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Religion
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2020-09-25
Jewish Melbourne: Chabad Kingston & Moorabbin newsletter 25 September
In this newsletter from Chabad Kingston & Moorabbin shul, they discuss the upcoming holiday of Yom Kippur and provide details of virtual events which will bring the community together in the lead-up. -
2020-08-28
Jewish Melbourne: Chabad Kingston & Moorabbin newsletter 28 August
Email newsletter from Chabad Kingston & Moorabbin Shul, which discusses upcoming preparations for Rosh Hashanah and how to prepare under lockdown. Also lists upcoming online events -
2020-09-04
Jewish Melbourne: Chabad Kingston & Moorabbin newsletter 4 September 2020
Newsletter from Chabad Kingston & Moorabbin Shul to their community, providing details of synagogue events, during this time of lockdown. It includes information about connecting over the High Holy Days -
2020-06
Jewish Melbourne: Caulfield Shule letter regarding opening up
Letter from the president of Caulfield Shule to the congregation, sent just after Shavuot, discussing the possibilities of opening up and people being able to attend services, but the need for caution in case there is a second wave of infections -
2020-07-10
Jewish Melbourne: St Kilda Hebrew Congregation newsletter update 10 July
St Kilda Hebrew Congregation provides an email update to their congregation, sharing a message from the Rabbi about lockdown, as well as information about observing yahrzeit and saying kaddish while locked down. -
2020-07-31
Jewish Melbourne: St Kilda Hebrew Congregation newsletter update 31 July
St Kilda Hebrew Congregation provided an email newsletter update, discussing Tisha B'Av, as well as other arrangements and events during Covid. -
2020-10-02
Jewish Melbourne: St Kilda Hebrew Congregation newsletter update 2 October
St Kilda Hebrew Congregation, in their newsletter of 2 October, provided congregants with a general update as well as information about arrangements for Sukkot -
2020-06-26
Jewish Melbourne: St Kilda Hebrew Congregation newsletter update 26 June
In this newsletter update, information is provided about online activities within the Congregation's community, including about a special event that took place that discussed mask-wearing for Covid-19, with Dr Norman Swan. -
2020-08-25
Jewish Melbourne: online services at Kehilat Nitzan
During lockdown Kehilat Nitzan ran synagogue services online, through youtube and zoom. They provided congregants with instructions about how to access these services in a kosher manner. -
2020-08-20
Jewish Melbourne: RCV Letter to the Community re Yamim Noraim
In August the Rabbinical Council of Victoria wrote to community members about the plans being made for the Yamim Noraim (High Holy Days), explaining the conversations that were happening with government as well as the launch of Project High Holy Days, to accomodate the community's needs. -
2020-03-31
Jewish Melbourne: Rabbinical Council of Victoria Pesach guidelines
The Rabbinical Council of Victoria, working with the Melbourne Beth Din, produced guidelines for Pesach during Covid-19. Information is provided on inviting guests, using Zoom for the seder, 'Reaching out to the Vulnerable,' and giving tzedakah -
2020
Jewish Melbourne: Kehilat Nitzan congregating protocols
For a brief moment in May, lockdown was lifted across Victoria and synagogues could have small gatherings of people. Kehilat Nitzan released details of their protocols for attending services. -
2020
Jewish Melbourne: SPECIAL KA GUIDELINES FOR PESACH 5780 - 2020 DUE TO COVID-19
"Rabbinic Administrator of The Kashrut Authority, Rabbi Moshe D. Gutnick, advises the community that due to the urgent situation for so many in relation to the impact of the coronavirus, COVID-19, The Kashrut Authority is issuing a unique set of guidelines to assist with this difficult situation." They provide an outline of the new guidelines and a list of items that are Kosher for Passover, even if they do not have a hechsher, given the limits of the moment. They also provide guidelines for adequate Passover cleaning. -
2020-09-12
Jewish Melbourne: Project High Holy Days Selichot
The Rabbinical Council of Victoria's Project High Holy Days organised an online Selichot gathering involving many congregations -
2020-09-20
Jewish Melbourne: Project High Holy Days shofar blowing
For Rosh Hashanah 2020, Project High Holy Days coordinated with DHHS and the Police and organised for people to hear the shofar being blown on their street or outside their home on Second Day Rosh Hashanah. They put out a call for people to sign up to hear the shofar and then coordinated shofar blowers. As they explained: "Volunteer Shofar blowers have been allocated zones which comprise of a few streets (which they will walk up and down). In locations where Jewish population is more sparse and there were fewer volunteers available, the DHHS has created a protocol for creating shofar blowing central points. Like the home reservations, these points require registration and have specific time locations. Times of volunteers arriving in your area will be emailed to you (if you reserved). If you did not book a shofar blowing, please listen out for the shofar and come out to the street as the shofar blower will blow multiple times on each street." -
