TELL May - July 2012 - Emanuel Synagogue
TELL May - July 2012 - Emanuel Synagogue
TELL May - July 2012 - Emanuel Synagogue
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Tell<br />
<strong>May</strong>-<strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
Iyar - Tammuz 5772<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Bumper 44 page edition<br />
Shavuot<br />
Dangerous<br />
Ideas<br />
Community<br />
News<br />
Redevelopment<br />
Artists in our<br />
midst<br />
Education<br />
Netzer<br />
UPJ in Poland
Rabbi Kamins<br />
More dangerous ideas<br />
2<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
As we celebrate Shavuot, “the rejoicing of the giving of Torah” with our Third Festival<br />
of Dangerous Ideas, we stand firmly within the tradition of our ancestors – for<br />
the Torah itself is a festival of dangerous ideas, mostly positive, albeit a few negative<br />
ones that provide grist to the mill of those who enjoy denigrating Scripture.<br />
Let us turn our attention to some of our ancestor’s most dangerous ideas taught<br />
in Torah. In all this reflection, we must remember that the Torah comes out of a<br />
context 3,000-4,000 years ago when except for the rich and powerful of the great<br />
empires, life was ratheå hard work for most.<br />
That the opening story of the Torah is the story of Creation is already a radical and<br />
dangerous idea. The Torah teaches that there is one God, the Creator of All. Our<br />
recitation of the Shema twice daily reflects a core dangerous idea of Torah: Hear<br />
you people of Israel, Being is our God, Being is One. (The name for God, which we pronounce Adonai in the<br />
Shema, is a form of the Hebrew word “to be”). The implications of Being = One are enormous, still not fully<br />
understood by humanity.<br />
While our ancestors did not fully grasp the implication of that teaching, the notion of human dignity is stated<br />
directly, “The human being is created in the image of God.” A thousand plus years later, our Sages said,<br />
“This teaches that whoever destroys one life is as if they had destroyed the entire Universe; no one can say<br />
my blood is redder than yours.” Two thousand years after our sages, we stand in the place where we can<br />
say this teaching applies to those whose dignity may not be fully protected by the Torah and the tradition:<br />
women, gays and lesbians, gentiles. Nevertheless, in its context, the Torah extends justice and compassion<br />
far further than other societies of its time, “you shall not oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in the<br />
land of Egypt” and “you shall have one standard of justice for citizen and stranger alike.”<br />
As part of the opening story of Creation in Torah comes an even more dangerous idea: the Shabbat.<br />
Imagine again the world in which the rich and the powerful may have many days off throughout the year,<br />
but the average human being works from dawn to dusk, day in and day out, much like a beast of burden,<br />
until the moment their use by date is up. Our ancestors introduced the idea of the week to humanity, a<br />
unit of time that cannot be measured by the moon or any astronomical event in and of itself, but requires<br />
the effort of human counting. (As evidenced in the names of the days of the week in Hebrew: day one, day<br />
two, day three, etc.) The seventh day is not a natural unit in time, but one that in and of itself expresses<br />
human intention.<br />
What our ancestors taught with that intention is even more extraordinary. One day out of seven every<br />
member of society is to stop and re-soul. As the teaching is phrased in the giving of the “ten commandments”<br />
(at the heart of the celebration of Shavuot): “Remember to make the day of Shabbat holy. Six days<br />
shall you labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Shabbat of Adonai your God; on it you shall<br />
not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your animals, or the stranger<br />
who is among you…” Today this idea remains revolutionary, especially in light of moves in Australia to turn<br />
all seven days of the week into times in which no business is closed and no bonus is paid for working weekends.<br />
Forget the minutiae of Shabbat observance – can you imagine your life with one day of seven where<br />
you just get to BE: to read, to sing, to eat and to drink, to rest, to walk, to love? That is Shabbat, and that is<br />
a dangerous idea.<br />
But there is more danger lurking in Torah – debts should be remitted, slaves should be freed, justice should<br />
be applied equally for rich and poor alike ….Yes, there is danger as well in the Torah’s demand for the death<br />
penalty for a series of crimes, including for perceived sexual transgression, but that is where we come into<br />
the story. For the Torah is not just a scroll that has been handed down through the generations for thousands<br />
of years, but also our living story.<br />
One of the most dangerous ideas of the Torah is that it is for each of us to learn from it and live by it.<br />
The teaching of God is “not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you
should say, ‘Who among us can go up to the heavens<br />
and get it for us and impart it to us, that we<br />
may observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that<br />
you should say, ‘Who among us can cross to the<br />
other side of the sea and get it for us and impart<br />
it to us, that we may observe it? No, the thing is<br />
very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart,<br />
to observe it.” The Torah encourages us to live by<br />
these teachings, countering those other passages<br />
that indicate that we are to kill by them as well.<br />
Which brings us to this year’s Festival of Dangerous<br />
Ideas. Torah, with its underlying and central presumption<br />
of the unity of God and the consequent<br />
idea of the sanctity of life, is the most dangerous<br />
“At <strong>Emanuel</strong>, we embrace<br />
the essence of Torah -<br />
challenging the status<br />
quo to enhance human<br />
dignity and sanctity.”<br />
idea of all, for it challenges us to think where we<br />
are failing as humans to unify and to sanctify. Over<br />
thousands of years, certain notions, under the<br />
weight of an experience of suffering, have crept<br />
into Judaism, and I would like to explore these<br />
years a few of those. This year my topics will be:<br />
“Arrogance and myopia: how the story of Jacob has<br />
been misread”; “Genocide and Judaism”; and once<br />
again, “Torah-latry: what happened to you shall<br />
have no other gods beside Me?” I look forward, as<br />
always, to learning with you and to growing <strong>Emanuel</strong><br />
<strong>Synagogue</strong> as a community where we embrace<br />
the essence of Torah - challenging the status quo to<br />
enhance human dignity and sanctity.<br />
The more questions that we ask with open hearts<br />
and minds and good intention, the more we stretch<br />
ourselves and give ourselves the opportunity to<br />
connect to the wisdom of our ancestors and transmit<br />
their beautiful core values and aspirations to<br />
our descendants.<br />
Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins<br />
The 72nd<br />
Annual General Meeting<br />
of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong><br />
will take place on<br />
Tuesday 29 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
at 7:30 pm, at<br />
7 Ocean St, Woollahra.<br />
All members<br />
of the congregation<br />
are invited to attend.<br />
By order of the board<br />
of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong>.<br />
N Elias<br />
Hon Secretary<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
3
Community Events www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Tu Bi’Shvat<br />
Abov<br />
Mimuna<br />
4<br />
Above: Tu Bi’Shvat Tree Meditation at Bronte Beach led by Orna Triguboff. Below: The end of Pesach<br />
Mimuna celebration coordinated by Anat Baruch, Ofer Hirsh and Sylvy Aviv, together with a great<br />
team of volunteers!
Rabbi Ninio<br />
A Gratitude Movement<br />
As I sit to write this article<br />
the strains of Dayenu are<br />
still ringing in my ears. I<br />
celebrated four sedarim<br />
and at each one we all<br />
sang a rousing chorus of<br />
“dayenu: it would have been<br />
enough.” But how many of<br />
us live our lives that way,<br />
thinking, “it would have<br />
been enough?” How many<br />
of us recognise the blessings in our lives and appreciate<br />
what we have? When do we say, “it is enough?” For the<br />
people who joined me at any of the sedarim this year, I<br />
asked them to participate in a moment of thanksgiving. I<br />
asked everyone to think about something in their life for<br />
which they were grateful. Unfortunately in our world, I<br />
do not think that we do this often enough, to stop and<br />
realize the incredible blessings in our lives, to, for just<br />
a moment, shift from looking at what is wrong, and<br />
consider what is right.<br />
I recently read an article which quoted research saying<br />
that we spend, on average, 45 minutes a week on<br />
regret. We beat ourselves up and chastise ourselves<br />
over things we did not do or things we did do. We look<br />
for the negatives and then dwell upon them. The top<br />
ten regrets included not saving enough money, not<br />
working harder at school, not exercising enough, not<br />
appreciating elderly relatives before they died, all very<br />
human, very real circumstances. (Mamamia March 6 th<br />
<strong>2012</strong>) And how can we be blamed for thinking this way?<br />
Advertising and media constantly remind us of what we<br />
don’t have, what we are missing, the ways we should<br />
change our lives and that message filters through to us<br />
by way of regret, we wish we had done things differently,<br />
had more, achieved more, that if we did, life may have<br />
turned out another way. But what if, instead of giving us<br />
the negative message, we were given the positive one?<br />
We were called upon to stop and recognise the blessings<br />
in our lives, the moments for which we are grateful, to<br />
see the good and then invited to share our thanksgiving<br />
and gratitude with those around us? We can spend too<br />
much time lamenting what we don’t have and perhaps<br />
not enough recognising the beautiful blessings, the gifts.<br />
And they do not have to be huge moments, in fact, it is<br />
perhaps the smaller ones which are sometimes the most<br />
significant.<br />
I was sent a YouTube video which opens with a man<br />
sitting on a piece of cardboard with a sign which reads “I<br />
am blind, please help.” The video pans away and we see<br />
people enjoying the day, some look at his sign and walk<br />
by, a few drop a coin or two into his tin.<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Then a young woman comes along and changes<br />
the sign. After this we see many more people stopping<br />
and placing money in his tin. The camera focuses again<br />
on the sign, it now reads, “it’s a beautiful day and I can’t<br />
see it.” Changing the sign caused people to stop and<br />
consider the blessing of being able to see a beautiful day.<br />
I have been reading about a new movement called the<br />
gratitude movement. They did a piece of research and<br />
asked a few hundred people to keep a diary. One group<br />
were asked to record what happened to them every<br />
day, another was asked to record only the negative<br />
experiences of their day, and the third group, to write<br />
about the things for which they were grateful in their day.<br />
Of the three groups, the one who wrote about gratitude<br />
were more alert, enthusiastic, optimistic, determined<br />
and energised. They had lower levels of stress, were<br />
more likely to exercise regularly and help others.<br />
“At the core of Judaism is gratitude”<br />
One of the founders of the gratitude movement claims<br />
that acknowledging blessings, appreciating the goodness<br />
in your life can lead to a stronger immune system and<br />
better relationships. But he cautions: “(it is) not to say<br />
that everything in our lives is necessarily great but it<br />
means that we are aware of our blessings.” And that is<br />
the key. Life is difficult, we all face challenges, struggles,<br />
disappointments, times of pain, suffering, loneliness and<br />
sadness, and being grateful does not ask that we negate<br />
those feelings, that we try and pretend that times of<br />
struggle are not happening, but rather, it challenges us<br />
to focus, just for a few minutes every day, on something<br />
which is positive in our lives. Sometimes that will be<br />
easy, other times it will be difficult, but just redirecting<br />
our thoughts, to be aware of our blessings, even in the<br />
midst of our struggle and pain, is incredibly powerful.<br />
Judaism is a gratitude movement. Although we joke<br />
that it is about suffering and guilt, in fact, at its core, is<br />
gratitude. There are so many opportunities built into our<br />
prayer services and the rhythm of Jewish life when we are<br />
encouraged to find and acknowledge our blessings. The<br />
daily prayer service, the bed-time shema, the Shabbat,<br />
all moments when we are called upon to focus on the<br />
goodness, to pause and be grateful. Judaism realises the<br />
importance for each of us, spiritually and psychologically,<br />
to see the positive in our situations, to really count our<br />
blessings.<br />
I will never forget an Oprah show I watched many years<br />
ago. Her guest was a single father whose wife had died.<br />
He had two children, both with severe intellectual and<br />
physical disabilities.<br />
5
Rabbi Ninio cont.<br />
He had to give up his career and life as he once knew it,<br />
to care for his children. The burden was incredibly heavy.<br />
Some days he wondered how he could continue. But,<br />
after the first weeks without his wife, spending his time<br />
drowning in grief and despair, he somehow decided he<br />
needed to move forward. Although there were so many<br />
challenges he faced, so many obstacles, he reminded<br />
himself of the blessing of his children, the souls within<br />
them and the beauty that they brought to his life. He<br />
was one of the most inspirational, positive people I have<br />
ever seen.<br />
Oprah asked him how he was able to be that way, how he<br />
was able to be so positive and continue day after day to<br />
cope with his situation. He answered that at first it was<br />
difficult, he struggled to find the light, but then he began<br />
writing a journal. He had a book for each child and at the<br />
end of every day he wrote down something about them<br />
which was special, some moment during the day when<br />
he felt blessed, something positive and good. He said<br />
that it helped to redirect his energy and his thoughts, he<br />
went to bed every evening with gratitude in his heart,<br />
surrounded by his blessings rather than his troubles. He<br />
discovered on his own what the research into gratitude<br />
has shown, what Judaism has always taught, the power<br />
of offering thanks, of pausing in the hectic lives we lead<br />
to focus on the good, and to see the positive.<br />
Whether that is the more obviously special moments;<br />
a lifecycle celebration, an achievement, an award, or<br />
the more everyday; the sunshine on our faces, the<br />
beauty of nature, a roof over our heads, food to eat,<br />
we all have something for which we can be grateful, I<br />
encourage everyone to join the gratitude movement<br />
we call Judaism, take a few moments every day to offer<br />
thanks and acknowledge the blessings around us, write a<br />
thankful journal, say a prayer, just stop, think and be and<br />
maybe then we can all see that “dayenu” what we have<br />
is more than enough.<br />
Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio<br />
6<br />
Applications now open–Opportunity Class Year 5, 2013<br />
The Opportunity Class (OC) provides a range of stimulating challenges<br />
across all key learning areas to engage academically gifted students.<br />
While students generally learn the same content as the rest of<br />
the grade, the curriculum is compacted for OC students as they<br />
are able to work at a faster pace. This provides gifted students with<br />
greater opportunities to explore a wider range of issues more deeply,<br />
encouraging higher order, analytical thinking as well as creativity.<br />
Information night: 24 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong> Applications close: 4 June <strong>2012</strong><br />
For further information please contact the Registrar on 8383 7333<br />
or registrar@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au<br />
A member of the JCA Family of Organisations<br />
Personalised Tallitot<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
What does a tallit made for Bat Mitzvah look like? Today<br />
this seems like an odd question to ask, but seven years<br />
ago when I wanted to make my own tallit for my ‘adult<br />
Bat Mitzvah’ there were less than a handful of women<br />
wearing them in my congregation.<br />
As my special day came closer I began searching for my<br />
tallit. I went to the local Judaica store. I looked online.<br />
Nothing I saw felt right, mostly it all looked too masculine<br />
– heavy bold<br />
patterns and<br />
materials. I began<br />
to understand that I<br />
needed something<br />
that would help me<br />
enter a prayerful<br />
state - a tallit that<br />
could reflect my<br />
spiritual yearnings<br />
and be feminine.<br />
Realising that<br />
I needed both<br />
spiritual and<br />
practical guidance<br />
I asked my Rabbi<br />
Jacqueline Ninio,<br />
her answer was<br />
simple, ‘You’re an<br />
artist, make your<br />
own!’<br />
‘Fine,’ I said,<br />
‘so what makes a<br />
tallit kosher?’ What<br />
I learnt is that we<br />
have tallit (Yiddish,<br />
tallis) to be able to<br />
fulfil the biblical<br />
commandment of<br />
wearing fringes<br />
which is one way<br />
of remembering HaShem’s commandments or mitzvoth<br />
(see Numbers 15, 38-9). The intention is to see the<br />
fringes and be reminded of the divine in our lives. A<br />
kosher tallit must be:<br />
• a rectangular garment that you can wrap yourself<br />
in;<br />
• made from any fabric as long as you don’t mix wool<br />
and linen - a commandment called ‘Sha’atnez’;<br />
• made with four corners of 90 degrees, and a collar<br />
called an Atarah (crown); and<br />
• Tzitzit (fringes) in the corners that are tied in a<br />
specific symbolic pattern depending on whether<br />
you are Ashkenazi or Sephardi.<br />
Since 2004, I have gone on to design and paint silk
Tallitot<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
tallitot for many young women in Australia, USA and Canada who are inspired by our traditions. They see it as public<br />
expression of achieving their Bat Mitzvah. When I asked Madelaine and Ella Faigen about the tallitot I made for them<br />
they said that after meeting with me to discuss their favourite colours and important personal symbolism, they felt<br />
special and individual.<br />
