TELL April-May 2019

the plight of Rahaf Mohammed
al-Qunun, a young, Saudi Arabian
women fleeing an abusive family
in the Middle East, highlighted the
desperate struggle for freedom of
many Muslim women. In countries
under strict Islamic rule, such as
Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain,
women yearn for the freedom of
self-determination - to be freed from
the yoke of the male guardianship
laws practised in these countries.
During Pesach, we recount the story
of our ancestor’s liberation from
cruel bondage in Egypt. Moses was
summoned by God to confront
Pharaoh to free the Children of Israel.
In words, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let
My people go that they may worship
Me’ Exodus 8:16, and by actions,
e.g. the plagues God inflicts on the
Egyptians, escalating in might each
time Pharaoh stubbornly refused to
free the Hebrews. Moses didn’t give
up. Acting as God’s agent on Earth,
he negotiated with Pharaoh overand-over
again, until he was finally
convinced to ‘let (His) people go’.
Our freedom was secured thousands
of centuries ago so that we ‘could
worship God …. and be a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation’ Exodus
19:6, and ‘a light unto the nations’,
Isaiah 49:6. We are now God’s agents
on Earth. We need to step up and
raise our voices advocating for human
rights and the freedom of oppressed
people around the world. Just as
Moses did many centuries ago on our
behalf, we need to urge our political
leaders to show compassion to asylum
seekers and change their policies.
To paraphrase Martin Luther
King, ‘we can never truly enjoy
our own freedom, unless we
secure the freedom of others -our
destinies are inextricably linked’. 5
Our words and actions need to
make the ideals of ‘freedom and
enlightenment’ the Statue of Liberty
symbolises not just a concept, but
a reality for all men and women.
References:
1. www.everything-everywhere.
com%2Funesco-world-heritagesite-93-statue-of-liberty
-UNESCO
‘Statement of Significance’.
2. Moreno, Barry (2000). The
Statue of Liberty Encyclopedia. New
York City: Simon & Schuster.
3. Berenson, Edward (2012)
The Statue of Liberty: A
Transatlantic Story (Icons of
America) Yale University Press.
4. Harris, Jonathan (1985). A Statue
for America: The First 100 Years
of the Statue of Liberty. New York
City: Four Winds Press (a division of
Macmillan Publishing Company).
5. King, Martin Luther Jn (1963)-
I Have a Dream (speech at the
‘March on Washington’.)
{JOINING THE ‘B AND B HIGHWAY’}
Judy Kahn Friedlander
Emanuel Synagogue is set to participate in an important sustainability
initiative that will also provide opportunities for congregants to meet
members of neighbouring faith and community groups.
As part of the ‘B and B Highway’,
Emanuel will soon be hosting a ‘B
and B’ – a ‘Bed and Breakfast for
Birds, Bees and Biodiversity’ as part
of a Sydney-wide innovative airborne
highway that aims to counter the
alarming decline in our pollinators.
The ‘B and B Highway’ was launched
recently by the not-for-profit group
26
FoodFaith, as part of a UTS/City
of Sydney initiative. It aims to
provide rest stops for birds, bees
and other insects across Sydney
in a bid to help food security and
biodiversity. The initiative will
bring other faith and community
groups together who also host ‘B
and Bs’ on an annual basis to share
sustainability knowledge and tips.
Founder of FoodFaith, Judy
Friedlander, is also a post-graduate
researcher with The Institute
for Sustainable Futures at The
University of Technology Sydney
and is completing her PhD this
year. Judy says that we are at a