2020-10-04
Jewish Melbourne: Shana Tova and Yom Kippur event from NIF
New Israel Fund emailed their email list in order to wish them a shana tova, and to send details of an event for Yom Kippur, as well as general information about what the organisation had been doing -
2020-04-24
Jewish Melbourne: NCJWA article in AJN
in April 2020, the Australian Jewish News profiled a number of Jewish organisations to show how they were adapting to Covid. Under the headline 'Thriving through the Covid-19 crisis', one of the organisations profiled was the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (NCJWA) -
2020-09
Jewish Melbourne: NCJWA Elul Stories
The National Council of Jewish Women of Australia compiled and shared "24 personal stories from Australian Jewish Women About Covid-19 and High Holidays" -
2020-09-09
Jewish Melbourne: Melton Spring Program email
With the pandemic lockdown, Melton School moved to online classes for its adult education program -
2020-10
Jewish Melbourne: 'Thoughts on Isolation' by Stan Marks
Stan Marks, who is 91 years old, reflects on living during the pandemic, and also shares a letter he wrote to share with the students in Year 12 at Brighton Grammar, his old school -
2020
Jewish Melbourne: Jewish Museum of Australia's emails about online events
With the Covid lockdown in Melbourne, the Jewish Museum of Australia had to close its doors to visitors. In response, they moved activities online, organising events to be held virtually. These events were shared with members of the Museum community through their email list. -
2020-04-08
Jewish Melbourne: The Plague Year Hypertext Haggadah
An interactive hypertext haggadah I wrote for my family’s Zoom seder in 2020. I used Twine, a popular open-source, interactive fiction tool, to write a choose-your-own-adventure haggadah. It was the first zoom-based seder I had ever attended, and I didn't know how long my family would tolerate technological difficulties and the often awkward, fragmented conversation that some Zoom conversations/events can descend into. (Let alone the near-impossibility of group singing via zoom). Apart from this, it’s fairly common in my family, as in many others, that parts of the seder are skipped over, or their inclusion is contested, and I thought that trying to conduct a seder via zoom would only make people more eager to get it over with and reach Shulchan Orech, i.e. the getting drunk/ shittalking part and then call it a night. Writing/Compiling a hypertext haggadah was my attempt to facilitate a more fluid seder, in which parts could easily be skipped over on the night, among other reasons. In practice in turned out to be a bit of a shemozzle, which is partly due to some technological illiteracy among the mishpachah, and also partly because my hypertext haggadah is a rabbit warren (over 5,000 words spread over over hundreds of individual pages joined by hyperlinks), and so moments of anarchy would often ensue when people strayed from the communal path (which I enjoyed tbh, but were clearly frustrating to my uncle, whose ideal seder is basically the Two-Minute Haggadah: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/03/the-two-minute-haggadah.html) -
2020-09-28
Yom Kippur in the year of the plague
Community is important to all, especially in these difficult times. For significant events and religious observances, we need to be inventive to stay connected. The Reform Jewish movement in Melbourne, has been broadcasting its services throughout the Victorian lockdowns, and this was especially so for the High Holidays, when thousands tuned into live streamed services. -
2020-04-09
Jewish Melbourne: 'Police raid ultra-Orthodox prayer group above store in Ripponlea'
report in The Age, by Paul Sakkal: "Police raided an ultra-Orthodox Jewish prayer group in Melbourne’s inner-east on Thursday morning where a group of at least 10 men were praying in contravention of social-distancing rules. Just after 11am, about 10 police vehicles swooped on an apartment above an IGA store in Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea." -
2020-08-06
Jewish Melbourne: ‘Caring for my mother in a Melbourne Jewish Care Covid cluster’
This is an article written by Abe Schwarz and published in +61J Media in which Abe writes about the experience of his mother being in "Monte", the Jewish Care home in St Kilda rd, and their experience of the lockdowns during Covid times. -
2020-04-03
Jewish Melbourne: Australian Jewish community management of COVID-19 pandemic – National Bulletin #3