Each sister’s designs were unique to them. In Madelaine’s, I incorporated butterflies and the significance of Jacob’s coat<br />
of many colours from her parsha. A few years later, when it was Ella’s turn her choice was to have bluebirds and oriental<br />
lilies, the result was very delicate and elegant.<br />
Elizabeth Baral (opposite), whose Bat Mitzvah was last year, has commented: “I love the fact that my tallis has been<br />
personalised and that I had a choice and input in the design and colours. It is<br />
a material memory of my Bat-Mitzvah as I received it as a present and I chose<br />
my favourite colours. They go with the dress I wore on the day. I like the way<br />
the pastel shades suit the swirly pattern and give my tallis an appropriately<br />
feminine feeling. Although I chose these colours and designs, I like to consider<br />
my tallis as fairly traditional giving me another link to my heritage and culture.”<br />
Elizabeth’s tallit incorporates traditional tallit stripes and free-flowing spirals.<br />
The spiral is one of the oldest and most enigmatic sacred images known. It<br />
seems to have a universal appeal, a mysterious resonance with our human<br />
psyche. It is among the earliest examples of human creative expression, first<br />
appearing some 24,000 years ago when it was found decorating statuettes of<br />
the Mother Goddess. This suggests some kind of connection to the mysterious<br />
and miraculous process of life which is embodied in the feminine. As millennia<br />
passed, this image found its way into spiritual designs of nearly every society in<br />
the ancient world.<br />
The custom of the tallit stripes is a way of commemorating the Torah<br />
commandment, “to attach one blue thread to the Tzitzit”. The blue colour,<br />
“Techelet”, was made from the fluid of a sea creature called the “Chilazon”. The<br />
secret of techelet was lost to us when the Jewish dyers went underground after the Romans (who conquered Israel in<br />
63 BCE) seized control of its usage. Techelet is now available again. Elizabeth chose greens and purples as her colours.<br />
These have traditionally been associated with new beginnings and royalty. They also happen to be colours used by the<br />
suffragette women who fought for equal rights and the vote for women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries!<br />
Alexandra <strong>May</strong>bloom’s tallit design was based on her love of African animals, many of which occur in the Torah. The<br />
design included zebra, giraffe, white oryx, lion and elephant.<br />
The white oryx, in particular, is a biblical animal referred to in<br />
the Torah. It has been linked with the mythical unicorn, and<br />
is used as a metaphor to represent great strength, agility, and<br />
majestic bearing (see Numbers 23:22). The zebra’s distinctive<br />
stripes serves as protective camouflage against predators who<br />
are often unable to pick an individual out from the herd. For<br />
herd members, the stripe patterns, unique to each zebra, have<br />
the opposite effect of helping to identify individual zebras.<br />
Thus the spiritual meaning of the stripes has been linked with<br />
the integration of opposites. This symbolism is a message of<br />
maintaining individuality in group settings and being supportive<br />
members of our communities. The Hebrew text that is appliquéd<br />
as a ‘stripe’ brings the symbolism of your tallit together in a<br />
unified thought – it is taken from Psalm 19 and translates as<br />
‘The heavens declare the glory of G-d; the arch of the sky reveals G-d’s handiwork.’<br />
I am thrilled to know that so many young women are proudly connecting with the mitzvah of tzitzit in a uniquely<br />
feminine way through my efforts. For more information about tallit please see my website www.houseofrose.com.au<br />
Larraine J Larri<br />
7
Portrait<br />
Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man*<br />
Your eyes are lidded in prayer, old man.<br />
You embrace the song like a man embraces his<br />
wife, tenderly, with the want, the need, written all over<br />
your face. A woman loves this sort of humility.<br />
You embrace the song like a man who rises at<br />
dawn, cocoons himself in his tallit with its blue-threaded<br />
tzitziyot, and cries out for help. The Holy One, blessed be<br />
He, loves this sort of humility.<br />
You embrace the song like a man who lies down at<br />
night and sings his Shema, in the face of his bewilderment<br />
and failures. Life loves this sort of humility.<br />
The Presence comes down.<br />
All the people feel it.<br />
Your head is covered, and your eyes are lidded in<br />
prayer, old man.<br />
I saw you. I saw you standing on the beach,<br />
watching them build. I saw you waving your arms<br />
frantically, but they wouldn’t listen. They built a wooden<br />
tower of exotic shape, Semitic, Greek, Roman. He did not<br />
fit it, so they cut off his manhood and threw it into the<br />
sea. They cut off his Jewish body, and made him into a<br />
god’s head. They made themselves into a god’s body. He<br />
raged, stricken with grief.<br />
And Suzanne goes on making her cups of pretend<br />
tea while the oranges fade in her hand.<br />
The river is frozen solid, yet still his tears are warm.<br />
And the children leaning out for love<br />
Are ravished without mercy.<br />
The Presence has fled.<br />
<strong>May</strong>be I’ll include razor blades when I sell the<br />
story.<br />
But it could have a happy ending. As Buber says,<br />
maybe one day we’ll be brought in from the exiles of<br />
the religions. <strong>May</strong>be one day we’ll all come in from the<br />
cold. It looks wintry out, the clouds lie low. Have another<br />
peach.<br />
You know, I’m beginning to understand that you<br />
can’t have G-d without reality. You can’t make reality<br />
up. You have to deal with the actual, or you’re embracing<br />
self-deception, you’re kissing the hem of evil. My<br />
Catholic upbringing made the metaphysical world realer<br />
than real. The flesh and blood world was little more<br />
than a shadow. Parmenides and Plato reclined on their<br />
heavenly couch, overlooking all things. Down there, in<br />
the City of Man, it didn’t matter if you killed a Jew, or<br />
screwed a child. Three Hail Marys: she’ll be sweet. We<br />
were on the way to perfection; the ideal, and only the<br />
ideal, shimmered in our sights.<br />
A nice, buttery, melt-in-the-mouth, crispy-on-theoutside<br />
croissant for me. You too? Every woman has<br />
something to get off her chest. If you listen up, and wash<br />
the dishes, we’ll play.<br />
I am a lioness with your balls between my teeth.<br />
8<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Answer me this question and I won’t eat you up. How do<br />
you tell the difference between a real pearl and a fake<br />
one?<br />
You don’t know? I’m afraid it’s all over for you.<br />
Rrooouuwlll!!<br />
Oh, but you, you in your animal skin, you are the<br />
most wild thing of all. You have the South Sea Island<br />
pearl between my breasts between your teeth. Do you<br />
feel the gravel? A fake pearl feels smooth between the<br />
teeth.<br />
I sold my grass-green field, and all I had.<br />
I left beloved friends behind.<br />
Come, let’s get dressed, my muffler please, and<br />
walk. To be a Jew is to be the gravel, to see things, and<br />
deal with them, as they are. And talk about them, and<br />
irritate everyone. The voice helps. Life is all. It is all he has<br />
given us. The wind slices me into you. Let’s slip between<br />
the gingham curtains.<br />
Steaming coffee fills our nostrils like frankincense,<br />
while we sit here, in the café naked to each other; you, in<br />
your white flannel trousers; me, my arms wrapped about<br />
my shawl. Is that why the Presence is here? Because we<br />
are naked, I mean. I’ve been thinking, Leonard, that the<br />
Name is the ultimate reality, and that’s your allure. You<br />
deal the real. In the other place, they bake it, shake, it,<br />
make it, fake it.<br />
But you and I are here, where the wild things are. I<br />
smell mocha on your tongue and lust in every pore.<br />
If you don’t desire me, the very stones will cry out.<br />
Do you ever stand beneath a tree and look up to<br />
see its limbs spread in ecstasy, Elcohen, Eldushka? Only<br />
the sky gets to see. Ghost gums do it here, and maples<br />
on the forty-ninth parallel.<br />
The carnal Jews. The perfidious Jews.<br />
I’ll be a carnal Jew for you. I’ll be an inter-breeder.<br />
For you<br />
I will be a ghetto Jew<br />
and dance<br />
and put white stockings<br />
on my twisted limbs<br />
and poison wells<br />
across the town<br />
For you<br />
I will be a Dachau Jew<br />
and lie down in lime<br />
with twisted limbs<br />
and bloated pain<br />
* This prose poem weaves its way through this edition of<br />
<strong>TELL</strong>. Written by one of our members, we share it with you<br />
in celebration of dangerous ideas, and of the remarkable<br />
creativity found amongst those who make up our community.<br />
The portrait is (in part) of a particularly famous Jewish artist.<br />
See if you can work out who it is before you get to the end of<br />
the piece.
Portrait<br />
no mind can understand<br />
Come, lie beneath the pecan tree<br />
Come lie with me<br />
Come let the blossoms fall<br />
As we lie beneath the pecan tree.<br />
Our skin receives the petals all<br />
Come you, come me<br />
Beneath the lovely pecan tree.<br />
I smell your sweat. I touch your arm, slippery<br />
with the olive. You take him on. For a Jew there is no<br />
genuflecting, no salaaming; somehow or other, he<br />
has made you his equal. You defend the people, the<br />
loved and the loveless, like any prophet-guy would.<br />
Wrestling partners, stripped, circling warily. With his<br />
own compassion in your heart, you throw him to the<br />
ground, your hands slipping on his oiled arms; your<br />
weight is all you have against his strength. You hold him<br />
down and look him in the eye, man to man. Of course, he<br />
has brought you up that way. To challenge him. To resist<br />
authority.<br />
You’re smiling at me. Yes, I know I am using the<br />
male pronoun and the male god-idea. It is for literary<br />
smoothness. Be good enough to recognize the bias. For<br />
instance, it is always Neanderthal man. We of the West<br />
are descended from Neanderthal man. Who has ever<br />
heard of Neanderthal woman? Neanderthal woman<br />
covered the steppes of Russia in the Paleolithic Age. Have<br />
you ever fantasized about a Neanderthal woman?<br />
The Catholic dogma of my upbringing asserts that<br />
all three persons in the one god are male. The creative<br />
force unaided by any female principle! Let’s call it the<br />
Hairy God Fallacy. The thatch is slightly mitigated in the<br />
Eastern churches; they marry, and allow for a somewhat<br />
feminine Holy Ghost.<br />
The female being is your ikon. It takes you into the<br />
Presence. Old Rabbi Akiva said that the Shekhinah comes<br />
down in two instances: when a man studies Torah, and<br />
when he embraces his wife. My long hair cocoons you<br />
in your skin. Shall I anoint your feet, and dry them with<br />
my mermaid’s tresses before you drown? Is that what<br />
happened to the Galilean? At that moment did he drown<br />
in ecstasy?<br />
Flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone!<br />
He made them in His image.<br />
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One!<br />
You and me on the unmade bed. Your fingertips<br />
on my skin speak of shipwreck and screwing up, of pain<br />
and falling darkness. With each caress, from me to you,<br />
from you to me, the depression lifts. You are absolved in<br />
the blessedness of my understanding. I get you.<br />
Do you get me? I fled from Rome and unreality<br />
(my Iraqi friend, Murshid, calls me a new Jew). I fled<br />
from the seven veils of silence. Belief and silence and<br />
obedience and not looking and not listening and having<br />
every mercy on yourself and no mercy on the mummies<br />
and daddies of the little sacrificial lambs, pray for us, is<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
the Roman litany against a collision with the actual. The<br />
veil of the temple must never be rent.<br />
I suspended belief. I was found after wandering<br />
the desert for forty years. The G-d of Israel happened to<br />
be passing. He beckoned. Abraham Heschel and Martin<br />
Buber and Professor Vermes took me in, then and there.<br />
They folded me in their flowing garments, and from their<br />
souls flowed honey and milk, dilating my parched heart;<br />
their skin was warm, and the hairs on their arms smelt of<br />
resins and myrrh.<br />
I loved them with the love of Ruth for Naomi.<br />
Your people will be my people, and your G-d will<br />
be my G-d too.<br />
So look into my Jewish woman’s eyes and see me.<br />
Hold my breasts in your palms as the pomegranates<br />
ripen. Smell the fig and the mandrake, come into my<br />
garden.<br />
With each caress, from you to me, from me to<br />
you, the fear lifts. I am absolved in the bliss of your<br />
understanding. You get me. A thousand kisses deep.<br />
You sat beneath the Holy Tree<br />
While Buddha’s words flowed over thee<br />
Came forth from cave and sky and sea<br />
I saw you then, you looked at me.<br />
I saw a man, old as the sun<br />
His face serene,<br />
His race well run.<br />
I want your sort<br />
Ancient, full<br />
You show me how to be and be.<br />
You hold a stick,<br />
And strum some strings<br />
They come to see<br />
They come to hear and be with thee<br />
To join your shul<br />
And join the one<br />
Who hums and hums<br />
Who eats a fig<br />
And lies in peace<br />
Knowing all, and knowing least.<br />
Humming beneath the Holy Tree.<br />
Beneath the holy pecan tree.<br />
Your little shul<br />
Attracts them now,<br />
Abandon church and holy cow<br />
No longer sacrifice the son, they come<br />
From Book of Common Prayer<br />
To deeper meaning, from despair.<br />
You say you know the least of all<br />
As petals fall, as petals fall<br />
There is no meaning, anyhow<br />
You show the way, but don’t know how.<br />
Continued on page 30.<br />
9
Rabbi Triguboff<br />
The Omer Period and Personal Refinement<br />
What is the Omer?<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
For thousands of years it has been part of Jewish practice to count the 49 days from the<br />
second day of Pesach to the day before the festival of Shavuot. It is a commandment that<br />
comes from the Torah – Leviticus 23:15 “You shall count…from the day that you brought the<br />
omer as a wave offering…” An omer is a measure of about 1.5 kg. The Israelites brought an<br />
omer of barley as an afternoon sacrifice on the second day of Pesach and after that counted<br />
49 days till Shavuot – a time of harvest. Shavuot is also celebrated as the day of the receiving<br />
of the Torah on Mt. Sinai.<br />
Even after the destruction of the Second Temple, when barley was no longer brought<br />
as a sacrifice, the counting of the Omer continued. Each evening after sunset from the<br />
second day of Pesach a blessing is said to mark the progression of days throught out the<br />
Omer period. This has the effect of linking the festivals of Pesach and Shavuot, it gives a<br />
sense of anticipation to Shavuot, and an opportunity for self reflection. Symbolically, we<br />
move from slavery to physical freedom on Pesach and seven weeks later we receive the possibility of spiritiual freedom<br />
- via the giving of the Torah - on Shavuot.<br />
The Omer – a daily spiritual practice<br />
In the 16 th century in the city of Tsfat, in the Galilee, the Omer period was given a new dimension of religious/spiritual<br />
practice. Each day of the Omer was seen as being connected to a different aspect of a person’s character. And each day<br />
of the Omer was seen as an opportunity for self-improvement.<br />
According to this Kabbalistic practice, each week is dedicated to a particular attribute: compassion, strength, love,<br />
endurance, humility, bonding, leadership. The names for the seven attributes are derived from a verse in the Tanach and<br />
each one describes an aspect of the personality that can be improved and refined during the Omer. These attributes are<br />
connected to the holy spark within each person. With each week it is hoped that there is a level of self-refinement that<br />
will allow us to “receiving the Torah” on Shavuot in a new way each year.<br />
In the following few paragraphs there are some suggestions for daily awareness practices for the Omer. Of course<br />
there are plenty of other ideas that will be sparked by these. As each person is unique, their journey through the Omer<br />
is unique.<br />
Chesed – Compassion and Loving kindness - Week 1 of the Omer till sunset, 14 April<br />
During this week one can reflect on the aspect of compassion in one’s life. During the day there is an invitation to notice<br />
when you feel compassion, when people act with kindness towards you, in which situations it is harder for you to feel<br />
compassion…are there times of the day when compassion is easier to feel?<br />
Symbols connected to the aspect of chesed are:<br />
The colour white, the angel Michael, the qualities of: opening, giving, generosity and empathy.<br />
Gevurah – Strength and justice - Week 2 of the Omer – till sunset, 21 April<br />
Each quality is more than just one word. Some associations traditionally given to Gevurah are: the colour red, the angel<br />
Gavriel, the qualities of: strength, courage, restraint, discernment, boundary setting and a sense of social justice.<br />
During this week one could notice when issues concerning boundaries arise. Also you could notice situations<br />
when courage and strength are needed and how you react to those situations. In the spirit of Gevurah you might decide<br />
to tidy a messy drawer during this week!<br />
Tiferet – Beauty and Love - Week 3 of the Omer – till sunset, 28 April<br />
Symbols associated with Tiferet are the colour green, the symbol of the Star of David, the angel Uriel, the qualities of<br />
beauty, love, open-heartedness. Tiferet is a balance of Chesed and Gevurah so it is connected to the ability to balance<br />
giving and receiving in one’s life. During this week you might choose to notice the flow of giving and receiving that takes<br />
place on many levels with each activity to do.<br />
Netsach – Endurance - Week 4 of the Omer – till sunset, 5 <strong>May</strong><br />
The qualities connected to Netsach are the ability to persevere, optimism and ambition. During this week one might<br />
sit down and write one’s ambitions – short term, mid term and long term. This is an exercise that helps see one’s life in<br />
perspective. You might explore which things in your life enhance your vitality and which drain you. Notice each time you<br />
feel optimistic and be aware of how it feel as well as what you are optimistic about.<br />
Hod – Humility and Splendour - Week 5 of the Omer – till sunset, 12 <strong>May</strong><br />
The quality of Hod is often connected to Aharon the High Priest. It is the part of each person that is able to set the Ego<br />
aside and feel humility and connection. This quality is also connected to sacrifice. During this week you might choose to<br />
