only too well.

Bound by Belief (AIA Publishing, 2023) offers insight into the dangers vulnerable people face when they fall under the spell of charismatic leaders while isolated from those that love them.

The book is based on real stories of some of the broken families Aron has supported and the damaged survivors he has helped to escape from cults.

His novel follows grieving Australian mother Laura Fields and the support agency she founded after the unsolved disappearance of her daughter many years earlier.

An estimated crowd of 10,000 attended on the day.

One of the organisers, Allan Kaufmann, said the joy on people’s faces said it all.

“It was a fabulous day, with great weather and a wonderful Jewish vibe. We are already looking forward to next year.”

Maccabi Victoria has launched an online campaign celebrating the achievements of talented and trailblazing women in the Maccabi community.

Through interviews, Maccabi uncovered inspiring journeys taken by athletes, coaches and volunteers. One of them is Samantha Blackstone, a mother and coach at the Maccabi Ajax Netball Club. Samantha is passionate about promoting gender equality.

Another is Amanda Caplan, team manager of Ajax Football Club’s Jackettes. With four children that play football, she has devoted much of her life to the Maccabi football community.

For more information about the She Runs The Game campaign, go to: https://maccabi.com.au/vic/programs/ women-in-sport/she-runs-the-game-vic/

Through her team at CultAssist, Fields provides a lifeline to other desperate parents mourning lost or missing children and leads her into the seductive and dangerous world of cults.

Five frantic families race against time to break the spell of unscrupulous pseudospiritual organisations, while the main protagonist faces daunting challenges.

Aron, who is the Melbourne director of Cult Consulting Australia (cultconsulting. org) is the author of six published books.

These include Cults: Too Good to Be True (Harper Collins, 1999) and Cults, Terror and Mind Control (Bay Tree Publishing, 2009).

In Bound by Belief, he weaves a fascinating tale involving mind control, emotional manipulation and the overarching need to belong.

Stepping outside his usual academic research and case files, the novel examines the roles of society, law enforcement and family in helping those seduced down a

dark path. It looks at the predators who strip followers of their identity and exploit them by indoctrinating them with their warped beliefs.

This happens in the post-COVID era, when the appeal of cults has never been greater.

Aron highlights the complexities facing those battling to support helpless relatives looking to bring “the taken” back before families are damaged beyond repair.

At a time when his own agency is receiving increasing calls for his services, Aron’s message could not be more timely.

Bound by Belief is a real page turner and is available from The Avenue Bookshop in Elsternwick. It can be also ordered online and as a Kindle Edition via Amazon.

Megan Norris is a journalist and author of The Messiah’s Bride (Penguin Random House)

Melbourne Jewish Report Disclaimer:

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Amanda Caplan (centre), with her two daughters, Annelise (left) and Julia

FOODIES' CORNER

Home to some of the world’s most innovative dining, Israel has established itself as one of the culinary capitals. Boasting mouth-wateringly delicacies, the thriving Israeli culinary culture is seeing the opening of new restaurants from the Galilee, down the Mediterranean coastline to Tel Aviv.

At Uri Buri, one of the only restaurants in the ancient port town of Akko, famed Israeli seafood chef Uri Jeremias serves up the finest cuisine that the Mediterranean has to offer. Jeremias employs a mix of Jews and Muslims in his restaurant and hotel (Efendi Hotel).

It is not by chance that the eatery’s reputation as one of the best fish restaurants in the country has spread far and wide. It is now a "must visit" spot for travellers seeking authentic Mediterranean cuisine with an Israeli flair, along with a fine selection of Israeli wines.

At the table of chef Roee Dori, executive chef of Rouge at Pereh Mountain Resort, in northern Israel, vegetables take centre stage. The chef takes the best local produce, dairy and Levantine herbs from the mountainous north to create a delectable, seasonal menu.

That includes trout from the nearby Dan River, homemade gnocchi during summer, artisanal cheese, along with

Inside Israel’s culinary culture

to a Mediterranean garden. The international cuisine reflects Asian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern heritage.

Highlight dishes include Jerusalem artichoke served with peanut masala and cilantro chutney, Burmese “mohinga'' soup served with chickpea noodles and vongole gnudi with fresh basil and crab stock.

In the American colony district of Tel Aviv sits The Drisco Hotel’s George & John restaurant. It was awarded the accolade of Israel’s best restaurant and number six best restaurant in the Middle East and North Africa.

Chef Tomer Tal combines flavours and recipes from his Jewish-Moroccan heritage with seasonal products from Carmel Market and fresh seafood from Jaffa Port.

One of the leading young Israeli chefs, Tal uses many cooking techniques, including smoking, grilling and pickling. He incorporates local, indigenous herbs and quality products.

tomatoes and other veggies grown close by.

