CHANTAL ABITBOL

Hebrew University of Jerusalem's emeritus professor of Holocaust Studies, Yehuda Bauer, speaking at Sydney's Mandelbaum House. Photo: David Gross

A FINAL peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians would not eliminate the rising levels of western anti-Semitism, according to pre-eminent Holocaust scholar Professor Yehuda Bauer.

“Analyses show reasonably clearly that what is being attacked is Israel as a Jewish state, not just as another state, and that the current conflict serves as a trigger that releases people from a politically correct attitude of opposing anti-Semitism,” the academic said in Sydney last week.

The reason for this, he said, is because anti-Semitism is not only a prejudice, but also a “historically ingrained cultural phenomenon” in the Christian-Muslim world that exists latently and can be aroused by a conflict such as the current one in the Middle East.

Prof Bauer, a past winner of the prestigious Israel Prize and professor emeritus of Holocaust studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is currently touring Australia. He will be the keynote speaker at Monash University’s upcoming Holocaust Aftermath Conference on March 14 and 15.

Speaking at Sydney’s Mandelbaum House last Thursday, he told the audience, including University of Sydney chancellor and NSW Governor Marie Bashir, that a multi-pronged approach is required to battle anti-Semitism, including the use of mass communication channels to present the “facts on the ground”.
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Josh Piterman (centre) and cast members from the new Australian production of West Side Story. Photo: Ingrid Shakenovsky

CHANTAL ABITBOL

PERFORMER Josh Piterman may be a good Jewish boy from the right side of the tracks, but he’ll soon be playing it tough when he stars as Tony in the upcoming Australian revival of the Leonard Bernstein classic, West Side Story.

On Monday, the rising star showed a glimpse of the towering vocals that landed him the part, when the musical’s director announced the young cast at Star City’s Lyric Theatre in Sydney.

It’s a quite a coup for the Melbourne-bred singer who, at the age of 24, will be headlining his first major musical production.

“It’s been my dream role since I can remember,” he told The AJN. “It’s musical theatre’s Romeo. I feel like the luckiest guy ever.”

The musical – set in New York in the 1950s and based on Shakespeare’s tale of two star-crossed lovers – will kick off a six-week run in Sydney on July 1. The production will then make its way to Melbourne, opening at the Regent Theatre from August 20, before embarking on a tour of the rest of the country.
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Broken Hill. Photo: AJN file

CHANTAL ABITBOL

THE once-thriving Jewish community, which helped to establish the outback mining town of Broken Hill in far north-west NSW, is long gone.

But there is still one remnant; evidence of those former glory days.

Off the city’s main street stands a recently restored red-brick synagogue with a storied past.

Established in 1910, the shul on Wolfram Street once served as the vibrant communal hub for around 250 Jews who called Broken Hill home in the first half of the 1900s.

Though its doors closed in 1962 after Jews steadily moved out of the area, in recent years the local historical society has taken steps to preserve the building. It is now organising centenary celebrations for November as a nod to its past.
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Rabbi Paul Lewin and Sarah Zukerman in the North Shore Synagogue. Photo: Ingrid Shakenovsky

CHANTAL ABITBOL

IT all started 70 years ago, when a close-knit group of Jewish families living on the North Shore decided to come together to form a minyan.

Calling themselves the Northern Sydney Hebrew Congregation, they met at Warringah Hall in Neutral Bay.

Soon their numbers grew, and the fledging community formed a building committee to raise funds to buy land and build a shul.

Now, seven decades later, the congregation continues to thrive. Known as The North Shore Synagogue – or more fondly, “The Garden Synagogue”, because of the shul’s lush surroundings in the leafy suburb of Lindfield – the congregation celebrated the 70th anniversary of its formation with a gala concert on February 14.

The landmark event featured three cantors – chazan Zvi Teichtahl, the shul’s current cantor; former chazan Rabbi Philip Heilbrunn of Melbourne; and Rabbi Yehuda Niasoff of The Central Synagogue – accompanied by chamber music group The Freshwater Trio.
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Samantha Brett … tips on snaring a man. Photo: AJN file

CHANTAL ABITBOL

MEN may have long ago ditched wearing shaggy fur loincloths and arming themselves with rocks and cattle-bone clubs, but they’re still cavemen at heart. Or at least, that’s what dating columnist Samantha Brett believes.

And the quicker women accept this and indulge men’s cavemanish ways by submitting to the chase, she says, the better we’ll all be for it.