notice when you do things for others – a sacrifice of sorts. During the week notice when you are humble and when you<br />
are not.<br />
10
Rabbi Triguboff<br />
Yesod – Foundation and Bonding - Week 6 of the<br />
Omer – till sunset 19 <strong>May</strong><br />
Yesod has many associations – it literally means<br />
foundation, thus it is a good time to look at one’s<br />
foundations in one’s life. It is a good time to ask oneself<br />
what are the things that are REALLY important to me?<br />
What are my core values, my foundation? Yesod is also<br />
the quality of bonding and thus it is a week of noticing<br />
our connection with others – with family, friends, work<br />
associates and community. As you go through the week,<br />
notice your connections with different people and<br />
groups. What does each connection give you and what<br />
do you give?<br />
Malchut – Leadership - Week 7 of the Omer – till<br />
sunset 26 <strong>May</strong><br />
The last week of the Omer is dedicated to the quality of<br />
Malchut-kingdom or leadership. It is a week of exploring<br />
your role as a leader and how you relate to authority<br />
in your life in the various situations you come to. As<br />
your week unfolds notice which situations call on your<br />
leadership skills and how you react. This quality is also<br />
called Shekhinah – divine presence and so it is a week<br />
during which you are invited to notice holiness in yourself<br />
and in your environment.<br />
Journalling and meditation<br />
Besides using the Omer as an opportunity for daily<br />
awareness practice one might choose to journal one’s<br />
experience each day before saying the blessing for the<br />
next day of the Omer. Sitting in quiet meditation as part<br />
of the Omer practice is also beneficial.<br />
Friendship<br />
The other aspect of the Omer practice is to find a<br />
spiritual friend who is also engaged in this process.<br />
It is like a traditional “yeshiva chevruta” or “learning<br />
partner” however in this case there is a weekly sharing<br />
about the quality of the week rather than discussing a<br />
Talmudic legal issue. The idea is to share, once a week,<br />
your Omer process and listen to the experiences of your<br />
chevruta. (the term chevruta comes from the Hebrew<br />
chaver, meaning ‘friend’.)<br />
Courses on the Omer<br />
There are many resources that will help you make this<br />
period a fruitful one. You can find information on Rabbi<br />
Simon Jacobson’s website – “Towards a Meaningful Life”.<br />
Also, here at <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> we offer an electronic<br />
course throughout the 7 weeks. Each week you can<br />
receive an email with guidelines for meditation and<br />
things to be aware of during the course of your daily<br />
activities connected to the “quality of the week”. If you<br />
would like to be part of the course, please email info@<br />
emanuel.org.au<br />
Rabbi Orna Triguboff<br />
Wednesday<br />
evenings<br />
7:30 pm<br />
&<br />
Thursday<br />
mornings<br />
8:00 am<br />
during school<br />
term<br />
Neuweg<br />
Cost: Cost:$25 $20<br />
<strong>Emanuel</strong><br />
Members:$15<br />
Members: $20<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
All<br />
welcome<br />
Using the Tree<br />
of Life, gently<br />
heal & grow in<br />
a Jewish<br />
framework,<br />
opening to<br />
peace, clarity<br />
and joy.<br />
Draw<br />
on weekly<br />
Torah parsha<br />
for spiritual<br />
development.<br />
Facilitator:<br />
Sue Beecher<br />
psychologist, social worker,<br />
lecturer,<br />
author, meditation teacher.<br />
Enquiries 0405 241 710<br />
11
Obituary<br />
12<br />
Shimon Magil (1944-<strong>2012</strong>)<br />
Shimon Ya’akov ben Avraham v’Sarah<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Shimon Jacob Magil was born on the 9 th of August 1944 in Sydney, the eighth of nine children born to Philomena and<br />
Jack Magil. With six years elapsing between Shimon’s birth and the birth of his younger sister Christine, Shimon’s<br />
mother had some extra time to care for him as a baby and look after him. This was no easy feat for her. As a homemaker,<br />
looking after nine children in the post-depression era, resources and time were scarce. Philomena used the little<br />
money that she had to insure that all of her children were well nourished and educated in Catholic schools. She was<br />
unbelievable in the amount of preparation that she went to for her family. Before attending mass on a Sunday, she<br />
would make ice cream, bake two cakes and prepare a Sunday roast – enough food to feed her family and any other<br />
person in the community who happened to be in need.<br />
It might be said that the care that Shimon received from his mother<br />
went a long way toward shaping the Shimon that many of us came to know<br />
and love. From an early age, Shimon had a special ability with regards to<br />
caring for other people. Within a few minutes of talking with him, people<br />
would be able to open up. He would listen to their stories, and respond to<br />
their needs attentively and selflessly.<br />
But it took Shimon a little bit of time to find himself and to align<br />
himself with his soul’s journey through life. Over time, Shimon held many<br />
positions in a variety of fields. He studied law at university and as an<br />
associate of the Department of Main Roads, Shimon worked on a number<br />
of projects pertaining to the legalities of the cuttings of the expressways.<br />
He even worked at Grace Brothers for a period of time where everyone who<br />
worked with him loved him. And he joined Qantas, where he served as a<br />
flight attendant for fifteen years. When he retired as a steward, he had, in<br />
his own words, “walked to London one thousand times.” But it wasn’t so<br />
much the length of the flights as the nature of the work that inspired him<br />
to change career paths. He had become so good at his profession that he<br />
had moved into serving first class customers. Because of the level of care<br />
and customer service that he was providing to what he regarded as “self-obsessed customers,” Shimon came to the<br />
realisation that he should go and genuinely help people in need.<br />
Leaving Qantas, Shimon pursued a career in nursing and also studied social work. He participated in some courses in<br />
Katoomba and in Sydney Tech in order to earn his qualifications and he demonstrated an inspirational commitment<br />
to his work, including an internship placement at the Burger Centre. Ultimately, Shimon’s training as a nurse helped<br />
prepare him to become <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong>’s Director of Pastoral Care. He never knew that Pastoral Care was a field<br />
that he was interested in, but such a development was a natural progression.<br />
It had taken Shimon some time to carve his own religious identity. He had always held incredible faith in God. Growing<br />
up as a Catholic he was always a seeker and a searcher, but he eventually came to find a home in the Jewish community.<br />
His first exposure to the Jewish community came through David Cross, a well-respected Melbourne barrister, who was<br />
Shimon’s partner for ten years, and whom Shimon would later nurse when David was terminally ill. A Holocaust survivor<br />
living in the same block as David, coupled with a trip to Europe where Shimon visited a concentration camp, sparked<br />
Shimon’s interest in both the Holocaust and the Jewish community. He studied in the Melton programme, participated<br />
in a tour of Israel, and learned about Jewish tradition at both <strong>Emanuel</strong> and The Great <strong>Synagogue</strong>, eventually converting<br />
to Judaism through <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong>.<br />
Shimon had never been happier and had finally reached some peace with himself. He practiced Judaism admirably,<br />
joining us for our weekday morning minyan and attending Shabbat services regularly, always wanting to learn more<br />
about the sacred traditions of our people. He loved reading Psalms, and in the later stages of his own terminal illness,<br />
it was the words of Psalms that brought him great comfort.<br />
Shimon’s Jewish identity and the obligations of his faith informed his practice first as a nurse and later as a pastoral<br />
caregiver. Shimon was a caring person who simply felt that he needed to give back to others. He displayed considerable<br />
empathy with people both older and younger than himself and would look after them with great kindness and love.
Obituary<br />
He was never interested in talking about himself. He<br />
just wanted to listen – to find out, in great depth, about<br />
another person’s story. Immaculately presented in his<br />
crisp, white shirt and tie, he looked very professional.<br />
Shimon took great pride in his work, representing<br />
the <strong>Synagogue</strong> to so many hospital patients and their<br />
families.<br />
By listening to patients and comforting them, and<br />
supporting families in moments of crisis, Shimon left<br />
an indelibly positive impression on so many people.<br />
Day after day he just wanted to go to the hospital and<br />
do what he believed to be important. In this way, as a<br />
gentle, humble and incredibly gifted listener, Shimon<br />
was able to care for others selflessly. A person could be<br />
in dire straits at one moment, and Shimon would offer<br />
them his presence, an opportunity to open up, to share<br />
their feelings. He was the right person, in the right place,<br />
at the right time.<br />
As Shimon endured his final illness, the evidence<br />
of his deep-seated faith shone forward. Many times, he<br />
would simply respond to an enquiry about his health by<br />
saying, Baruch Hashem, “Blessed is God’s name,” or “God<br />
is great.” It would be easy to take such a comment as a<br />
sign of resignation, but for Shimon, these words were a<br />
heartfelt belief. His experience in hospitals and hospices<br />
informed his own wishes – to die at home, surrounded by<br />
loved ones. Because he was so clear in what he wanted,<br />
his final days were filled with love, respect, dignity, and<br />
the presence of so many people who came to Shimon’s<br />
home to say goodbye.<br />
James supported Shimon lovingly – in many of<br />
the same ways that Shimon had cared for David, and<br />
countless others selflessly. James said that what he<br />
learned from Shimon was that life is not about putting<br />
ourselves forward, it is about putting the needs of other<br />
people in front of our own. His relationship with Shimon<br />
taught him how to love and care for other people – an<br />
incredibly beautiful sentiment.<br />
We recall the words of Psalm 73, “Yet I am always<br />
with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide<br />
me with your counsel and afterward you will take me<br />
into glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And the<br />
earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and<br />
my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart<br />
and my portion forever” (73:23-26). God was truly the<br />
strength of Shimon’s life, and he shared that strength<br />
with every person who had the honour and privilege of<br />
knowing him. We will miss the warmth of his presence,<br />
the playfulness of his personality, and most especially,<br />
the seemingly endless fountain of selfless love that<br />
emanated from every fibre of his being. Zeicher tzaddik<br />
livracha, may the memory of the righteous truly be for a<br />
blessing.<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Return to a lost world with an evening of authentic 1930’s<br />
nostalgia in<br />
THIS IS OUR LAST<br />
SUNDAY<br />
20 elegant pre-war Polish-Jewish tangos, foxtrots and waltzes<br />
performed by 10 piece orchestra<br />
ADRIA NOSTALGIA<br />
with solo soprano<br />
MAYA KEDZIORA<br />
“This is ideally performed with the soul of the times and the style of an older and<br />
better world before 1939” - Tomasz Lerski<br />
“This is super!!!”<br />
Jerzy Petersburski Jr.<br />
Venue: Music Workshop<br />
Sydney Conservatorium of Music<br />
Time: 7:30pm – Date: Saturday 9 th June <strong>2012</strong><br />
Tickets: $36.90/$31.90 Concession<br />
Limited seating!<br />
Book now on 1300 306 776 or visit<br />
www.mca-tix.com.au<br />
www.adrianostalgia.com.au<br />
13
Redevelopment<br />
Statement from the Board of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> - 22 March <strong>2012</strong> / 27 Adar 5772<br />
14<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
In 2010 <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> obtained development consent for a major redevelopment of our Woollahra site,<br />
including the creation of a new second sanctuary, preschool, education spaces, and an administration and office<br />
building, all surrounded by beautiful and flexible outdoor spaces. The <strong>Synagogue</strong> launched the fundraising for this<br />
project at the 2011 High Holy Days, which consists of tax deductible donations and “seat sales”. The community has<br />
responded generously so far. We are thrilled to announce that we are more than half way to our target.<br />
The main sanctuary is not being replaced or extensively renovated. However new, comfortable, seats have<br />
been selected, ordered and will be in place for the High Holy Days this year. Seats are available for purchase, and<br />
current seatholders have priority until 31 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong>. Membership fees are unaffected by the decision about whether<br />
to purchase seats. There will be plenty of unallocated seating for all members attending the High Holy Days.<br />
Contingent on continued strong support from all members in the next few months, the board has decided to<br />
commence retaining the professional consultants and contractors necessary to head towards commencement of<br />
construction in early 2013. The board wishes to emphasise that each step of the way will be subject to available funds,<br />
so we reiterate that the decision to proceed will be reviewed regularly and the project remains dependent on that<br />
continued support.<br />
The first phase of the redevelopment will affect the rear of the site, including demolition of parts of the Preschool.<br />
It is expected that the construction will take at least 12 months. During the construction period the Preschool and its<br />
staff will continue to provide its superb educational programme to our children. The <strong>Synagogue</strong> and the Preschool<br />
stand as one to achieve this outcome and have been working together to ensure the best possible outcome for the<br />
Preschool during the construction period and beyond. The Preschool will continue to operate on the synagogue site (in<br />
a portion which will not be affected by this first phase of the construction) during the construction period. It is intended<br />
that the main sanctuary and the Neuweg sanctuary, as well as the office, will also continue to operate as usual during<br />
the first phase of construction.<br />
Any questions should be addressed to board members or to Sam Zwarenstein or Natalie Levy at the <strong>Synagogue</strong><br />
office on 9328 7833, or at redevelopment@emanuel.org.au. Questions about the preschool should be addressed by<br />
email to Keren Miller, President of the Board of <strong>Emanuel</strong> Woollahra Preschool, care of kerenmiller@gmail.com
Redevelopment<br />
From the President<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
We are very excited about the building project. We are more than half way to our<br />
target, but we really need everyone to be involved to guarantee success. Our children and<br />
grandchildren will be the beneficiaries.<br />
We hope that members will be interested in learning more about the project and what<br />
stage we are up to in both fundraising and building planning. We have set aside a number<br />
of weekday and weekend times in <strong>May</strong> when we will provide further<br />
details and you can ask questions to determine how you would like<br />
to support this endeavour. In <strong>Emanuel</strong> style, we are not having one<br />
extravagant fundraising function, but simple gatherings in congregant’s<br />
homes or in our boardroom.<br />
Part of the fundraising that will be required to transform the<br />
campus will involve the allocation of some new seats, in both the existing sanctuary and the<br />
one to be built. We are asking members to consider pledges to be met either upfront or over<br />
the next three or five years. As part of the egalitarian ethos of the synagogue, no more than<br />
half the new seats in each sanctuary will be allocated, and seats will generally be allocated on<br />
a 2 rows on, 2 rows off basis.<br />
If you do not choose to take this opportunity, there will be room for everyone in the<br />
expanded facilities. Membership fees will be unaffected as the entire development will be<br />
funded from donations. If every one of our 1500 member families gave $20 a week (equivalent<br />
to a coffee a day) for 5 years ($1000 pa), we would exceed our target.<br />
The seats for the current main sanctuary have been ordered and will be installed by the High Holy Days this year.<br />
Current seatholders have priority to purchase seats close to their present location, until 31 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Rabbi Kamins and a board member will be holding information sessions every<br />
Thursday in <strong>May</strong> in the boardroom at 6:00 -7:00pm. In addition, the following dates<br />
and times are also available (sessions lasting no more than 1½ hours).<br />
Sunday 6 <strong>May</strong> at 3.00 pm or 6.00pm<br />
Monday 7 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong> at 7.30pm<br />
Sunday 13 <strong>May</strong> at 5.00pm<br />
Monday 14 <strong>May</strong> at 7.30pm<br />
Monday 21 <strong>May</strong> at 7.30pm<br />
Tuesday 22 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong> at 12.00pm and 7:30pm<br />
We look forward to discussing these matters with you over the next few months and<br />
we hope you will email: redevelopment@emanuel.org.au or call the office on<br />
9328 7833 and select one of the times above so we can meet with you in person and<br />
discuss this once in a generation undertaking. When you contact the office we will<br />
notify you of the venue of the information session. Alternatively if you prefer, the office can post you a pledge form<br />
and/or provide details of the cost of the seats and payment options.<br />
The tax deductibility of donations, and the prices of seats, are fixed until 30 June <strong>2012</strong>. Please help us close<br />
the campaign at the High Holy Days and get the building underway in early 2013.<br />
15
Redevelopment www.emanuel.org.au<br />
16<br />
All members are invited to<br />
drop into the boardroom on<br />
Thursdays in <strong>May</strong> and June<br />
from 6:00 - 7:00pm to hear<br />
about the redevelopment –<br />
how we are going, where are<br />
we up to, what is happening.<br />
Rabbi Kamins and Board<br />
members will be there to<br />
explain the project and<br />
answer all your questions.