The chef showcases the abundance and diversity of the Golan Heights, using both contemporary and traditional techniques, to offer patrons an authentic local dining experience.

The star of the show is the restaurant’s taboon, a clay, wood-fired oven, traditionally used for Levantine flatbreads and used at Rouge to roast and smoke vegetables.

Judaica quiz answers

1. The word Seder means order. The Seder is a series of prayers and rituals to be undertaken in a set order according to tradition

2. The Haggadah

3. This refers to the Sale of Chametz which can be done only via a contract and sale coordinated by one’s rabbi

4. Edward G. Robinson

5. 80 million

6. Hachodesh – the 4th and final Shabbat of the Arba’ah Parshiyot –the four special Shabbatot preceding Pesach – each with its own distinctive maftir and haftarah

7. The Angel of Death

8. The Sarajevo Haggadah

9. Alexandria

10. Based on Exodus 12:42 – Leil Shimurim (a night of guarding) is said by the sages to refer to first night Pesach each year, when Jews can expect to be protected from harmful elements

11. Bnei Brak

12. A Sephardi dish comprising of slow cooked eggs. The name reflects the eggs' origin in Medieval Spain

13. These were conversos – Jews forced to convert to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition and they were arrested on suspicion of practicing Jewish rituals

14. George V. Grandson of Queen Victoria and grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II

15. The Samaritans

16. Rugrats

17. Sigmund Freud

18. The Maccabeats

19. Hugh Schonfield

20. Elie Wiesel

21. The final day of Pesach (i.e. in Israel

7th day, in Chutz La’aretz 8th day)

22. The sandwich. John Montagu was otherwise known as the 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792). Hillel, according to the Haggadah had the idea of making a sandwich (Korech) of matzah with lamb and bitter herbs

23. Wheat, oats, barley, rye and spelt

24. Leshanah Haba’ah Birushalyim Habnuyah. Next year in Jerusalem

rebuilt

25. True

Spelling bee answers

Jewish word – UPSHEREN. 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) – HUSHER, HUSHERS, HUSHES, PUSHER, PUSHERS, PUSHES, PUSHUP, PUSHUPS, RUSHER,

RUSHERS, RUSHES, SHEEN, SHEEP, SHEER, SHEESH, SHEPS, SHESH, SHUNS, SHUSH, SHUSHER, SHUSHERS, SHUSHES, SPHERE, SPHERES, USHER and USHERS. Questions/comments/compliments, email Yoni at koshercrosswords@gmail. com

Further south, lies R48 Chef’s Table, in Tel Aviv’s new R48 Hotel and Garden, set within a restored 1930’s Bauhaus architecture-style building on Rothschild Boulevard. Having officially opened at the start of this month, the restaurant is led by chef Ohad Solomon. Guests can sample an 11-course tasting menu.

With an interior by French designer Liaigre, the restaurant has only nine tables and provides an intimate ambiance, while providing an outlook

Tel Aviv city is home to three outdoor food markets – Levinsky, Carmel and HaTikva. Local travel company Eager Tourist offers a new chef-led experience, taking guests on a vegan culinary adventure, incorporating two of the three. That includes special tastings and a conversation with one of the leading vegan chefs.

It all goes to show that along with its other cultural and religious drawcards, Israel is a foodies’ delight.

CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES

ELLE JOSEPH

Fine dining at George & John restaurant in Tel Aviv

THEATRE

REVIEW

BERHARDT/HAMLET (MTC)

BY ALEX FIRST

We are in Paris in 1899. Take the best actor in the world, in this case a middleaged woman with a particularly healthy ego that is constantly being stoked.

Her last stage role was a critical success but failed to sell tickets.

This is a woman who doesn’t hold back – who always speaks her mind.

She spends what she wants to spend when she wants to spend it, even though she claims she is now penniless.

Even though she appears to be universally lauded – or at least she is told that she is – she decides to take a very dangerous step.

She will step into the role of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at a time when this – a woman filling a man’s role – was simply not done.

With that comes a surfeit of insecurities.

It is worth noting that she is in her mid 50s and the Prince of Denmark was but 19 years of age.

Still, she presses on.

That also involves imploring a highly regarded playwright, who is married with two young children, to rewrite Hamlet and remove the poetry in the work.

Why? Because she doesn’t like it.

As he can’t say no to her – his muse as well as his lover – he proceeds, but struggles.

Also, struggling to create an appropriate poster of her for the

Playing with the Bard

about being with her when he has a wife he loves and a sick child at home. He tries to stand up for himself and to her, but also seeks her adoration for his writing.

The push and pull between the pair forms the cornerstone of the play.

Around them, the other Hamlet actors are putty in Bernhardt’s hands, inevitably succumbing to Bernhardt’s whims.

With magnificent timbre in his voice, Marco Chiappi is superb as Constant Coquelin, whose command of Hamlet is second to none.