Sound old-fashioned? Perhaps. But in an age where there’s a “singles epidemic” going on, where single women outnumber men and are becoming increasingly desperate to snare a man, it’s one of the only tried and tested methods that gets the job done, Brett argues.

“It’s timeless. Men will always be the chasers,” the petite blonde, who has become known as something of a real-life Sex in the City Carrie Bradshaw Down Under, states unequivocally.

“The longer women can make them chase, and think that they’re the ‘catch’ and the ‘prize’,” she continues, “the happier they’ll be”.
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Studying at a kollel. Photo: AJN file

CHANTAL ABITBOL

DESPITE success stories in Melbourne and Perth, Sydney has struggled for years to establish a viable kollel.

But this time around the Jewish Learning Centre (JLC) is hoping that the outcome will be different.

Next month, JLC plans to bring four Israeli bochers (Torah scholars) to set up Australia’s third Torah MiTzion Kollel.

Once established, it will be one of 25 religious-Zionist kollels dotted around the world under the umbrella organisation of Torah MiTzion in Israel, including one in Melbourne, based at Mizrachi shul and another in Perth.

Rabbi Daniel Eisenberg, who will be heading the project, said: “Jewish life is very dependent on the vibrancy of its institutions and every additional source of inspiration that can be provided to the Sydney community will help advance stronger Jewish identity.
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Friendship Circle participants (from left) Mark Sonnenchien, Nicole Phillips, Gabi Katz, Josef Tyler and Gracie Strauss.

CHANTAL ABITBOL

IT’S said you’ve got to be in it to win it, and that’s exactly what NSW Friendship Circle is betting on.

The special-needs charity has partnered with 80 sister organisations around the world to help win the Chase Community Giving Challenge on Facebook and the $1 million jackpot.

Its parent organisation, Friendship Circle of Michigan, is leading the charge, and is the only Jewish organisation to have been selected from among 500,000 charities to reach the final round of 100 entries in which Facebook users will vote for their favourite group.

The weeklong challenge kicked off this Friday, January 15, and will award the top five charities with a $100,000 each, while the top-place finisher will snag the $1 million prize.

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CHANTAL ABITBOL

WHILE a group of European rabbis have voiced fears that the use of full-body scanners at airports would clash with Jewish codes of modesty, local rabbis won’t be raising any objections.

Last week discussions were held between federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and the US Department of Security about the prospect of using the cameras at Australian airports.

The scanners, like X-ray machines, will be able to see through fabric to detect objects hidden next to the skin.

Canada, The Netherlands, and some cities in the US have already said they will implement full-body scans. Other countries around the world are also considering similar measures.

A number of Orthodox rabbis abroad have argued that such a practice -– where bodies will appear nude on screens -– would compromise a woman’s modesty.
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Traditional Jewish wedding. Photo: AJN file

CHANTAL ABITBOL

INTERMARRIAGE among Jews is on the up around the world -– with Australia’s rates hovering around 25 per cent, according to new research.

Professor Sergio DellaPergola, an expert on Jewish demographics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has reported a significant hike in assimilation and intermarriage since the 1930s.

At the time, he said, no country had a Jewish community experiencing a marrying-out rate of 35 per cent or higher. But today, the landscape has significantly changed.

Prof DellaPergola, whose findings were recently published in the book Jewish Intermarriage Around the World, reports a large share of world Jewry -– including France, the UK, and the main Latin American countries -– has marrying-out rates between 35-45 per cent.

Meanwhile, the United States has moved well above 50 per cent, and the Russian Federation is above 75 per cent.
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Bondi Mizrachi Synagogue former president Mark Schneider. Photo: AJN file

CHANTAL ABITBOL

BONDI Mizrachi Synagogue’s board has quashed reports that the shul’s future is under threat after its president recently resigned.

In an email to members on December 21, the board confirmed that its president, Mark Schneider, has resigned because of “personal reasons”.

This caps a tumultuous 2009 for the congregation, which saw it cut ties with its longstanding rabbi, Moshe Gutnick, resulting in a lengthy court cattle and an $800,000 payout over 15 years.

Meanwhile, the shul continues to battle a dwindling membership and was forced to adjourn its annual general meeting in November because its financial report wasn’t ready for presentation to members.

But despite these setbacks, acting president Miriam Rosenman asserted the synagogue is “in better shape than it has been for a very long time”.
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