In the lead-up to Pesach, this update provides a summary of "the current status of Jewish community life in each State and Territory". It begins: "Jewish community organisations and leaders across Australia continue their efforts to manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Jewish institutions, families, individuals and, most especially, the elderly and vulnerable. We recognise with deep appreciation the continuing work being done by the Jewish community roof bodies in each State, the Crisis Management Teams of the Community Security Groups, shules, the Day Schools, the aged care sector, the welfare sector and volunteers, and commend them for the high sense of responsibility they have demonstrated. With the approach of Pesach, when families typically gather to celebrate the Seder, many individuals and families will be feeling the effects of physical isolation from relatives and friends. Perhaps in the future we will look back upon these times and appreciate all the more the joy of being able to celebrate Pesach with family and friends, and have all the more compassion for those who have nowhere to go on Seder night, and are all alone." -
2020-04-29
Jewish Melbourne: 'YG Melbourne Resumes Full Seder Virtually Amidst Coronavirus'
This news update begins: "The Communists in Russia were not able to shut down Tomchei Temimim, and COVID-19 won’t shut it down either. The challenge today is different, but the mission remains the same, in what is surely Tomchei Temimim’s final frontier before Moshiach’s arrival. The Rebbe Rashab, the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe, and all the Temimim of old are looking to us, the final generation of Temimim, to carry the baton over the finish line. To that end, YG Melbourne resumed full Seder today via online platforms Zoom and Google Classroom, with the aim of supporting each Bochur in keeping a regular full day of Seder. Instead of reducing Torah study, YG’s full-service virtual Zal resumed Seder two days ahead of schedule. Seder was also opened up to all Bochurim enrolled in overseas Yeshivos who are stranded in Australia due to COVID-19 travel restrictions." -
2020-04
Jewish Melbourne: Chabad Kingston resources for Pesach
L'Chaim Chabad Kingston assembled a website of resources for Pesach 2020, providing information for congregants: "As Jewish people around the world prepare for Passover under the pale of coronavirus, we are faced with a host of new challenges and questions. How are we to prepare with minimal ingredients and limited access to communal resources? How to celebrate the Seder alone? How will we celebrate the Festival of Freedom with our movement restricted? Find answers to all this and more ..." -
2020-03-31
Jewish Melbourne: ' Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) Pesach Guidelines regarding Covid-19 Situation compiled in consultation with the Melbourne Beth Din'
This provides the Rabbinical Council of Victoria Guidelines for Covid-19 and Pesach, under a number of sections: Inviting guests for Yom Tov; Use of ZOOM for Pesach Seder; Yahrzeit Commemoration; Reaching out to the Vulnerable; Tzedaka – Charity -
2020-07
Jewish Melbourne - my Facebook profile picture for the lockdown
I wanted to convery my feeling when the Victorian government told us we are going back to lockdown again. I made this from my youngest daughter's toys, including a mock mini toilet paper distributed as a promotion by supermarket chain Coles. -
2020-03-27
Jewish Melbourne: 'COVID-90 special KA guidelines for Pesach 5780 – 2020'
Guidelines provided by Rabbinic Administrator of The Kashrut Authority, Rabbi Moshe D. Gutnick -
2020-03-23
Jewish Melbourne: 'COVID-19: ABC’s Dr Norman Swan with a special message for the Australian Jewish community'
Produced by Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), this is a video of ABC's Dr Norman Swan with "a special message for the Australian Jewish community about social distancing – particularly with regard to Pesach." -
2020-04-09
Jewish Melbourne: 'Australia's Jewish community is adapting Passover traditions in the time of coronavirus'
Article published on SBS News by Nadine Silva, with photos and a video, explaining the ways that different parts of the Jewish community adapted their Pesach to fit within Covid-safe guidelines -
2020-04-11
Jewish Melbourne: Pesach raid: police swoop on illegal minyan
Newspaper article which appeared in the Australian Jewish News discussing the response to a group of "ultra-Orthodox individuals" who held a minyan on the first day of Pesach, despite social distancing laws which were meant to prevent such gatherings -
2020-09-19
Jewish Melbourne: 'Everyone wants to hear the shofar': ringing in Jewish new year in locked-down Melbourne
article published in Guardian Australia, written by Elias Visontay, documenting Rosh Hashanah in Melbourne under lockdown -
2020-04-03
Jewish Melbourne: 'Zooming in on Pesach'
Newspaper article by Rebecca Davis and Sophie Deutsch, published in the Australian Jewish News, explaining that "Religious organisations are reminding the community that they must not allow visitors into their homes for seders this Pesach, noting “these measures are about saving lives”." -
2020-09-20
Jewish Melbourne Rosh Hashanah in the time of covid