At two hours 10 minutes (excluding interval), I found Bernhardt/Hamlet engaging to a point, but a bit of a stretch. That comes down to Rebeck’s writing – not the fine acting from the 10-strong cast. I thought the first act needed tightening, ahead of the surprises in the second.

production is a man usually adept at doing so, the artist Alphonse Mucha (Tim Walter).

Bernhardt/Hamlet is the story of Sarah Bernhardt – who has grown out of the ingénue roles that made her famous –and Edmond Rostand.

He was the French poet and dramatist best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac.

Written by American playwright Theresa Rebeck and first performed on Broadway in 2018, there is much going on in Bernardt/Hamlet.

It was most appropriate that opening night was on International Women’s Day.

Make no mistake, Rebeck has crafted Bernhardt as no shrinking violet. Others cower and kowtow in her presence.

She talks up her appeal to men, both artistically and sexually.

Kate Mulvany impresses in the lead. She embraces Bernhardt’s no-nonsense approach – a firecracker … feisty, but also beset by moments of self-doubt.

Mulvany has a big stage presence – a requirement of the bolshy role.

Tracts of Hamlet are performed by Bernhardt and other cast members and often questioned by Bernhardt.

Charles Wu plays an interesting juggling act as Edmond Rostand. He adores Bernhardt, but feels some guilt

An interesting device used by director Anne-Louise Sarks involved sets and props being wheeled and carried in as the play unfolds. That is certainly eyecatching.

Set and costume designer Marg Horwell has done a good job across the board, taking a playful hand with the costuming.

Make no mistake, there is a great deal of humour in Bernhardt/Hamlet, which –I dare say – will be production that will appeal to some more than others.

It is playing at Southbank Theatre, the Sumner until 15th April, 2023.

Photo by Pia Johnson

Outside broadcast at “In One Voice” in Elsternwick

Photo by Elizabeth Winkleman

AROUND THE

COMMUNITY

A story about love and courage, Driftwood The Musical is a deeply personal undertaking for its creator and star Tania de Jong AM.

First staged a year ago, it will soon return, with some changes.

The Jewish Report spoke with Tania about the show.

Congratulations on the revival. Why bring it back?

We presented 18 performances in our world premiere Melbourne season last year. The show received standing ovations at every performance and was sold out for the final two weeks, leaving many people disappointed to miss it. So, we wanted to give Melbourne audiences another chance to see the show, as well as introducing it to Sydney audiences.

We also have some big news. We are thrilled to announce the production will head to New York later this year to explore its potential in the heartland of musical theatre.

For those who haven’t yet seen it and for those considering a repeat dose, what can they expect?

Driftwood The Musical tells the inspirational story of the renowned Austrian/Australian sculptor Karl Duldig and his artist inventor wife, Slawa Horowitz-Duldig. It follows their lives in

A compelling, true tale of survival

grandmother, Slawa Horowitz-Duldig, was a brilliant artist, entrepreneur and female pioneer, well ahead of her time. She and my grandfather, Karl, made enormous sacrifices and lost nearly everything. This story reminds us how important it is that we build bridges of understanding, not walls between diverse people and that we must never forget the lessons of history.

How much work has it taken to get to this point? When did you first come up with the idea?

pre-war Vienna, the family’s narrow escape from Nazi Austria, Slawa’s invention of the foldable umbrella and the incredible chain of events that took place after escaping the Holocaust and rebuilding their careers as artists in Melbourne.

What changes have you made to the script and why did you make them?

We have reworked the production and added some new songs, scenes and surprises. As the show has only had

one season, we decided that a period of creative development would be beneficial to get the work to the next level. Now it has even more tension and light and shade.

Why did you feel compelled to put your family story onto the stage?

The original memoir written by my mother Eva represents so many of our migrant stories of creativity, love, family, adversity, courage, hope, resilience and survival against all odds. My

When I first read Mum’s Memoir, titled Driftwood – Escape and Survival through Art, after the book launch in 2017, I could not believe how much of my family story I was unaware of. Being a performer and singer, I felt compelled to share the story with a broader audience via the medium of musical theatre. We then commissioned playwright Jane Bodie and composer Anthony Barnhill. It took five years (including COVID delays) to produce the world premiere season in 2022.

Driftwood The Musical will play at Chapel Off Chapel in Melbourne from 3rd to 21st May and at the Glen Street Theatre in Sydney from 24th to 28th May. It will then move to Riverside Parramatta from 31st May until 4th June, before the season ends at the Eternity Playhouse between 7th and 18th June.

You can book tickets at https://driftwoodthemusical.com.au

DRIFTWOOD THE MUSICAL

From left: Anton Berezin, Tania de Jong and Michaela Burger in Driftwood The Musical (photo by Cameron Grant, Parenthesy)