Redevelopment<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Our new seats are coming....<br />
Buy a few old ones<br />
and feel like you have<br />
a synagogue at home!<br />
Please phone the office<br />
for more information.<br />
so it’s time for a sale!<br />
To prepare for the arrival and installation of our brand new seats in the Main<br />
Sanctuary, <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> is selling the pews that were installed in the<br />
sanctuary in the 1940’s, when the <strong>Synagogue</strong> was built (in the downstairs<br />
section), as well as the pews that were installed when the upstairs section<br />
was built. These pews are made of solid wood (Light Maple), and carry<br />
virtually all of the <strong>Synagogue</strong>’s history with them.<br />
There are two categories of pew lengths, shorter pews (around 3.8m), and<br />
longer pews (around 7.8m). Shorter pews will be sold for $200, longer pews<br />
for $250.<br />
Pews will be made available to the following entities in the order they appear<br />
below:<br />
• Current <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> congregants (from 1 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - with<br />
exclusivity until 31 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong>)<br />
• Other UPJ congregations (from 1 June <strong>2012</strong>)<br />
• Other communities - synagogues, churches, etc. (from 20 June <strong>2012</strong>)<br />
The pews will be sold on the following basis:<br />
• Payment must be made before collection. Pews are sold on a firstcome,<br />
first-served basis, and are only reserved for that buyer once<br />
payment is made in full.<br />
• Pews are sold as is, no returns.<br />
Buyers can inspect the pews on site before committing to a purchase.<br />
Viewing can be arranged Monday to Thursday from 09:00 – 17:00,<br />
except for chagim and public holidays.<br />
• If you would like to purchase a pew with your name or a family<br />
member’s name on the back of the pew, please note that we will<br />
need to know this by 30 June <strong>2012</strong> at the latest, so that these name<br />
plates remain on the requested pews. All other name plates will be<br />
removed. This is only offered to <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> congregants<br />
who were past seat holders or are direct family members of past seat<br />
holders.<br />
• The buyer must arrange to have the pew(s) collected from <strong>Emanuel</strong><br />
<strong>Synagogue</strong> and transported off site.<br />
• Pews must be collected from <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> in early August<br />
<strong>2012</strong>, the exact date will be communicated to each buyer, as soon as<br />
it is confirmed.<br />
17
Rabbi Jacobson<br />
An open letter to our community<br />
18<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Over the six years of my involvement with the <strong>Emanuel</strong> community I have celebrated my<br />
induction as a rabbi, Lisa and I have gotten engaged and married, and we have celebrated the<br />
birth of our two daughters Hannah and Emily. I came to <strong>Emanuel</strong> as a newly minted rabbi, and<br />
in addition to the opportunities that Lisa and I have had (and will continue to have) in helping<br />
members of our community, we also recognise the beautiful ways in which our synagogue has<br />
touched our lives. We want our relationship with the <strong>Emanuel</strong> community to continue to grow,<br />
and we want to continue nurturing relationships with members and prospective members of<br />
our community.<br />
Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to learn about the impending redevelopment<br />
of the synagogue campus as a rabbi and a member of staff. I can attest that there has been great<br />
positive energy in and amongst the staff and the Board with regards to such a significant project.<br />
But as I write these comments for Tell, I recognise that I write not as a rabbi and not as a staff<br />
member, but as a husband and a father of two young girls.<br />
Lisa and I have been speaking at length with regards to our donation to the synagogue redevelopment. We believe<br />
that by making a contribution to the synagogue redevelopment we are making a commitment not just to the future<br />
of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong>, but to the future of our synagogue. We see this synagogue as a place where Hannah and<br />
Emily will grow and thrive, will learn about their timeless Jewish heritage and where, one day in the future, they will<br />
celebrate becoming Bat Mitzvah, and perhaps, also celebrate getting married. <strong>Emanuel</strong> is not only our synagogue, but<br />
Hannah’s synagogue and Emily’s synagogue too.<br />
In fact, we see <strong>Emanuel</strong> as the synagogue for the future of all of our children, and their children after them. <strong>Emanuel</strong><br />
represents something enormously special – a place where Judaism can be practiced in a contemporarily relevant way,<br />
a place where women can participate equally in services and read from the Torah, a place where the ancient practices<br />
of our ancestors are upheld and respected, and where creativity and innovation are cherished too.<br />
We believe in the power of community and we believe in the power and strength of this community.<br />
And now is the time for us to look toward the future. For in the context of community, joy is enhanced, and sorrow<br />
can be shared. Although we all may practice Judaism differently, the bond of community is sacred. We are stronger<br />
and we flourish; Judaism is stronger and flourishes when we join together as a community.<br />
In making a financial commitment to the redevelopment of the synagogue, we believe that we are building the<br />
synagogue for our children and for their children after them. We believe that we are supporting the future of<br />
egalitarian Judaism in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, creating a beautiful space where our beautiful religion and culture<br />
may thrive. We believe that we are creating a place for learning, for prayer, for play, for the joy of being together, and<br />
to benefit from comfort when needed.<br />
We encourage you to look toward the future too. We<br />
invite you to acknowledge the positive ways in which<br />
our synagogue has changed your life, and we ask your<br />
commitment in helping to make the vision of the<br />
synagogue leadership a reality. We know there are<br />
many charities and much need in the world, but we<br />
are the only ones who can accept the responsibility<br />
for creating a spiritual home for our children. We<br />
recognize the value of the statement that “charity<br />
begins at home.” Or to paraphrase Rabbi Hillel, “If we<br />
are not for ourselves, who will be for us? And if not<br />
now, when?” Now is the time when we must come<br />
together with a unified vision for the future of our<br />
very special community.<br />
Rabbi Paul Jacobson<br />
Adult Education<br />
HEBREW<br />
A choice of classes:<br />
Beginners or Siddur reading.<br />
Thursdays, 6:30pm - 7:30pm<br />
Cost: $150 / term<br />
Register: 9328 7833
UPJ www.emanuel.org.au<br />
UPJ & ARZA establish Religious Action Centre<br />
The Union for Progressive Judaism, in partnership with ARZA (the Australian Reform Zionist Association), has created<br />
a unit to speak out on a wide range of social and human rights issues – both locally and in Israel. The Jewish Religious<br />
Action & Advocacy Centre has already commenced work and will be officially opened in <strong>May</strong>.<br />
“It has become increasingly clear to us that this is an area where the opinions of Progressive Jews differ<br />
significantly from the views expressed by Orthodox groups ‘on behalf of mainstream Jewry’ said UPJ Executive Director,<br />
Steve Denenberg “and there is no better example of this than the current debate regarding Marriage Equality. It is our<br />
belief that the majority of our Progressive community are in favour of legislation that makes same sex marriage legal<br />
and we were pleased to make submissions to this effect to the two Parliamentary enquiries currently underway. At the<br />
same time the Rabbinical Council of NSW and the Organisation of (Orthodox) Rabbis of Australia made submissions<br />
totally opposing this move. While we respect their views we believe that it is vital that alternative opinions within our<br />
community are heard loud and clear by our community and by the wider community.”<br />
“At the same time we have produced a statement on Slavery to coincide with Pesach. It criticises the United<br />
Nations for wasting time and resources on criticising Israel while doing little to prevent the growing trade in human life<br />
around the world. The statement also calls on Israel to amend the current legislation called the “Slavery Laws” by the<br />
Supreme Court, which relate to migrant workers and non-Jewish asylum seekers,” said Denenberg.<br />
He added “Over the coming weeks and months we will be producing statements on a wide range of topics –<br />
including the recent series of anti-democratic laws presented to the Knesset; the attempted changes to the Law of<br />
Return; and on the crucial need for Israel to break the stranglehold of the Orthodox rabbinate on the religious life<br />
of the country. We are also developing policy statements on local issues including Climate Change; the treatment of<br />
Asylum Seekers; and the need to develop new and creative ways of assisting the Indigenous community.”<br />
The Centre is currently run as part of the UPJ and ARZA administration with 2 Netzer graduates employed parttime<br />
to research the topics and prepare draft statements that go to an independent Advisory committee for comment<br />
and approval.<br />
The official launch of the Centre will take place on <strong>May</strong> 21 at the UPJ-sponsored Centre for Living Judaism, located in<br />
Melbourne, with internet link-ups with Anat Hoffman in the Israel Religious Action Centre in Jerusalem, Rabbi David<br />
Saperstein in the Religious Action Centre in Washington, D.C. and similar centres in other parts of the world.<br />
www.bassettscatering.com<br />
Email: bassetts@ozemail.com.au<br />
19
What’s On<br />
20<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
<strong>Emanuel</strong> aims to offer a diverse and stimulating spectrum of events. The calendars on pages 22 to 24 list all of our<br />
programmes, but for your convenience we’ve selected a few of the highlights across the next few months and presented<br />
them briefly below. You can find more details about all of these on our website<br />
MAY<br />
Israel Through the Generations Thursday 3 <strong>May</strong>, 7:30 - 9:00pm Come hear from a range<br />
of fascinating speakers whose personal histories converged with the history of the State of<br />
Israel.<br />
<strong>Emanuel</strong>’s Celebration in Song! Wednesday 9 <strong>May</strong>, 7:30pm Lag B’Omer musical<br />
experience featuring the Stars of <strong>Emanuel</strong> School and <strong>Synagogue</strong>.<br />
The Quiet Revolutionary: Yehuda Amichai: Lunch and Learn with Immanuel Suttner.<br />
Saturday 12 <strong>May</strong> Yehuda Amichai is one of Israel’s most beloved poets, and his work has been<br />
translated into more than 20 languages. His poetry has been set to music, read at gravesides,<br />
and at the inductions of Israeli leaders. Yet his early work created a furore when it first emerged.<br />
Immanuel, a poet and translator of Amichai, will discuss Amichai’s impact.<br />
Learn Torah Trope with our Shaliach Tzibbur Martin Yafe. Tuesday 15 <strong>May</strong>, 4:15 – 5:45pm and every Tuesday thereafter<br />
until June 26 th . Join us during these 7 classes and never ask for a CD with a Torah recording again! First we will learn the meaning<br />
and history of the symbols that give intonation to our most sacred text. And then, we will learn how to chant them (according to<br />
the traditional Ashkenazi cantilation system) providing you the knowledge to read any part of the Torah you like whenever you<br />
want! For more information please contact Martin: martinyafe@emanuel.org.au.<br />
Sunday Cinema – Yom Yerushalayim screening of the film “Promises” (Havtachot) Sunday 20 <strong>May</strong>, 4:00 -6:00pm<br />
With a subtle mixture of emotion and humour, this moving documentary film tracks seven Israeli and Palestinian children who<br />
live in Jerusalem and its surrounding areas. Released in in 2001, this Oscar nominated and Emmy award winning film has lost<br />
none of its relevance or timeliness.<br />
Women’s Rosh Chodesh Group Wednesday 22nd <strong>May</strong>, 8:00pm<br />
Shavuot evening (Leyl Shavuot) Saturday 26 <strong>May</strong>, 6:15pm celebrate receiving the Torah (and the first harvest in<br />
Israel). Service, beginning at 6:15pm, includes traditional baby blessing. Straight after the service we begin our third annual<br />
Festival of Dangerous Ideas – 10 minute presentations on controversial issues. A light supper will be shared.<br />
Shavuot Children’s service Sunday 27 <strong>May</strong>, 10:00am .<br />
A service for families focusing on the themes of giving the Torah, stories, songs and ice-cream.<br />
Also on Shavuot the Masorti service at 9:00am, and Jewish Renewal service and meditation at 10am. This prayer<br />
service will include meditation, chant accompanied by musical instruments, movement and discussion.<br />
72 nd <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> Annual General Meeting Tuesday 29 <strong>May</strong>, 7:30pm<br />
JUNE<br />
Shabbat Tot - a lively service for children aged 2-5 Friday 1 June, 4:00-5:00pm. Songs, stories, craft and more.<br />
Lunch and Learn with Anat Baruch: “Can Israel survive Post Zionism?” Saturday 9 June<br />
Don’t miss one of the last opportunities to engage with our dynamic shlicha before she returns to Israel.<br />
B’nei Mitzvah Shabbaton Saturday 16 June <strong>2012</strong>, 9:00-5:30pm<br />
All students celebrating Bar or Bat Mitzvah between Rosh Hashanah <strong>2012</strong> and Rosh Hashanah 2013 are invited to get together at <strong>Emanuel</strong> for<br />
an afternoon of fun, food, games and other surprises! Join us for services and stay for an awesome afternoon.<br />
How to celebrate Shabbat with your kids Tuesday 19 June 7:45 -9:15pm. “Keruv: celebrating with your Jewish
What’s On<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
children” a course designed for non-Jewish parents raising Jewish children and anyone who wants to bring meaningful and<br />
creative practices into your homes. “Tuesday June 19th: Workshop 2: how to have fun on Shabbat and make it special.” details<br />
on the web.<br />
Shabbat’s Greatest Hits Friday 22 June, 5:00-6:00pm. A one hour Shabbat experience for primary aged children and their<br />
parents. Join us for games, food, craft, songs, stories and fun as we explore a different prayer from the Shabbat service each<br />
gathering.<br />
Harbourview Shabbat Dinner for young adults Friday 22 June. Come and connect with other people your age in a warm<br />
and nurturing environment.<br />
Young Adult Retreat in the Blue Mountains Friday 22 June to Sunday 24 June If you are in your early 20’s join our Young<br />
Adult retreat in the Blue Mountains. Highlights: Communal Shabbat service and meals (which we will prepare together). Thought<br />
provoking educational session with Anat Baruch, community shlicha; Blue Mountains Winter Magic Festival; half day abseil and<br />
chilling with friends around the fire place.<br />
Communal Shabbat Dinner Friday 29 June. Following Shabbat Live all are welcome to join us for a Shabbat dinner<br />
celebrating our youth and farewelling Netzer as they head off to camp.<br />
JULY<br />
Tea, Toast and TV on Tuesdays 7:30 - 9:00pm all Tuesdays in <strong>July</strong>. Join us to watch the wonderful Israeli TV series “Srugim”<br />
which deals with the lives of modern orthodox Jewish singles in Jerusalem. Its “Friends” meets “Gossip Girls” meets “Modern<br />
Orthodoxy.”<br />
Shabbat Tot - a lively service for children aged 2-5 Friday 6 <strong>July</strong>, 4:00-5:00pm. Songs, stories, craft and more.<br />
Machaneh Monster: Netzer Winter camp 3-8 <strong>July</strong>. For more details www.netzer.org.au<br />
“Spiritual Secrets of the Amidah”: Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Paul Jacobson. Saturday 14 <strong>July</strong><br />
Women’s Rosh Chodesh Group Thursday 19 <strong>July</strong>, 8:00pm<br />
Harbourview Shabbat Dinner for Young Adults Friday 20 <strong>July</strong>. Come and connect with other people your age in a<br />