Our Neighbours offered to blow the shofar for the street. A few Jewish families live on our street in Balaclava. We all gathered in the street, All still and all connected by the mitzvah of hearing the shofar. It was a very special feeling. I felt the need to document this extraordinary event, this moment in history. In this time when so many of us are disconnected this moment of togetherness felt precious. Shofar, Rosh Hashanah, community, connected, isolation, mask, generosity, neighbor, listening, Mitzvah, covid moment, improvising, Balaclava, outside, togetherness -
2020-04-09
Jewish Melbourne: TBI Pesach Seder
On 9 April 2020, Temple Beth Israel streamed a Pesach seder, which was lead by Cantor Laloum -
2020-08-07
Jewish Melbourne: 'High Holy Day Services in the shadow of Covid'
Newspaper article by Rabbi Yonatan Sadoff (from Kehilat Nitzan) in the Australian Jewish News, 7 August 2020. -
2020-04-14
Jewish Melbourne: South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation Pesach Reflections
On 14 April 2020, Rabbi Daniel Rabin from South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation recorded a livestream from the shul with "Some reflections pre last days of Pesach and Yizkor on Thursday." This video was streamed to facebook, where it remains. -
2020
Jewish Melbourne: South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation Kabbalat Shabbat and Havdalah
During lockdown, South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation has been running online kabbalat shabbat and havdalah services, through zoom and streamed to facebook. One example of this from September can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/SCHebrewCongregation/posts/2849524248601840 -
2020-09-14
Jewish Melbourne: article in The Age - "Preparations under way for Jewish New Year - without synagogues and big dinners"
This is a newspaper article by Carolyn Webb and Hannah Schauder, published in The Age on September 14, 2020, entitled "Preparations under way for Jewish New Year - without synagogues and big dinners". It covers what different rabbis and synagogues are doing for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur -
2020-09-11
Jewish Melbourne: Blake St Hebrew Congregation Shabbat Services
Throughout the lockdown, as synagogues have been closed, Blake Street Hebrew Congregation has conducted Shabbat services via zoom, and shared videos on their Facebook page. At times this has involved singing with Moshe Hendel Feiglin for Mincha, which can be seen in this video. -
2020-04-11
Jewish Melbourne: Solidarity Seder
On Saturday 11 April 2020, a group of Jews from across Australia gathered together on zoom for a 'Solidarity seder'. Organised by people from Here, Queer, and Jewish Australia, Sydney Left Jews, Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS), Fully Automated Luxury Kosher Space Kibbutz and Jews against Fascism, this seder raised money for undocumented migrants as well as Grandmothers Against Removals. Approximately 60 people gathered together, reading through the haggadah together, sharing a meal, and sharing ideas about what Jewish life and possibility looked like in that moment. Everyone agreed that this was a unique and special Jewish space. -
2020-06-23
Jewish Melbourne: Jewish Holocaust Centre's AGM
On 23 June 2020 the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne held their AGM. In their announcement of the AGM they told members "In light of the COVID restrictions, admission to the AGM is by registration only to ensure we comply with Government restrictions and maintain safe distancing." The photos from the AGM show people gathered together, but sitting at a safe distance from each other. -
2020-09
Jewish Melbourne: Temple Beth Israel's 'Yachad'
Temple Beth Israel created a website - Yachad - in order to bring community together during Covid times. The website hosts livestreams and recordings of services, as well as reflections, opportunities to hear the shofar, music, share recipes, order a machzor, and offer a blessing. There's messages from the rabbis, information about the High Holy Days services, and activities for children. They explain: "In many ways Covid-19 has taught us that community matters now more than ever! We are proud to launch this digital platform which will host our High Holy Day offerings for you and your family. Yachad, (“together”) in Hebrew, draws its name and purpose from “Shir La’Ahava”, a song by Israeli band Gaya. The lyrics of Shir La’Ahava which begin with the words yachad – lev el lev, (“together – heart to heart”), capture the optimism, love and unity which we hope will define our High Holy Day celebration this year." -
2020-08-22
Jewish Melbourne: "Happy Birthday Opa"
This article appeared in The Weekend Australian Magazine, marking the 99th birthday of Max Arnott, a Dunera Boy, which happened in May, under Melbourne's lockdown. Max's granddaughter, Zoe Arnott, took a photo of three of her children outside Max's gate, celebrating his birthday. -
2020-07
Jewish Melbourne: Survivors in Isolation - A different isolation
