Australia – Page 13 – tangential travel

November 24, 2016December 9, 2016

The Story Of Pnina Berkman’s Matseva

Pnina Berkman’s matseva at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth

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The story about Pnina, her son Mark and his re-connection to his family, appeared in The West Australian on 24 January 2013

Read here

Thanks to the researcher, Rose Raymen, for sharing this story with me, and Estelle Blackburn for writing it.

Estelle Blackburn: The-making-of-a-serial-killer

“NO RECORD” RESULT letter from the Victorian BDM Registry in response to Mark Berkman’s request

Private Patricia Vinico Grigg in the Australian Women’s Army

Her WW2 service certificate.

The Frances Barkman House in Balwyn Victoria where Mark Berkman stayed after his mother’s death

One can see the faces of the children looking out from the fence.

Patricia Grigg with adoptive father Charles Leslie Grigg

Pnina’s mother Dorothea Vinnicombe

Mark Berkman

Mark Berkman taken shortly before the death of his mother

Pnina and Gerszon (Gary) Berkman with son Mark Melbourne 1950

Mark’s new-found cousins from left to right: Lois Langdon and Jean Williams

Pnina Berkman

Mark and Rivka Berkman’s wedding day

Mark and Rivka Berkman’s children from left to right: Son-in-law Shlomi Weizmann, son Hadar Berkman, granddaughter Bar Weizmann, daughter-in-law Tahel Berkman, son Tamir Berkman, daughter Rona Weizmann and granddaughter Mia Weizmann

Mark and Rivka Berkman, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 2016

Maccabean article 16 July 2010:

More about:

Rose Raymen

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/gdansk/Zylberstein.html

Estelle Blackburn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estelle_Blackburn

Eric Cooke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Edgar_Cooke

Perth KehilaLink

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/perth

November 16, 2016

Sydney Jewish Museum

The Sydney Jewish Museum is looking for people who have an interest in history, to join them as volunteers to guide school students through the Museum on school excursions. Before they can apply to be a guide, they need to complete the attached course.

For more info: http://tinyurl.com/p3zxzah

email: volunteer@sjm.com.au

November 15, 2016

175th Anniversary of Cape Town Jewry – Videos

Emdon Video Productions filmed the evening’s celebrations which included:

the hilarious MC, Nik Rabinowitz, no relation;

the Gardens’ chairman Solly Berger, who is my cousin;

Chief Rabbi of the UK & the Commonwealth, Ephraim Mirvis;

Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Warren Goldstein;

Rabbi Yossi Goldman of Sydenham Highlands North Shul;

Rabbi Pinchus Feldman of Sydney;

Rabbi Osher & Sarah Feldman of the Gardens Shul;

and South African music icon, Johnny Clegg.

Thanks to Emdon Video Productions for allowing me to extract some footage from their video.

http://www.emdonvideos.co.za

That’s Jill and me on the top right of the display. We were married at the Gardens Shul on 31 July 1977

Rabbi Osher & Sarah Feldman of the Gardens Shul

Here are selected clips from the video. This video clip is for South African Jews, especially Boerejode. It is hilarious.

The Cape Town KehilaLink:

My Other KehilaLinks

http://elirab.me/litvak-portal/kehilalinks/

November 11, 2016November 13, 2016

The Great Challah Bake – Perth – 3 videos

Some of the crowd

The three videos

Thursday 10 November 2016

Perth’s Jewish community kicked off its third annual Shabbat Project with a well attended Great Challah Bake at The Jewish Centre.

200 women attended.

Bianca Singer’s instructions, drosha and great Jewish music were heard via headphones on a silent disco – a world first!

A special challah cover was given as a home gift to all who attended.

Video: elirab.digital (me)

Music: Yaakov Shwekey

http://www.theshabbosproject.org

The Internet by Dylan Kotkis

The Internet by Dylan Kotkis

An original song written about the mental nature of the internet.

Special thanks to: Chris Foster (music teacher), Kieran Kenderessy (sound) and Eli Rabinowitz (video).

We filmed this in Perth yesterday.

Watch, listen and enjoy. Brilliant!