warm and nurturing environment.<br />
Learner’s Minyan Beginning Sunday 22 <strong>July</strong>, 9:00 - 10:00am Join Rabbi Jacobson to learn more about the daily service<br />
and the importance of building time into your day for personal reflection. Topics include: How to get the most out of your time in<br />
shul, what to do when you get an aliya (call up to the Torah) and learning to lead prayer.<br />
Israel Day. Sunday 22 <strong>July</strong>, 1:00 - 5:00pm. Come learn, debate, play and breath Israel for an entire day. For those above<br />
13, we offer workshops and speakers from Australia and Israel. Topics include Israeli society, Australian-Israeli relations, and<br />
teaching Israel in the Diaspora. Kids under 13 will enjoy fun activities about Israel with our educators. Short and full length<br />
movies about Israel will run during the entire day. An opportunity that shouldn’t be missed!<br />
Tisha B’Av Saturday 28 <strong>July</strong> - Fast begins 5:12pm, services 6:15pm<br />
followed by a discussion on “The Transformation of Trauma” led by Anna<br />
Hueneke. Eicha or the Book of Lamentations provides a model for the<br />
expression and hence transformation of trauma. Dr Hueneke will speak about<br />
this process of transformation through symbolic and poetic expression with<br />
reference to her own and other Jewish artists’ work.<br />
Tisha B’Av Services Sunday 29 <strong>July</strong>. Shacharit 9:00 am, Jewish Renewal<br />
10am in the Education Centre (upstairs). Mincha /Maariv will be at 4:45pm.<br />
Shabbat Dinner to Farewell Anat. Friday 27 <strong>July</strong> after services. Join us for<br />
a communal dinner and chance to farewell our amazing shlicha Anat Baruch<br />
before she returns to Israel.<br />
‘Bird from the Sea’ 150 X 230cm<br />
watercolour, 2002, by Anna Hueneke<br />
21
EMANUEL SYNAGOGUE – CALENDAR FOR MAY <strong>2012</strong>/5772<br />
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday<br />
1 (Omer 24) 9 Iyyar 2 (Omer 25) 10 Iyyar 3 (Omer 26) 11 Iyyar 4 (Omer 27) 12 Iyyar 5 (Omer 28) 13 Iyyar<br />
6:45am Morning Minyan 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Acharei Mot<br />
8:00am Kabbalah Meditation 4:00pm Shabbat tot Kedoshim<br />
4:10pm Beit Midrash 4:53pm 9:00am Masorti service<br />
4:10pm Beit Midrash<br />
6:00pm Redevelopment 6:15pm Shabbat Live BM Jade Hazan<br />
6:00pm Shomer Achi 7:30pm Kabbalah session with the Rabbi 6:15pm Erev Shabbat 10:00am Progressive service<br />
Meditation 6:30pm Hebrew classes Carlebach style BM Joshua Weinstein<br />
7:30pm BJC 10:00am Yelladim<br />
E-Course: Kabbalah, Meditation and the Omer<br />
April 9 till <strong>May</strong> 25<br />
A weekly email between the festivals of Pesach and Shavuot will<br />
give you inspirations for meditation and daily awareness<br />
practices The course will be based on Kabbalah teachings<br />
about this 7 week period of the Omer. If you would like to be part<br />
of this course which is both experiential and theoretical please<br />
email orna@emanuel.org.au<br />
6 (Omer 29) 14 Iyyar 7 (Omer 30) 15 Iyyar 8 (Omer 31) 16 Iyyar 9 (Omer 32) 17 Iyyar 10 (Omer 33) 18 Iyyar 11 (Omer 34) 19 Iyyar 12 (Omer 35) 20 Iyyar<br />
6:45am Morning Minyan Lag B’Omer celebration: Lag B’Omer 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Emor<br />
10:00am Our Jewish Story: 7:30pm <strong>Emanuel</strong> Evening 6:45am Morning Minyan 9:00am Masorti service<br />
Our Land, Our People of Song 8:00am Kabbalah Meditation 4:47pm BM <strong>May</strong>a Buhrich<br />
4:00pm Shomer Achi 4:10pm Beit Midrash 4:10pm Beit Midrash 6:15pm Shabbat Live 10:00am Progressive service<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 6:00pm Shomer Achi 6:00pm Redevelopment 6:15pm Erev Shabbat 10:00am Yelladim<br />
Tradition & Change session with the Rabbi Carlebach style 12:30pm Lunch ‘n’ Learn<br />
7:30pm Melton class 6:30pm Hebrew classes<br />
7:30pm BJC<br />
13 (Omer 36) 21 Iyyar 14 (Omer 37) 22 Iyyar 15 (Omer 38) 23 Iyyar 16 (Omer 39) 24 Iyyar 17 (Omer 40) 25 Iyyar 18 (Omer 41) 26 Iyyar 19 (Omer 42) 27 Iyyar<br />
6:45am Morning Minyan 6:45am Morning Minyan 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Behar Bechukotai<br />
Mother’s Day 10:00am Our Jewish Story: 8:00am Kabbalah Meditation Wimple Decoration 9:00am Masorti service<br />
Our Land, Our People 4:10pm Beit Midrash 4:10pm Beit Midrash 4:42pm 10:00am Progressive service<br />
4:00pm Shomer Achi 4:15pm Trope Seminar 7:30pm Kabbalah 6:00pm Redevelopment 6:15pm Shabbat Live BM Alexander Morris-Mikardo<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 6:00pm Shomer Achi Meditation session with the Rabbi 6:15pm Erev Shabbat 10:00am Yelladim<br />
Tradition & Change 6:30pm Hebrew classes Carlebach style 6:30pm Netzer sleepover<br />
7:30pm BJC 7:00pm Harbourview<br />
(Young Adults)<br />
20 (Omer 43) 28 Iyyar 21 (Omer 44) 29 Iyyar 22 (Omer 45) 1 Sivan 23 (Omer 46) 2 Sivan 24 (Omer 47) 3 Sivan 25 (Omer 48) 4 Sivan 26 (Omer 49) 5 Sivan<br />
Yom 6:45am Morning Minyan Rosh Chodesh 6:45am Morning Minyan 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Bemidbar<br />
Yerushalayim 10:00am Our Jewish Story: 8:00am Kabbalah Meditation 9:00am Masorti service<br />
4:00pm Sunday Cinema Our Land, Our People 4:10pm Beit Midrash 4:10pm Beit Midrash 4:38pm 10:00am Progressive service<br />
4:00pm Shomer Achi 4:15pm Trope Seminar 6:00pm Redevelopment 6:15pm Shabbat Live 10:00am Yelladim<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 6:00pm Shomer Achi session with the Rabbi 6:15pm Erev Shabbat Erev SHAVUOT<br />
Tradition & Change 8:00pm Women’s Rosh 7:30pm Kabbalah 6:30pm Hebrew classes Carlebach style 6:15pm Babies blessing<br />
Chodesh Group Meditation 7:30pm BJC 6:15pm Festival<br />
of Dangerous Ideas<br />
27 6 Sivan 28 7 Sivan 29 8 Sivan 30 9 Sivan 31 10 Sivan<br />
Key<br />
Shavuot I Shavuot II 6:45am Morning Minyan Services<br />
9:00am Masorti service 9:00am Masorti service 8:00am Kabbalah Meditation Spiritual<br />
10:00am Renewal service with Yizkor 4:10pm Beit Midrash<br />
4:10pm Beit Midrash Children’s Education<br />
10:00am Family Service 4:15pm Trope Seminar<br />
6:00pm Redevelopment Adult Education<br />
6:00pm Shomer Achi 7:30pm Kabbalah session with the Rabbi Community &<br />
7:30pm AGM Meditation 6:30pm Hebrew classes Special Events<br />
7:30pm BJC
EMANUEL SYNAGOGUE – CALENDAR FOR JUNE <strong>2012</strong>/5772<br />
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday<br />
1 11 Sivan 2 12 Sivan<br />
Services 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Naso<br />
Spiritual Book now for 4:00pm Shabbat tot 9:00am Masorti service<br />
Children’s Education Netzer Camp 4:36pm 10:00am Progressive service<br />
Adult Education 3 – 8 <strong>July</strong><br />
6:15pm Shabbat Live 10:00am Yelladim<br />
Community & www.netzer.org.au 6:15pm Erev Shabbat<br />
Special Events Carlebach style<br />
3 13 Sivan 4 14 Sivan 5 15 Sivan 6 16 Sivan 7 17 Sivan 8 18 Sivan 9 19 Sivan<br />
6:45am Morning Minyan 6:45am Morning Minyan 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Beha’alotecha<br />
10:00am Our Jewish Story: 8:00am Kabbalah Meditation 4:34pm 9:00am Masorti service<br />
Our Land, Our People 4:10pm Beit Midrash 6:15pm Shabbat Live 10:00am Progressive service<br />
4:00pm Shomer Achi 4:10pm Beit Midrash<br />
6:00pm Redevelopment 6:15pm Erev Shabbat BM Nick Williams<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 4:15pm Trope Seminar session with the Rabbi Carlebach style 10:00am Renewal service<br />
Tradition & Change 6:00pm Shomer Achi 7:30pm Kabbalah 6:30pm Hebrew classes 10:00am Yelladim<br />
Meditation 7:30pm BJC 12:30pm Lunch ‘n’ Learn<br />
10 20 Sivan 11 21 Sivan 12 22 Sivan 13 23 Sivan 14 24 Sivan 15 25 Sivan 16 26 Sivan<br />
Queen’s Birthday 6:45am Morning Minyan 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Sh’lach<br />
8:00am Kabbalah Meditation 4:34pm 9:00am Masorti service<br />
8:30am Morning Minyan 4:10pm Beit Midrash<br />
4:10pm Beit Midrash 6:15pm Shabbat Live 10:00am Progressive service<br />
4:15pm Trope Seminar 7:30pm Kabbalah 6:00pm Redevelopment 6:15pm Erev Shabbat 10:00am Yelladim<br />
(Office closed) 6:00pm Shomer Achi Meditation session with the Rabbi Carlebach style 12:00pm BM Shabbaton<br />
6:30pm Hebrew classes<br />
7:30pm BJC<br />
17 27 Sivan 18 28 Sivan 19 29 Sivan 20 30 Sivan 21 1 Tamuz 22 2 Tamuz 23 3 Tamuz<br />
1:00pm Conversations 6:45am Morning Minyan Rosh Chodesh Rosh Chodesh 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Korach<br />
about Israel 10:00am Our Jewish Story: 4:10pm Beit Midrash 4:36pm 9:00am Masorti service<br />
3:30pm Wedding Mark Our Land, Our People 4:15pm Trope Seminar 6:30am Morning Minyan 5:00pm Shabbat’s 10:00am Progressive service<br />
Harris & Rachael Clark 4:00pm Shomer Achi 6:00pm Shomer Achi 8:00am Kabbalah Meditation Greatest Hits BM Alexander Rack -–<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 7:45pm Keruv workshop: 4:10pm Beit Midrash 6:15pm Shabbat Live Adult BM Reading<br />
Tradition & Change Celebrate Shabbat with 7:30pm Kabbalah 6:00pm Redevelopment 6:15pm Erev Shabbat 10:00am Yelladim<br />
your children Meditation session with the Rabbi Carlebach style<br />
6:30pm Hebrew classes 7:00pm Harbourview<br />
7:30pm BJC (Young Adults)<br />
8:00pm Women’s Rosh<br />
Chodesh Group<br />
24 4 Tamuz 25 5 Tamuz 26 6 Tamuz 27 7 Tamuz 28 8 Tamuz 29 9 Tamuz 30 10 Tamuz<br />
6:45am Morning Minyan 6:45am Morning Minyan 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Chukat<br />
10:00am Our Jewish Story: 8:00am Kabbalah Meditation 4:38pm 9:00am Masorti service<br />
Our Land, Our People 4:10pm Beit Midrash<br />
4:10pm Beit Midrash 6:15pm Shabbat Live 10:00am Progressive service<br />
4:00pm Shomer Achi 4:15pm Trope Seminar 6:00pm Redevelopment 6:15pm Erev Shabbat BM Arkie Owen<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 6:00pm Shomer Achi 7:30pm Kabbalah session with the Rabbi Carlebach style 10:00am Yelladim<br />
Tradition & Change Meditation 6:30pm Hebrew classes<br />
7:30pm BJC
EMANUEL SYNAGOGUE – CALENDAR FOR JULY <strong>2012</strong>/5772<br />
24<br />
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday<br />
1 11 Tamuz 2 12 Tamuz 3 13 Tamuz 4 14 Tamuz 5 15 Tamuz 6 16 Tamuz 7 17 Tamuz<br />
6:45am Morning Minyan Netzer Winter camp starts 6:45am Morning Minyan 4:00pm Shabbat tot Parasha Balak<br />
10:00am Our Jewish Story: (3 – 8 <strong>July</strong>) 4:41pm 9:00am Masorti service<br />
4:00pm Sunday Cinema Our Land, Our People 6:15pm Shabbat Live 10:00am Progressive service<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 6:15pm Erev Shabbat BM Amelia Baral<br />
Tradition & Change 7:30pm Tea, Toast & Carlebach 10:00am Yelladim<br />
TV on Tuesdays<br />
8 18 Tamuz 9 19 Tamuz 10 20 Tamuz 11 21 Tamuz 12 22 Tamuz 13 23 Tamuz 14 24 Tamuz<br />
6:45am Morning Minyan 6:45am Morning Minyan 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Pinchas<br />
10:00am Our Jewish Story: 4:45 pm 9:00am Masorti service<br />
Our Land, Our People 6:15pm Shabbat Live 10:00am Progressive service<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 7:30pm Tea, Toast & 6:15pm Erev Shabbat 10:00am Yelladim<br />
Tradition & Change TV on Tuesdays Carlebach 12:30pm Lunch ’n’ Learn<br />
15 25 Tamuz 16 26 Tamuz 17 27 Tamuz 18 28 Tamuz 19 29 Tamuz 20 1 Av 21 2 Av<br />
6:45am Morning Minyan 6:45am Morning Minyan 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Matot Masei<br />
10:00am Our Jewish Story: 8:00am Kabbalah Meditation Rosh Chodesh 9:00am Masorti service<br />
Our Land, Our People 4:10pm Beit Midrash 4:10pm Beit Midrash 10:00am Progressive service<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 7:30pm Tea, Toast & 6:30pm Hebrew classes 4:49pm 10:00am Yelladim<br />
Tradition & Change TV on Tuesdays 7:30pm BJC 6:15pm Shabbat Live<br />
7:30pm Kabbalah 8:00pm Women’s Rosh 6:15pm Erev Shabbat<br />
Meditation Chodesh Group Carlebach<br />
7:00pm Harbourview<br />
(Young Adults)<br />
22 3 Av 23 4 Av 24 5 Av 25 6 Av 26 7 Av 27 8 Av 28 9 Av<br />
9:00am Learner’s Minyan 6:45am Morning Minyan 6:45am Morning Minyan 9:30am MyPlaySpace Parasha Devarim Chazon<br />
10:00am Our Jewish Story: 8:00am Kabbalah Meditation 4:54pm 9:00am Masorti service<br />
1:00pm Israel Day Our Land, Our People 4:10pm Beit Midrash 4:10pm Beit Midrash 6:15pm Shabbat Live 10:00am Progressive service<br />
6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 7:30pm Tea, Toast & 6:30pm Hebrew classes 6:15pm Erev Shabbat 10:00am Yelladim<br />
Tradition & Change TV on Tuesdays 7:30pm Kabbalah 7:30pm BJC Carlebach 6:15pm Erev Tisha B’Av<br />
Meditation Communal Shabbat Dinner Service<br />
farewell to Anat 8:00pm Presentation by<br />
Dr Anna Hueneke<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
29 10 Av 30 11 Av 31 12 Av<br />
Tisha B’Av 6:45am Morning Minyan Services<br />
9:00am Masorti service 10:00am Our Jewish Story: Spiritual<br />
10:00am Renewal service Our Land, Our People 4:10pm Beit Midrash Children’s Education<br />
4:45pm Mincha service service 6:00pm Our Jewish Story: 7:30pm Tea, Toast & Adult Education<br />
Tradition & Change TV on Tuesdays Community &<br />
Special Events
CHAMSA<br />
These unique, one-off, hand made<br />
chamsot are made from recycled glass,<br />
ceramics, and other found objects.<br />
The artist, Helen Segal, lives in San Diego,<br />
will be visiting Sydney at end June. If<br />
you’d like to preorder a chamsa contact<br />
her on segalhelen@gmail.com.<br />
You can see view high resolution images<br />
of her work at:<br />
http://www.justalittlegreen.net/2011/01/theblue-green-art-of-helen-segal/<br />
302 Oxford Street Bondi Junction<br />
Phone (02) 9389 3499<br />
enquiries@waltercarter.com.au<br />
www.waltercarter.com.au<br />
Funeral Directors onsite<br />
24 hours a day, 7 days a week<br />
Looking after families<br />
in the eastern suburbs<br />
for 125 years.<br />
Traditional Values<br />
Contemporary Choices<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
25
Israel<br />
Yom HaAtzmaut - Shlicha article<br />
Whenever we talk, read and<br />
hear about Israel we usually<br />
have some strong emotion<br />
in our hearts. We are either<br />
concerned or worried,<br />
sometimes horrified and<br />
sometimes extremely proud.<br />
As the community Shlicha<br />
(now here for 2.5 years) the<br />
number one question I am<br />
asked is: “What’s going to<br />
happen with Israel”. Whether<br />
it’s Iran, social justice protests, missiles on Sderot or<br />
segregated buses. Sometimes I feel like explaining that<br />
I’m a community Shlicha not a community prophet, but<br />
then I usually smile and try saying something comforting.<br />
Yom Haatzmaut is the opportunity for me to ask<br />
myself: Why I am proud to be an Israeli and to bring<br />
Israel to the Jewish community. Here is a summary of a<br />
few things to smile about:<br />
Israeli Cinema<br />
It is no secret that something good has happened<br />
to Israeli cinema in recent years. Israeli films star regularly<br />
at prestigious film festivals and win important prizes. The<br />
international public is highly intrigued by Israeli cinema,<br />
after having cold-shouldered it for many years.<br />
Many Israeli films deal extensively with burning<br />
issues characterizing life in Israel, e.g.multiculturalism,<br />
politics, national identity, Holocaust, the Arab-Israeli<br />
conflict, wars etc. As a sweeping generalization it can be<br />
said that the renewed success of Israeli cinema derives<br />
from finding the appropriate voice for the period: the<br />
cinema stopped trying to tell that one, central “Israeli<br />
story” (the story of Zionism, the State of Israel, the melting<br />
pot, the consensus),<br />
and began to look<br />
inwards, into the<br />
details making up<br />
the whole.<br />
Oscar nominated<br />
Israeli films in<br />
recent years:<br />
2008 – Beaufort<br />
2009 - Waltz with<br />
Bashir<br />
2010 – Ajami<br />
2011 – Footnote<br />
26<br />
Still from Waltz with Bashir<br />
Tel Aviv - “The City That Never Sleeps”<br />
In 2011 “Lonely Planet” travel guide magazine ranked Tel<br />
Aviv third place (after New York and Berlin) in the list of<br />
cities worth visiting in the coming year. The news of Tel<br />
Aviv’s nightlife has spread across the globe, and a large<br />
number of European youngsters have arrived to check<br />
out the scene.<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Tel Aviv is the cultural capital of Israel. The city is<br />
home to the country’s greatest concentration of artists,<br />
intellectuals, media and entertainment people. To a<br />
great extent, Tel Aviv is the centre of modern Hebrew<br />
culture.<br />
Tel Aviv has a dynamic and influential LGBT<br />
(lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community,<br />