In July Elly Brooks - who is a photographer, member of the Board of the Jewish Holocaust Centre, and President of Friends of JHC - worked with the JHC to take photos of Holocaust survivors at their front doors. In line with Melbourne's lockdown procedures, the JHC was closed, and everyone was required to be at home, so these photos show the survivors as they stayed home to isolate. Elly Brooks reflected: "Holocaust Survivors and other elderly people are perhaps more impacted in this time of covid isolation than younger people as they are confined to their homes under the country’s partial lockdown and many find themselves far from their usual network of support. What shines through this series of images of Holocaust survivors in Melbourne is a strong spirit to overcome adversity, with an understanding that it is a temporary. Most of the survivors pictured, have been coming to the Jewish Holocaust Centre for many years, presenting their testimony to students and the general public and being connected to a community. In early March, when the pandemic was becoming an inevitable danger in Melbourne, the survivors were the first to be asked to stay home, away from the JHC. For some, the memories of our survivors are always there just below the surface and this enforced isolation makes our elderly feel vulnerable and threatens their independence. As a photographer, I wanted to capture the strength and dignity of survivors as they posed on their doorsteps of their homes during this lockdown.As a longtime friend to most of them, I have been missing them so it also gave me good reason to visit them and hear their wise words. For some the virus brought back memories: “that feeling of dread all the time. You never know if other people on the street are going to give you the virus, or they were going to turn you in to the Gestapo because you were a Jew.” Each survivor had their photo taken and they each contributed a reflection: Joe de Hann: I keep occupied by reading and cooking for myself. I have been alone a long time so I am used to being by myself but I miss the Holocaust Centre and the people Henry Buch: I feel unchallenged and lack motivation. My son visits but my daughter is in isolation. Jewish Care assists me but when you are isolated like this memories and worries come back Irma Hanner: “It’s not a war! “We are in a lucky country but even so we must be aware of and call out racism. The extremes of politics both right and left sides are bad. “I miss my work at The Jewish Holocaust Centre” Gisa Frayman: I am lucky that my children come to visit which means that I am not alone. We talk everyday on the phone and as long as they are well, they visit me John Lamovie: I have a large family and before this isolation they visited often but not now. That is the hardest for me at this time.Life during the pandemic ihas an unsettling resonance, especially the isolation from family members. Some of my family drive by to wave to me. A couple of family deaths were very hard to reconcile at this strange time of isolation. I attended a virtual funeral. Overall I feel lucky and nothing to complain about. Abe Goldberg: It’s not a war but it is very hard for me because my wife Cesia is in care and I cannot visit her. That is devastating for me not being allowed to visit her. We have been together so many years Sarah Saaroni: I’m perfectly fine and see my family from a distance. I am fully occupied and well looked after. Henri Korn: Life during the pandemic is unsettling especially the isolation from my friends and family. “It pains me that I cannot be with my family, with my friends,” Wolf Deane: We are happy to be living here and have our family close by. Joe Swarczberg: I miss The JHC, the students, staff and my friends. I used to go often and now I just stay at home. I hope I live long enough to see the new Centre. David Prince: I miss my work at The Holocaust Centre especially seeing the students. I am used to being independent and have friends and family nearby. It is an unsettling time and I hope we can go back to the way it was and I am around to see the new Centre. Viv Speigel: I miss going to The Centre but I am lucky to see my family from a distance and I have all that I need. Maria Lewitt: I am happy to be close to my family and well cared for. John Chaskiel: I am fine and my family visits from a distance. They come to my driveway but I miss The Holocaust Centre and the students. I hope I will see the new museum -
2020-06-04
Jewish Melbourne: JHC staff supporting each other in a zoom environment
Staff at the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne are continuing to meet via zoom. This photo was taken at a meeting in June 2020, showing them all supporting each other. -
2020-04-21
Jewish Melbourne: "Second Generation Holocaust Survivor Triggers During The COVID 19 Crisis"
This is a video recording of a conversation between Liora Miller and Simone Szalmuk-Singer of Jewish Women of Words. It was hosted as well by the ZIonist Federation of Australia.