November 4, 2016

IGRA Newsletter

October 29, 2016

Living Historians

CARMEL SCHOOL’S LIVING HISTORIAN PROJECT 2016

The invitation:

As part of their Holocaust Studies program the Year 10 students, in small groups, have interviewed Perth Holocaust survivors and recorded their stories. The personal experiences of the “living historian” opens up a view of history that cannot be found in books. The lessons in life and insights that the students have gained from meeting with their allocated survivors will stay with them long after the project and their years at school have ended.

We usually have an evening where we invite the survivors and parents of the students to view their projects, but we felt that with the amount of effort the students put in to their work, one night is not sufficient. We will therefore be opening our very special exhibition to the Perth Jewish Community on Thursday 27 October at 7pm in the Breckler Troy Hall in the High School.

We invite you to come and view the students’ displays and gain some insight into the lives of the Perth Holocaust survivors and their experiences.

Shirley Atlas – Jewish History teacher

Carmel School, Perth Australia

I attended this excellent event which began with an introduction by Jewish History teacher, Shirley Atlas, followed by groups of Year 10 students introducing their survivor’s story. We were then invited to view their presentations set up around the high school hall.

The survivors featured were from Poland, Hungary, German, Holland and Lithuania.

Here are a few photos taken on the evening

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Heiny Ellert’s team – video presentation:

Olivia Walters, Yannai Goldberg, Aaron Grolman, and Teagan Joffe

Heiny’s testimony which I filmed for the Holocaust Institute in 2015:

The Neishtot-Tavrig KehilaLink

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Naumiestis

My visit in 2016

Žemaičių Naumiestis

October 20, 2016October 20, 2016

Building Bridges with the TECs in Lithuania

Here is my update on the TECs – Tolerance Education Centres in Lithuania and how we can help build bridges.

If you know the name of your shtetl, please contact me and I will help you to connect with those who are working with TECs and Lithuanian school students and their teachers. Travelling to the region and meeting with local students has been the most rewarding of my experiences in the past six years.

There are growing numbers of Lithuanians, Poles and those within other communities in the FSU who now learn about their history and about the rich Jewish life that once existed in these towns, which are now devoid of Jews. The internet now offers the best opportunity ever for them to engage with Jewish people from abroad.

There is a further benefit: we can educate our children and grandchildren here in the Litvak diaspora. So little seems to be availble within the school curriculum, even though private Jewish Day School fees are so high. “Too hard” or “we are covering it” is what I hear! And then there is also the no response…… and another year passes!

It is a real shame that our cultural heritage is in danger of fading away and dying!

Educating about our Jewish cultural history remains my passion and I hope and that there are enough of us out there to make a difference!

There are now 119 Tolerance Education Centres in Lithuania.

Here is the list:

TEC Institutions In Lithuania

Here is an example of three of these projects and how visitors to Lithuania can engage teachers and students involved in these projects.

TEC Institutions’ Projects

TEC News From Lithuania

Herzlia – Atzalyno Bridges

October 8, 2016December 9, 2016

First Cousins Reunited

Geni.com blog by Amanda Tantisalidchai

August 3, 2016

Let’s Catch Up At IAJGS In Seattle

Hi from Perth, Australia.

I start my long 24 hour trek early tomorrow from Perth to Seattle.

I will be in Seattle until Tuesday evening.

I am giving a presentation at a South African Tea Party this Saturday afternoon. This will be of interest to those wanting to connect with their shtetl.
This talk is being held within walking distance from the Sheraton.

For more details, see:

http://elirab.me/litvak-portal

I plan to spend most of Monday and Tuesday meeting up with the many people I have communicated with via the 70 JewishGen KehilaLinks I write and manage.

These Jewish websites cover many countries and regions – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Belarus, Russia, South Africa, Australia and China.

The list is here:

http://elirab.me/litvak-portal/kehilalinks/

If you would like to catch up with me to discuss these, your shtetl, heritage travel or just to say hello, email me at eli@elirab.com. I am likely to be near the lobby.

See you soon!

Best regards

Eli Rabinowitz
Perth, Australia
eli@elirab.com