with prominent representation in the cultural life,<br />
nightlife, and municipal political scene. The creation of<br />
this community was made possible thanks to Tel Aviv’s<br />
tolerant and open nature and respect for one-sex couples.<br />
The city attracts thousands of young homosexuals and<br />
lesbians from Israel and abroad.<br />
In 2003 Tel Aviv received international recognition<br />
from UNESCO as a world heritage site because of its<br />
important architectural heritage: in Tel Aviv the Bauhaus<br />
international style of building was uniquely successful in<br />
the 1920s and 1930s, this combined with appropriate<br />
and exceptional urban planning made the city an<br />
international success. This urban texture and collection<br />
of houses earned the city the title of “White City”.<br />
Medicine and Wellness<br />
Israel is one of the leading countries in the world in the<br />
field of medicine. The studies, the doctors and the drugs<br />
developed in Israel have global impact! Here are a few<br />
examples:<br />
In 1998 the Israeli Given Imaging Company<br />
developed the PillCam capsule. These patient-friendly<br />
video capsules can be swallowed and allows the doctor<br />
to explore the digestive system. The company received<br />
the European Union “Grand Prix” award in 2003 for the<br />
“invention with the highest impact on human life”.<br />
The President of the Technion, Prof. Peretz Lavie<br />
and Robert Schnall developed an innovative technology<br />
for diagnosis of respiratory disorders during sleep by<br />
recording the blood flow in the finger.<br />
A transfusion needle that locates the vein itself<br />
- Israeli scientists have developed a sensor that beeps<br />
when the transfusion needle has successfully entered<br />
the vein. This significantly reduces the “jabbing” in the<br />
veins of the arms, which causes haemorrhages and<br />
suffering for the patient.<br />
Israel’s great scientific and technological<br />
achievements<br />
Israel allocates more funds to research and development<br />
than any other developed country, except for Sweden.<br />
Because of this, Israel is a technological and scientific<br />
leader. Here are a few things you probably didn’t even<br />
know were invented in Israel:<br />
1955: Solar water heater. After David Ben-Gurion asked<br />
Israeli scientists to find solutions to maximise Israel’s<br />
scant resources, Prof. Zvi Tabor developed the solar<br />
water heater. Today it is used in most Israeli homes and<br />
provides approximately 4% of energy consumption in the<br />
State. (In animated conversations on the environment
Israel www.emanuel.org.au<br />
you can mention that<br />
Israel devoted efforts<br />
to this important<br />
issue over fifty years<br />
ago).<br />
1977: Digital colour<br />
printing. Israeli<br />
company Scitex<br />
became a world<br />
leader in processing digital colour pictures and at least<br />
40 countries have marketed its products. After resigning<br />
from management of the corporation, in 1989 its<br />
founder, Efi Arazi founded “EFI” (Electronics for Imaging)<br />
which, working with Xerox, Kodak and Canon brought<br />
the colour printer into many homes.<br />
1985: First electronic hair removal. Two kibbutz<br />
members, Yair Dar and Shimon Yahav, register a patent<br />
on “Epilady” - and the device became a dizzying success<br />
in Israel and worldwide.<br />
Israel has the highest number of startup companies<br />
per capita in the world: 3,850 - a company for every<br />
1,844 residents. Every year more startup companies are<br />
created in Israel than in any European country. Israeli<br />
start-ups that changed the world of technology and<br />
placed us on the high-tech map are presented below.<br />
ICQ, Mirabilis: In the mid-1990s, four young<br />
Israelis had a brilliant idea: to develop instant messaging<br />
software that would connect friends and allow them to<br />
chat over the Internet. Their innovations allowed friends<br />
to find each other, connect directly, receive a notice<br />
when another friend connected, and have a conversation<br />
at any time and from any computer.<br />
Disk-on-Key, Dov Moran’s M-Systems: The<br />
brainchild of Israeli entrepreneur Dov Moran was simple<br />
but ingenious: a small drive that connects to the USB<br />
socket, The sale of the Disk-on-Key, or USB flash drive<br />
as it is now known, began in the year 2000, and has<br />
become an obligatory item on every key ring, although<br />
it too is likely to be eclipsed by newer technologies, such<br />
as Dropbox, also an Israeli technology.<br />
Babylon: It can be annoying when we find a<br />
foreign word that we don’t understand on the Internet,<br />
and then we have to look it up in a dictionary, look for<br />
the word - and then to go back and carry on reading.<br />
This is what we used to do until Amnon Ovadia arrived<br />
with Babylon and changed everything. Now we merely<br />
click on a word we do not understand with the mouse,<br />
and a pop-up window appears and translates the word<br />
for us, without interrupting the reading flow. This began<br />
with translations from English into Hebrew, and today<br />
Babylon supports 75 languages, and continues to grow.<br />
Agriculture and Food Security<br />
Israel is considered an arid country. It has low<br />
rainfall, and few groundwater reserves. Over half the<br />
area of the State, within the Green Line borders, is<br />
mountainous and unsuitable for agriculture. Out of<br />
approximately 21,000 km² of the area of Israel within<br />
the Green Line (i.e. 1967) borders, only 20% is suitable<br />
for agricultural cultivation. To this must be added the<br />
lack of any agricultural experience of most of the new<br />
immigrants who arrived in Israel with the establishment<br />
of the State, and their difficulties in adapting to the<br />
climatic and soil conditions. Yet development of unique<br />
irrigation methods, obtaining of bumper harvests in<br />
many crops, acclimatization and adapting of new crops,<br />
development of diversified agricultural exports and<br />
promotion of environmental quality, have become the<br />
symbol of renewed Israeli agriculture.<br />
The dearth of water from natural resources is a permanent<br />
reality in Israel yet nevertheless, Israel is the only<br />
country in the world that has more trees at the beginning<br />
of the twenty-first century than it had at the beginning<br />
of the twentieth century.<br />
Israeli cows produce approximately 80% less<br />
methane gas than Western European cows. The reduced<br />
emission is important to the quality of the environment,<br />
as it is considered one of the main causes of global<br />
warming.<br />
The use of water for irrigation in Israel is one of the<br />
most efficient in the world, thanks to the drip irrigation<br />
system developed in Israel and adopted by many<br />
countries. Research has led to a saving of 15% in irrigation<br />
water, without a reduction in crops. Drip irrigation has<br />
become the commercial symbol of Israeli agriculture,<br />
and has been<br />
adopted<br />
by many<br />
countries<br />
across the<br />
globe.<br />
Israel<br />
is one of<br />
the leading<br />
countries in<br />
the world in<br />
production of<br />
seeds and the nurturing of fruit and vegetable varieties.<br />
Israel’s cotton yield is one of the highest in<br />
the world, with an average of 550 kg per acre. After<br />
prolonged research cotton has become a very popular<br />
field crop. Today the crop covers an area of 300,000<br />
acres, and the exports total over $100 million.<br />
Flower growing for export is a thriving industry,<br />
and today constitutes about a third of fresh agricultural<br />
exports from Israel. Until about 30 years ago several<br />
acres of flowers were grown in Israel for the local market<br />
Yearly new varieties and strains are introduced, which<br />
enriches the choice of flowers for export. Israel is thus<br />
considered today as the third largest flower exporter in<br />
the world.<br />
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISRAEL - Wishing you<br />
many years of brilliant achievement and contribution<br />
to the world we are living in.<br />
Anat Baruch<br />
27
Survey www.emanuel.org.au<br />
28<br />
Survey Results<br />
With the help of well known pollster Sol Lebovic, a survey was conducted in August / September 2011 among members<br />
of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong>. We now report on the outcome.<br />
Methodology<br />
Methodology used was both<br />
online by email invitation and<br />
by self-completion mail out<br />
questionnaire. We got a very<br />
respectable response rate of<br />
25%.<br />
This survey was<br />
predominantly conducted<br />
online. The online survey<br />
was conducted by inviting<br />
respondents by email to<br />
participate in the survey<br />
by clicking on a link to the<br />
questionnaire which was hosted<br />
by and used SurveyMonkey<br />
software. (surveymonkey.com)<br />
In order to reflect the<br />
total membership a hard copy<br />
of the questionnaire was also mailed to members for whom <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> did not have an email address or<br />
where the member had requested not to receive emails from <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong>.<br />
Respondents were asked to provide only one response per household and for the online respondents the<br />
software only allowed one response per computer or ISP address.<br />
The sampling error for the total sample of this survey is plus or minus 5.1% at the 95% confidence level. This<br />
means that there is a 95% chance that responses from the survey fall within a range of plus or minus 5.1% of the actual<br />
response if all members of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> had been interviewed.<br />
Demographics<br />
The respondents to the survey showed a skew to people aged 50 years and over. Seventy one per cent are 50<br />
years or over compared to only 35% of the adult population in the Eastern Suburbs of this age. This could reflect the<br />
age of the membership base or the age of people who undertook the survey or perhaps both.<br />
In terms of sex, the balance is more like the general population, 54% female and 46% male.<br />
About half the membership have children living at home with the children more likely to be older than 4 years.<br />
Also in line with the older age profile, the vast majority, 59%, have been members of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> for 10<br />
years or more.<br />
Most households, 54%, have two adult members of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> however a significant minority, 26%,<br />
have only one member.<br />
General questions about <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong><br />
General feelings are very positive with the<br />
strongest support for ‘it keeps you well informed<br />
of its activities’, 80% strongly agreeing, and ‘it<br />
provides a wide range of religious activities’,<br />
72%.<br />
Communication vehicles<br />
The most often read publication is Tell, followed<br />
by the Weekly Bulletin sent by email, 43%, and<br />
then Shabbat Bulletin, 29%. <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong><br />
website is less well used at present.<br />
It keeps you well informed<br />
It provides a wide range of religious activities<br />
It has a welcoming feeling<br />
Its office staff provide a good service<br />
It provides a wide range of social activities<br />
It looks after its members<br />
High Holydays B/Mitzvah Friday Yahrzeit Saturday Festivals Other<br />
Rosh Hashanah Wedding, nights mornings<br />
Yom Kippur etc
Survey<br />
Services at <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong><br />
It is not surprising that the type of service attended by<br />
the most members is ‘High Holydays, Rosh Hashanah<br />
and / or Yom Kippur’ with nine out of ten, 90%, generally<br />
attending.<br />
The next most frequented service is ‘special<br />
occasions like Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, etc’ with<br />
61% saying they generally attend. Friday night and for<br />
Yahrzeit is attended by just over 50% with Saturday<br />
morning and festivals other than High Holy Days generally<br />
attended by just under 40% of members.<br />
In line with their more frequent attendance<br />
younger members aged 50 years or younger are more<br />
likely to attend Friday night services and Festivals other<br />
than High Holy Days.<br />
The most popular type of service is Progressive<br />
with 77% frequenting this service at least sometimes,<br />
with 43% for Masorti and 14% for Renewal.<br />
About a third of you want more use of the choir.<br />
About a quarter would like more ‘instrumental music’,<br />
17% more ‘use of English’.<br />
Tell Magazine Weekly Bulletin Shabbat Bulletin<br />
sent by email<br />
For many of you ‘attending services more often is<br />
not a priority’. Our challenge is to persuade you to the<br />
contrary.<br />
Learning and Study groups<br />
There is generally quite widespread support for<br />
attending learning sessions or learning more about many<br />
of the areas offered in the survey.<br />
Topping the list in the learning sessions are Jewish<br />
history, 73%, Jewish values, 70%, and Israel, 64%.<br />
In terms of learning more about topics, Israeli<br />
themes rather than different forms of Judaism are<br />
more popular. - ’Israeli politics and current affairs’ of<br />
interest to 75%, ‘Israeli history’ 74% and Israeli culture’<br />
61% . Interest in learning more about different forms<br />
of Judaism follows the rank order of attendance levels<br />
of the types of services with 56% interested in learning<br />
more about Progressive Judaism, Masorti Judaism 46%<br />
and Renewal Judaism 31%.<br />
Weekday nights and Sundays are the most popular<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
times for these learning sessions with the majority<br />
indicating these times are at least ‘somewhat suitable’.<br />
The most popular way of conducting these learning<br />
sessions is ‘in small groups as a seminar’ with 50% saying<br />
this method is ‘very suitable’ and a further 31% saying<br />
it is ‘somewhat suitable’. ‘Face to face sessions’ and ‘in<br />
larger groups as a lecture’ are also popular with more<br />
than 70% saying they are suitable. Perhaps reflecting<br />
the older profile of the sample, ‘by using social media<br />
such as, Facebook or Skype’ is far less popular with only<br />
28% saying it is suitable.<br />
Of four activities offered, ‘attending an address by<br />
an Israeli visitor (ie politicians, ambassadors, scholars’) is<br />
the most popular with 74% interested. Also with majority<br />
interest is ‘attending communal events on Israel’. Again,<br />
possibly reflecting the age profile of responders, ‘taking<br />
part in blogs and e-conversations” is not well supported.<br />
Social activities<br />
Interest in attending a list of ten social activities<br />
was tested. The top four activities are:<br />
Movies, plays or concerts<br />
on Jewish themes 72%<br />
Israeli films 66%<br />
Movies, plays or concerts on<br />
general themes 58%<br />
Shabbat dinners 54%<br />
The most popular frequency for these kinds of<br />
functions is about every two to three months,<br />
supported by 42% followed by once a month at<br />
32%.<br />
Sunday nights, weekday nights and<br />
Sundays during the day are the most popular<br />
times for these kinds of social activities with<br />
59%, 56% and 54% respectively saying these are<br />
either very or somewhat suitable.<br />
Social Issues<br />
The majority of members surveyed are concerned<br />
about each of the seven social issues tested. The areas<br />
with the greatest number very concerned are, ‘care<br />
for the elderly’, 49%, ‘poverty’, 46%, mental illness and<br />
depression, 44% and homelessness, 41%.<br />
Conclusion<br />
We will use this valuable information in our programming<br />
decisions and strategic plan. Giving members the services<br />
and programmes they want and need is a priority. Please<br />
contact us if you have further suggestions or would to<br />
join a “members committee” to help us with that task.<br />
29
From the Director of Education www.emanuel.org.au<br />
The UPJ mission to Poland and Israel, flew out of Australia,<br />
bound for Warsaw. The purpose of the journey – to learn<br />
of our rich and vibrant past and to confront the evils of<br />
mankind.<br />
The delegation at Mila 18<br />
A contingent of 15 people of various shapes, sizes and<br />
functions, joined in a journey that would shape and change<br />
our lives.<br />
During the first leg of the journey, we visited Warsaw,<br />
Lublin and Krakow, all once vibrant Jewish communities<br />
and centres of great learning. We shared our thoughts and<br />
had animated discussions in “Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin”<br />
- a building that once housed one of the greatest schools<br />
of Talmud. A place where students would study one page<br />
of Talmud a day, completing the entire Talmud in seven<br />
years. In all the cities visited, one thing in common – the<br />
Jewish populations which were the foundation and centre of<br />
Jewish life around the world are now almost memories. We<br />
have met with remarkable people along the way who are<br />
dedicating their lives to unearth the remnants of the past<br />
and to restore the majesty of the synagogues and meeting<br />
places of Jewish life.<br />
After seeing the faded marks of mezuzot that have been<br />
removed from the doorposts, and trying to picture the life<br />
that was. We were amazed to see the regrowth of the<br />
communities in Warsaw and to experience the warmth and<br />
welcome of a wonderful Progressive community in Krakow.<br />
Shabbat morning saw us experiencing a service in the<br />
Tempel in Krakow together with students from the <strong>Emanuel</strong><br />
School who had completed the March of the Living Journey<br />
and with hundreds of Jewish people who had experienced a<br />
similar experience from all over the world.<br />
In Poland, we have searched for traces of a world that is<br />
no more. We discovered that of the hundreds of Jewish<br />
schools, synagogues and institutions that existed before the<br />
war, only a handful remain today. We leave Poland having<br />
caught a glimpse of the glorius past and wondering how it<br />
was possible for the near destruction of a people to occur.<br />
Sandy Hollis<br />
30<br />
Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man<br />
continued from page 9.<br />
_______________________________<br />
The meaning to the question<br />
Eludes our minds, our hands<br />
Our grasp:<br />
How did we and he unclasp<br />
Six million hands, and more, and more<br />
And leave them touching<br />
Dachau’s door?<br />
How do we knead the bitter doug<br />
Between the silver birch trees,<br />
And glaze with egg and spangled salt<br />
And bake that loaf that was their stroke<br />
Of understanding?<br />
Gentile and Jew, there is no wall<br />
we own the question, one and all<br />
The answer is the question.<br />
keep it near, come day, come night<br />
It is to be within your sight.<br />
Keep that question coming.<br />
For if we ask it faithfully,<br />
No longer Gypsy, Slav or thee<br />
Will starve beneath the Holy Tree<br />
The Tree of Life, denying thee<br />
The Killer and the killed.<br />
Choose life! You cry<br />
Choose life, choose me,<br />
Choose every life, choose he and she.<br />
Choose orphan, sinner and the blest<br />
And choose the refugee.<br />
Clasp and grap the falling ones<br />
Our song will lift the seething throng<br />
Sing and touch the Holy Tree<br />
And call the One to sing to thee<br />
and lie beneath the pecan tree<br />
Hallelujah breathing over thee<br />
beneath the holy pecan tree.<br />
In the foyer the women come and go, talking of<br />
Michelangelo’s<br />
Block of marble, talking of<br />
El Greco’s<br />
Jar of paint, in the distance your voice:<br />
Don’t wait for a miracle, don’t wait till<br />
The Pietà looks up, stares into your eyes, and says<br />
Be still,<br />
What the Goddess wants is mercy, not sacrifice.<br />
You, old one, sing your song with the tenderness of<br />
a man cradling his sleeping child. Praise Ya, praise<br />
Yahweh. The band on your arm gently tells us you<br />
are in mourning. Praise Ya, praise Yahweh. Your left<br />
hand lies under her head, your right hand embraces<br />
her:<br />
Continued on page 39
Community Notices<br />
Note: 10% discount from Mila’s Catering<br />
for all <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> orders.<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Need a Celebrant?<br />
Jon Green<br />
Civil Marriage Celebrant<br />
Weddings<br />
Renewal of Vows<br />
Call Jon on:-<br />
Baby Namings<br />
0414 872 199<br />
emanuel synagogue<br />
MyPlaySpace<br />
social networking for the under 4s<br />
A great<br />
opportunity to<br />
get to know<br />
other new<br />
parents and<br />
their families.<br />
A space for our<br />
youngest<br />
children and their<br />
carers to meet, talk<br />
and play.<br />
Children 0 - 3<br />
9:30 - 11:30 am<br />
$5 non-members,<br />
gold coin donation<br />
members.<br />
Friday<br />
mornings<br />
during school<br />
terms.<br />
31
Youth Programs<br />
32<br />
“Shomer Achi”, our new teenage Social Justice Groups<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
With the beginning of the year came the beginning of a new project: <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong>’s own<br />
youth activities. Aligned with our strategic goal of offering a space for the entire community,<br />
I approached some of our younger members and asked them what they would be mostly<br />
interested in. The response seemed almost unanimous: There was a sincere interest and<br />
eagerness to participate in social justice activities. To my surprise given their youthfulness<br />
(13 to 16 years old) they said that life had generally been good to them, and that they felt the<br />
need to help others who’s lives had not been as comfortable. Others added that a personal<br />
experience (such as a conversation with a homeless person or a very close friend with a certain disease) had marked<br />
them so much that they felt the need to do something to help them.<br />
And this is how we created “Shomer Achi” (Hebrew for “my brother’s guardian”), a social justice group led by the<br />
teenagers of our community. The history of the name goes all the way back to the beginning of the book of Genesis.<br />
Our Torah tells us that once Cain had killed Abel, G’d asked Cain “where is your brother?”. Cain hid the reality and<br />
responded: “how should I know? Am I my brother’s guardian?” (Hashomer achi anochi?)<br />
The goal of the Shomer Achi group is to do exactly the opposite. We believe it is necessary to open our eyes to inequity<br />
and injustice. We believe each one of us can make a real difference, not by hiding the parts of the reality that seem<br />
unpleasant, but by understanding them and working “hands on” to improve them. We believe there is not much we<br />
need to say, but a lot that needs to be done to better the world.<br />
Last but not least, Shomer Achi is also a place to have fun and enjoy. Every week we meet to plan and research different<br />
projects that we might get involved in (hopefully by the time you are reading this we will already be participating in a<br />
few of them), we play some games and laugh a lot, and we’ve established a very healthy challenge: Every week, for the<br />
last part of our meeting, I have to bring a different and tasty meal without repeating it more than twice. So we started<br />
with sushi, moved to Mexican, Indian, and for the second term I have already planned some cool new ideas! So as you<br />
can see, Shomer Achi is not only about helping others, but having fun, establishing relationships and sharing a good<br />
meal!<br />
If you are interested in participating, please contact me at martinyafe@emanuel.org.au We currently have two<br />
Shomer Achi groups, one on Mondays from 4:00pm to 5:30pm and another on Tuesdays from 6:00pm to 7:30pm.<br />
There is space for anyone who wishes to participate, and no cost is involved. Looking forward to seeing you soon!<br />
Martin Yafe – Youth Director<br />
PURE MAGIC! Fay Sussman has just<br />
released a new album of Yiddish songs<br />
with her band ‘Klezmer Divas.’<br />
Klezmer Divas is one of the most exciting new Klezmer<br />
bands in Australia. Their intoxicating combination of<br />
music takes you through the 1930’s swing era of jazz,<br />
tango and waltz, all done with a Yiddish flavour.<br />
The sound of FAY SUSSMAN’s soulful and emotive<br />
singing is comparable to the Berlin cabaret of Marlene<br />
Dietrich. The beautiful voice and violin playing of<br />
LARA GOODRIDGE is haunting and sexy, PHIL MARKS<br />
on piano is beautiful and sensitive. while Gypsy/jazz<br />
violinist DANIEL WELTLINGER, EDDIE BRONSON on<br />
clarinet, PHILIPPE WITTWER on accordion and MARK HARRRIS on bass all add richness and depth.<br />
Their music will take you on a journey of all the emotions of life!<br />
CD’S for sale for $25.00 from Fay Sussman 0425 294786 or email fsussmusic@bigpond.com<br />
CDs also for sale at <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong> - just ask at reception
Netzer<br />
In Nisan (Pesach Time) Netzer Australia launched an<br />
attempt to get back in touch with its bogrim reaching as<br />
far back as those who went on the Shnat program in 1977!<br />
The reaction has been remarkable.<br />
As part of the venture the past bogrim have filled<br />
out an online form in which they let us know what they<br />
do today, whether they married their Netzer love (many<br />
have!) and if Netzer has impacted their post-movement<br />
life. We have had truly memorable responses, and I<br />
wanted to share just a few of them with you.<br />
Evan Lever who went on Shnat in 1995 and<br />
subsequently made aliyah wrote: Through my time in<br />
Netzer I gained valuable leadership and life skills that I use<br />
daily in my working life as a CEO and in my family life with<br />
my kids. Oh yeah, also made Aliyah which I suppose has<br />
has the most major influence on my post movement life!<br />
A little closer to home, the outstanding Kim<br />
Rubenstein who went on Shnat in 1983 wrote:<br />
“I am now President of the ACT Jewish Community<br />
and Netzer and my experience in Israel was foundational<br />
to my community involvement from then onwards!”<br />
When asked if Netzer had a significant influence on her<br />
post movement life, Aliza Denenberg (Shnat 2001) said:<br />
Yes! I would not be where I am today or who I am today<br />
without Netzer. I think I am in my job way more because<br />
of the skills I learnt through Netzer than what I learnt at<br />
Uni!<br />
These are just a few of many entries that have been<br />
streaming in over the last few weeks. The message is clear;<br />
our movement experiences and the self-development it<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
SYLVY’SWEETS<br />
Home-Made Moroccan Cookies<br />
Inspired by her Moroccan background and her lifelong love of baking for<br />
others, Sylvy took to the kitchen to create a range of exquisitely home-made<br />
cakes, cookies and biscuits.<br />
The recipes for these Moroccan cookies are authentic as they have been<br />
passed down from many generations and have been recreated in Sylvy’s<br />
kitchen using the finest ingredients, themed around the times when people<br />
gather together<br />
The intricate shapes and flavours of each cookie and biscuit are unique and<br />
the taste tells the story of one special lady that takes great pleasure in<br />
perfecting her art and having others enjoy it.<br />
Perfect for parties, baby showers, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries,<br />
Corporate events and other special occasions.<br />
A large variety of Gluten free cookies is available.<br />
For orders call Sylvy on<br />
02 9386 1403 | 0405 122 625<br />
www.homemade-cookies.com.au<br />
email: sylvyaviv@hotmail.com<br />
stimulates are enduring and profound. From fresh out of high school students to university lecturers, doctors, graphic<br />
designers and importantly mothers and fathers, the lessons and friendships made stay with us.<br />
Maddi Aghion, Netzer Metaemet<br />
33
Netzer www.emanuel.org.au<br />
JUNIOR AND MD SLEEPOVER!<br />
If you’re a keen NETZERNIK or<br />
even someone who just wants to<br />
have LOADS of fun, in years 3-8.<br />
Then COME ALONG to Netzer’s<br />
EPIC sleepover! For a night of crazy<br />
activities, awesome games and not<br />
much sleep!!<br />
When:19th and 20th of <strong>May</strong><br />
Where: Years 3-6 @ North Shore Temple <strong>Emanuel</strong>.<br />
Years 7-8 @ <strong>Emanuel</strong> Woolahra <strong>Synagogue</strong><br />
What Time: 6:30 pm Start<br />
How Much: $15<br />
Questions and queries? Contact: Maddi (years 3-6):<br />
maddi.aghion@netzer.org.au<br />
Alice (years7-8): alice.chipkin@netzer.org.au<br />
SENIOR SLEEPOVER!<br />
Are you in years 9-12 and LOVE hanging out with<br />
your friends over the weekend? We at NETZER have the<br />
answer! Why not come along to our Senior sleepover?!<br />
Coinciding with the AWESOME festival of Shavuot we<br />
have an fun-filled, jam-packed night planned for some<br />
good memory-making material!<br />
When? 26th and 27th of <strong>May</strong><br />
Where? North Shore Temple <strong>Emanuel</strong><br />
What Time? 7pm Start. 6pm pick-up (27th)<br />
How Much? $15<br />
SHNAT<br />
So after almost three months, the unfortunate ones,<br />
looking enviously on back at home, continue to hear<br />
great reports from our Netzer Shnatties over in the land<br />
of Israel! We hear of their progress in learning, making<br />
friends and discovering all those exotic and exciting<br />
traditions and cultures of Jerusalem! The following<br />
report allows for you to gain insight into “The life of a<br />
Shnattie”. We hope you enjoy!<br />
Shnat Report from Shoshana Booth at Machon (The<br />
Institute for Leadership and learning, Kiryat Moriah)<br />
We have just reached the end of the fourth week of<br />
Machon, which was busier, colder and then warmer and<br />
more exciting than any week yet.<br />
Snow unfortunately turned to rain on Thursday meaning<br />
that our volunteering options in the afternoon (running<br />
a Purim carnival for a youth centre or community<br />
gardening) were cancelled. The combination of the rain<br />
and the snow was pretty unpleasant, and we spent the<br />
day running from the cafeteria for hot chocolate to classes<br />
and back. However, all was forgiven when we awoke on<br />
Friday morning for the first day of Shabbat Machon to<br />
the shrieks of naked South Africans running outside in<br />
the snow. It snowed properly this time, and there was<br />
something incredibly magical about looking out of the<br />
dorm windows and seeing the campus covered in fat<br />
white snowflakes.<br />
The Netzer Chocolate Seder - led by Netzer chocolate maddies, who wrote a truly funny and original take on the Haggadah - was<br />
held on Sunday 8th April, the third night of Pesach, and a sweet and chocolatey time was had by all.<br />
34
Netzer www.emanuel.org.au<br />
Shabbat had been planned by the Machon Tzevet and everyone was staying at Kiryat Moriah for both Friday and<br />
Saturday to participate in the activities. We had free time on Friday morning, so most of us slept in and ran various<br />
errands. Some of us went on a walk to the Kotel and the Old City in the snow, which was stunning. In the afternoon<br />
we had a Kabbalat Shabbat service as a Machzor, and then we were billeted out to various (very hospitable) Englishspeaking<br />
host families around the neighbourhood. Also some of us had more trouble finding the houses in the rain<br />
than others, most people really enjoyed having a home-cooked Shabbat dinner and meeting different people. The<br />
conversations were particularly interesting, and most of the families were quite religious and had made Aliyah, so there<br />
was a lot to discuss. By the time we returned later in the evening the snow had begun to fall again, and those who<br />
got back earlier joined an impromptu ruach session/snowball fight with the rest of the Machzor. Saturday morning we<br />
had our choice of shules to attend, as well as cultural services here at Machon. A few of us went to Shira Hadasha, an<br />
egalitarian orthodox synagogue where women lead the services as well and Mizmor leDavid, a synagogue known for<br />
its dancing and singing. Seudah Shlishit and lunch were had together with the rest of Machon, and several programs<br />
in the afternoon until the Havdalah service where we finished the Shabbat altogether. It was a really lovely evening; it<br />
was great to see how Machon could have an intimate vibe with such a large group.<br />
Classes continued to be (on the whole) interesting and challenging this week, with electives and in-depth courses as<br />
well as our regular classes. On Sunday night we saw a performance called the One Woman Haredi Show, which was a<br />
truly incredible and mind-boggling play in which an Australian actress created four extreme, extremely different Jewish<br />
women and involved us in a Q&A with each of them. It was definitely the highlight of the week! Monday night we had<br />
a program run for us by Noam’s chavura, which Becca, Jess and Sophie were involved in. It was based on conspiracy<br />
theories and involved some odd and quite scary running around in the dark being chased by clowns.<br />
Tuesday we had Tnua time, so Guy ran an interesting program for both Machon and Etgar about the nature of capitalist<br />
societies and the way we treat people within them. Today we have a tiyul around Tel Aviv and are staying there for<br />
Purim celebrations tonight, which everyone is pretty hyped up for.<br />
All in all, this week was a great and very packed one, but will only be topped by next week, when we go to the<br />
Negev on Southern Tiyul!<br />
Enduring Ties – Past to Present<br />
35
Births<br />
Rabbi Jacobson’s address at the baby naming<br />
36<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
How wonderful, dear Emily, it is to welcome you into our family. For the past six weeks, we have delighted in<br />
getting to know your gentle presence, your warmth, and your smiles, watching your big blue eyes absorb so much of<br />
the world around you. And as thrilling as it has been for us, we have also enjoyed watching your big sister Hannah Mae<br />
begin to love you too.<br />
This morning we have the opportunity to welcome you into our<br />
extended family. The sanctuary that we stand in is very special to all<br />
of us – it is where Mommy and Daddy got married, and where Hannah<br />
received her Hebrew name too. Today we pause to give thanks to<br />
God for your safe arrival, and to give you your Hebrew name, a name<br />
that will carry special meaning and be with you for the rest of your<br />
life. One of Daddy’s teachers when he was growing up always said that<br />
someone’s Hebrew name offers them a direct challenge from God – to<br />
live by the best attributes of their namesake.<br />
Emily, if this teaching is true, then you will surely have a good<br />
and engaging challenge ahead of you! When you were in the womb, we<br />
were deciding whether to name you Emily or Mikaela. Since Hannah<br />
was Mommy’s favourite girl’s name, we thought it would be only fair if<br />
Daddy were able to choose his favourite girl’s name – Emily. Because<br />
we both liked the name and the meaning of Mikaela, we thought<br />
that it would be an appropriate name for you. Mikaela is a feminine<br />
form of Michael, one of God’s ministering angels. Mi-cha-El is often<br />
translated into the question, “Who is like God?” And because nothing<br />
can compare to God’s greatness, the name Mi-cha-el, or in your<br />
case, Mi-cha-el-a, becomes a name of humility, a name dedicated to<br />
recognizing the brilliance of God’s presence in the world. It is also a<br />
name of protection and advocacy, for the angel Michael is seen in both<br />
the book of Daniel and many times in rabbinic tradition to show great support for the people of Israel. Midrash teaches<br />
that it was the angel Michael who helped Abraham escape from the fiery furnace in one of his ten trials, prevented the<br />
sacrifice of Isaac, and helped to save the Israelites from drowning in the Sea of Reeds. Each of these examples shows<br />
Michael’s dedication to others and to the world around him. We know that you, Mi-cha-el-a, with your presence, your<br />
compassion, your wit, and a hefty dose of girl-power, will share these values with our world.<br />
Additionally, you are named for some very special people. Your first name Emily is a combination of the names<br />
of Daddy’s great-grandmother Emma, and Mommy’s grandmother Lily. The latter, who only passed away less than a<br />
year and a half ago, was a woman deeply devoted to her children, family and community. She worked tirelessly under<br />
difficult circumstances to ensure that her children had opportunities to develop their talents and passions. Taking both<br />
of their names together, and making from them the name Emily is appropriate, for the meaning of the name Emily is<br />
“industrious,” or “hard-working,” qualities held by both women, and we are sure, qualities which you will demonstrate<br />
too, in your own special, unique way.<br />
Your middle name Sophia is to known to many people as a word meaning “wisdom,” and with this name we<br />
honour three of your ancestors, Daddy’s grandmothers Fay and Sylvia, and Mommy’s grandfather Sam. Fay was a<br />
woman who believed in the importance of quality education, and it was her foresight, drive, and dedication, working<br />
well into her seventies, which assisted Daddy and his brother Evan in attending top American universities. Sylvia, or<br />
Googy, as she was more commonly called, took great pride in the accomplishments of her grandchildren, and would<br />
have been so proud of you and your big sister Hannah.<br />
Sam, who was affectionately known as Poppy, was a man of intense character. Championing causes in the<br />
community and the wider world he always putting himself out there, and was not afraid to speak his mind or speak<br />
against those he felt were causing harm. Your middle name Sophia would certainly have made Poppy smile. One of the<br />
most important lessons he taught mummy and Aunty Vicki was that knowledge is something that can never be taken<br />
away from you. Teaching them world geography was a great priority to him and he would quiz mommy on countries<br />
and their capital cities. He always saved his favourite question till last and with a big grin on his face would ask us “And<br />
what is the capital of Bulgaria?” When mommy responded “Sofia” he would sit back in his chair, cross his arms, smile<br />
and say “Ah yes, Sofia.”<br />
To our daughter, Emily Sophia, known in the Jewish community as Mikaela, we hope that you will journey through<br />
life bringing the gifts of your heart and soul to the world. All our love Mommy and Daddy
Our B’nei Mitzvah<br />
NAME: Rebecca Epstein<br />
SCHOOL: Kambala<br />
HOBBIES:touch football,<br />
swimming and cooking<br />
DISLIKES: bananas, spiders<br />
ABOUT MYSELF: Favourite<br />
tv shows are Neighbours,<br />
Masterchef and The Brady<br />
Bunch. I would like to be a<br />
teacher when I am older. I<br />
play touch football, netball and soccer. I play the trumpet<br />
in the stage band and JGWO orchestra at school. I like<br />
science and art but do not like technology or history.<br />
SOCIAL JUSTICE: In year six I was a charity prefect so I<br />
helped to raise money for different charities for example<br />
The Starlight Foundation.<br />
REMEMBER PREPARING FOR BAT MITZVAH…. I will<br />
remember my parents helping me to learn all my Hebrew<br />
and making sure I do the best I can do. Also my Hebrew<br />
teacher Kim for helping me become a better person and<br />
also helping me with my Hebrew.<br />
NAME: Asher Klein<br />
NAME: Gabrielle (Gabi ) Stricker-Phelps<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
NAME: Elijah Lazarus<br />
SCHOOL: Sydney Technical<br />
High School<br />
HOBBIES: Video games,<br />
reading, softball, fencing,<br />
swimming<br />
DISLIKES: homework,<br />
haters, war<br />
ABOUT MYSELF: My<br />
favourite TV show is<br />
Doctor Who. I’d like to<br />
be a world designer for the video game industry in my<br />
future career. I enjoy fencing and swimming.<br />
SOCIAL JUSTICE: I particpated in The World’s Greatest<br />
Shave and our household sponsors two children, one in<br />
Brazil and one in Swaziland (where my mum is from). In<br />
the future, I’d like to do work for the environment.<br />
REMEMBER PREPARING FOR BAR MITZVAH….What I’ll<br />
remember most about bar mitzvah prep: My awesome<br />
tutor, Sam Zwarenstein, and the frustration of actually<br />
getting it all done but realizing it’s all going to turn out<br />
ok in the end.<br />
SCHOOL: <strong>Emanuel</strong><br />
HOBBIES: Making Movies, Basketball, Reading Books<br />
DISLIKES: Homework<br />
ABOUT MYSELF: I really enjoy watching movies and my favourite TV show<br />
is Modern Family. My idea of a future career is as an actor since I love<br />
acting and have appeared in several productions, in and out of school.<br />
My favourite sports are basketball and skiing. I play basketball for Maccabi<br />
and have done so for many years now. At school my favourite subjects are<br />
English and HSIE. But most of all I enjoy hanging out with my family.<br />
SOCIAL JUSTICE: I have been involved in the concept of giving students a voice and have been active in the<br />
<strong>Emanuel</strong> School SRC since Year 4 and intend to do more of this in the future.For the last 5 years, my family<br />
and I have sponsored two children through World Vision. Firstly we sponsored a young boy in Cambodia<br />
called Thai Thon and last year we started sponsoring a boy in China called Yuan Bao Li, who is 7. I would<br />
love to meet them one day and see up close the vastly different life they lead to us here in Australia.<br />
I hope to be more involved with charity projects as I get older.<br />
REMEMBER PREPARING FOR BAR MITZVAH…. I will remember waking up each morning to practice. And even<br />
though I didn’t like it at the time, it made me realise that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.<br />
SCHOOL: Ascham<br />
HOBBIES: dancing, singing, acting, kayaking, swimming, playing Wii.<br />
DISLIKES: going to bed early, fish and people who are not kind.<br />
ABOUT MYSELF: I love learning new things, being with my family and friends. I love to<br />
laugh but can be serious when necessary. I enjoy life.<br />
REMEMBER PREPARING FOR BAT MITZVAH…. I will remember setting my alarm every<br />
morning at 6am to practise for my Bat Mitzvah and I will remember the amazing<br />
feeling when I did my Bat Mitzvah in the synagogue and my family were proud of me.<br />
37
Our B’nei<br />
Mitzvah<br />
38<br />
NAME: Daniel Kontorovich<br />
SCHOOL: <strong>Emanuel</strong> School<br />
HOBBIES: Soccer, tennis, skiing<br />
DISLIKES: Salmon<br />
ABOUT MYSELF: I like watching<br />
comedy and action tv shows. I’m<br />
not sure of my future career, but<br />
I want it to involve some sort of<br />
science. I support Barcelona and<br />
listen to bands like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Pink Floyd.<br />
My favourite school subject is obviously science, and I enjoy<br />
chemistry and genetics. I also enjoy Jewish Studies because it<br />
is very much like philosophy, and I enjoy learning new<br />
teachings and ethics.<br />
SOCIAL JUSTICE: I give tzedakah to many organisations via<br />
school, such as WIZO. What concerns me most about our<br />
world is that too many people do not have suitable living<br />
conditions. I would like to help the homless eat and sleep.<br />
REMEMBER PREPARING FOR BAR MITZVAH…. I will remember<br />
my tutor Kim for all the work he did to help me, and when<br />
writing my dvar torah I remembered the pesach story and<br />
it reminded me that it only takes one to start something.<br />
When one person stands up, others will follow with pride and<br />
conviction.<br />
NAME: Ben Ellis-Bloor<br />
SCHOOL: Conservatorium High<br />
School<br />
HOBBIES: Surfing, playing music,<br />
camping and adventure sports.<br />
PETS: Babu (cat) Yoyo (Puppy)<br />
DISLIKES: AMEB/School exams<br />
ABOUT MYSELF: My favourite TV<br />
shows are Modern Family and Two<br />
and a Half Men. My favourite school subjects are science and<br />
history. I enjoy listening to all types of music. My favourite<br />
activities are definitely surfing, camping and a lot of activities<br />
in the bush. I am funny and kind and loyal to my friends.<br />
SOCIAL JUSTICE. I decided to get involved with helping and<br />
understanding other cultures. By this, I went and performed<br />
music to 120 refugees at an assembly in the only intensive<br />
English centre opposite the Villawood Detention Centre. It<br />
was something I will never forget.<br />
REMEMBER PREPARING FOR BAR MITZVAH…. All the lessons<br />
with my tutor, Kim helping me prepare for my Bar Mitzvah.<br />
He made the lessons fun and really enjoyable whilst working<br />
me hard.<br />
NAME: Josh Kemeny<br />
PETS: One dog, one cat.<br />
DISLIKES: Getting up early.<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
NAME: Tom Singer<br />
SCHOOL: Rose<br />
Bay Secondary<br />
HOBBIES: Slot car<br />
racing, going to watch<br />
the Rugby, bike riding,<br />
going to the beach<br />
DISLIKES: cabbage, Microsoft Vista<br />
ABOUT MYSELF: Future career architect because<br />
I like to design and draw. Also like engineering<br />
because I like seeing how things work and making<br />
things such as a billy cart. Listening to music, my<br />
favourites are Florence + Machine, The Script and<br />
Art vs Science.<br />
I enjoy looking after younger children to help their<br />
parents. I go in the Breast Cancer walk every year. I<br />
would like to help the environment and find more<br />
efficient and environmentally friendly ways of<br />
making energy.<br />
REMEMBER PREPARING FOR BAR MITZVAH…. I<br />
enjoyed going to Shule and seeing all the other bar/<br />
bat mitzvah before mine and hearing their stories.<br />
SCHOOL: Cranbrook<br />
High School<br />
HOBBIES: Some of<br />
my hobbies would be<br />
surfing, skateboarding<br />
and going to the beach<br />
with my friends. I<br />
really enjoy surfing.<br />
ABOUT MYSELF: My favourite TV show is<br />
probably the Simpsons. at my school I mainly<br />
enjoy Japanese, Maths and Geography. I like the<br />
atmosphere and what I learn about.<br />
SOCIAL JUSTICE: I have been involved in Clean Up<br />
Australia day and I would like to stay involved in it<br />
to keep Australia clean.<br />
REMEMBER PREPARING FOR BAR MITZVAH…. I<br />
think I will probably most remember standing at<br />
the front of the Shule with everyone watching me<br />
and how nervous I was.
Weddings<br />
Ashley Bierman<br />
& D’leanne Lewis<br />
Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man<br />
continued from page 30.<br />
And even though it all went wrong<br />
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song<br />
With nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.<br />
Praise Yah, Praise Yah<br />
Hallelujah.<br />
The Presence comes down.<br />
All the people feel it.<br />
The timbre of your voice warms us through the flesh<br />
to the bone:<br />
Live your life as though it’s real<br />
A thousand kisses deep.<br />
I loved you when you opened like a lily to the heat<br />
You see I’m just another snowman<br />
Standing in the rain and sleet<br />
Who loved you with his frozen love, his second hand<br />
physique<br />
With all he is and all he was<br />
A thousand kisses deep.<br />
Your head is covered, and your eyes are lidded in<br />
prayer, old man.<br />
Come home, your supper is waiting for you<br />
And it is still hot.<br />
_____________<br />
by Juanita Alyozha<br />
Anna Dobkin<br />
& Adam Muscio<br />
Notes:<br />
Nathan & Kerry<br />
Jacobs (Dreyer)<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
I have referenced numerous texts in There are several<br />
references to Shir haShirim (The Song of Songs), from the<br />
Hebrew Bible.<br />
Likewise, L. Cohen’s lyrics. The lyrics/poems quoted are:<br />
(a) “The Genius” from The Spice-Box of Earth (McClelland<br />
and Stewart, 1961), (b) “Hallelujah” was first released on<br />
Cohen’s studio album Various Positions (Columbia, 1985),<br />
and (c) “A Thousand Kisses Deep” from Book of Longing.<br />
(Ecco; First Edition edition, 2006).<br />
There is a reference to the influence of Parmenides and<br />
Plato on Christianity: their theory that the changing world<br />
in which we live is an illusion and that there exists a more<br />
real world that does not change. There are also references<br />
to T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and his<br />
frozen inner life (Faber and Faber Ltd, 1973). There is a<br />
reference to Deuteronomy 30:19<br />
Martin Buber and Abraham Heschel are Jewish religious<br />
philosophers; Géza Vermes is an historian, famous for his<br />
book, Jesus the Jew. And even though it all went wrong<br />
may be paraphrased as “in spite of the Shoah.”<br />
Finally there are references to Maurice Sendak’s Where the<br />
Wild Things Are (The Bodley Head, 1981) and In the Night<br />
Kitchen (HarperCollins, 1970).<br />
39
SHABBAT<br />
LIVE<br />
A spiritual, meaningful & musical<br />
Shabbat experience returns from<br />
3 February <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Shabbat services at <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong><br />
7 Ocean St. Woollahra @ 6:30pm<br />
$160/Term, non-members $250/term