The Jewish Centre, Perth 6pm
My first time at this Kabbalat Shabbat service.
Thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks to the organisers:
Ilan, Claudia and Zoe et al.
If you are young and not shomrei, give it a try in 2020!
Five video clips below:
Kab Shab
The Value Of Being An Upstander
The Value of Being an Upstander! – Cape Jewish Chronicle
The Value of Being an Upstander! – Cape Jewish Chronicle
By Eli Rabinowitz “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’ – Edmund Burke, philosopher. I wrote about the Bielski Partisan Reunion in Belarus in July in last month’s CJC, and what an inspiring event it was. There were numerous other groups that operated in the region …
William Cooper – Empowering Diversity Celebratory Dinner
The Richmond Football Club, Melbourne
5 December 2019
The Seminar
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The dinner
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Richmond Football Club – Wikipedia
Richmond Football Club – Wikipedia
This Week With William Cooper
TIMETABLE
Tuesday, 3 December 2019
Thursday, 5 December 1938
Friday, 6 December 2019
Sunday, 8 December 2019
In the Press:
http://www.jwire.com.au/the-kristallnacht-cantata-a-voice-of-courage/
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Swastikas In Customs House Sydney
Thirty Four years ago when I visited Sydney for the first time, I walked into The Customs House in Circular Quay, and saw something that has remained unresolved (for me) since 1985!
Please read on!
I visit Sydney several times each year to see my family, as well as for business. However, I don’t ever get to Circular Quay, one of the major tourist areas in the world!
Last Sunday, 24 November 2019, while in the area, I decided to revisit the building, to satisfy my curiosity!
AND THEY WERE STILL THERE!
Inside the entrance of the building.
What do you make of it?
I called in at the information desk in the lobby of the building, and I was given this information sheet.
The receptionist told me that two Jewish tourists recently called in at her desk quite distraught after walking into the building, and seeing these symbols.
I searched the net on the subject. This what Wikipedia has to say about these symbols – quite detailed and informative:
As part of this Wiki article above, you can read:
Post–World War II stigmatization
Because of its use by Nazi Germany, the swastika since the 1930s has been largely associated with Nazism. In the aftermath of World War II it has been considered a symbol of hate in the West,[160] or alternatively of white supremacy in many Western countries.[161]
As a result, all of its use, or its use as a Nazi or hate symbol, is prohibited in some countries, including Germany. Because of the stigma attached to the symbol, many buildings that have used the symbol as decoration have had the symbol removed.[citation needed] In some countries, such as the United States’ Virginia v. Black 2003 case, the highest courts have ruled that the local governments can prohibit the use of swastika along with other symbols such as cross burning, if the intent of the use is to intimidate others.[5]
No-Nazism sign
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I decided to write to the Australian Jewish News, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, and J-Wire (online zine)
These were the replies:
Vic Alhadeff – NSW Jewish Board:
As the leaflet says, it’s there as Buddhist/Hindu culture. Nothing to be done.
Henry Benjamin – J-Wire:
You would have a problem visiting Bali. The swastika is part of the island’s culture.
The AJN did not respond!
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND?
Should a public building in Sydney, Australia have these images displayed in its entrance, and with no visible explanation given – only when I asked at reception!
These may be positive symbols in Asia, but what about in a country that has a large population of Holocaust survivors and their descendants.
What do you have to say on the matter?
UPDATE
I called the front desk at Customs House this morning, and spoke to Veronica, who told me that there is a plaque in the foyer. Neither Jill nor I saw it!
Veronica kindly took a couple of photos for me and also pointed me to an item on their website – see below
My updated notes arising from this last image:
The plaque states that during WWII the floor was covered – interesting!
Both right and left facing swastikas are on the Customs House floor (not just counter clockwise as per the plaque above).
My photo of the floor
Thanks and best regards
Eli Rabinowitz
Perth, Australia
The Customs House
Source: www.sydneycustomshouse.com.au
The pamphlet
Customs House
The 61st Yahrzeit of Isocher Zeldin
Socher’s passport. He was born in Dvinsk (today Daugavpils) Latvia
He passed away in Cape Town on Guy Fawkes Day – 5 November 1958
He re-established himself and his family in Cape Town South Africa
Socher’s descendants around the world
Socher and Chasa Zeldin
and their six daughters left Riga for South Africa between 1927 to 1937.
Two sons were left behind. Moisey died in the Holocaust, David survived.
Socher and Chasa, their 5 married daughters and their husbands.
Socher’s other children
11 of the 15 his Cape Town grandchildren.
Leon Spiller’s Barmitzvah – Socher is not in the photo!
With his mate Charlie Slivkin
Socher passed away on Guy Fawkes Day – 5 Nov 1958 aged 77.
Family reunion in Cape Town in the 80s
Socher’s late grandson Mendel and Mendel’s daughter Bella, Mendel’s nieces Alla & Mira, and Mendel’s great niece Angela.
Socher’s 2 x great grand daughter Lucy’s wedding in NY in 2010
Socher’s grand daughter Zara and her late brother Mendel’s NY & Toronto families in 2017
Socher’s grand daughter Zara, her daughters Mira and Alla and Avram-Yakov in Toronto
In Brooklyn NY with Bella, Lucy, Estee, Jonathan, Alex & my brother Michael – meeting for the first time.
Kristallnacht Commemoration
Kristallnacht Commemoration 2019 in Perth
Kristallnacht Commemoration | WE ARE HERE!
See photos and videos on original post here on: wah.foundation/kristallnacht/
Continue to Remember and to Make a Difference!
‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’ – Edmund Burke, philosopher.
CONTINUE TO REMEMBER AND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Today, 10 November, we commemorate Kristallnacht, also called Night of Broken Glass or November Pogroms, when German Nazis attacked Jewish persons and property in Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland on that date in 1938.
The Perth ceremony will be held at Perth Modern School at 5pm tonight. The keynote address will be delivered by Malcolm McCusker, the former Governor of WA, who will speak on:
“Evil Creeps Back, If Good People Stand Aside”.
The final item on the program is the Partisans’ Song, to be sung in four languages, Yiddish, Hebrew, Noongar and English, by the joint choirs of Ellenbrook Secondary College and Carmel High School, under the direction of Stuart Rhine-Davis. The song was originally written as a poem by Hirsh Glik in 1943. Jesse John Fleay, a lecturer at ECU translated it into Noongar, and Suzanne Kosowitz re-arranged the music by Dmitri Pokrass to fit the Noongar. Michele Galanti coordinates the Carmel School Choir.
The joint Ellenbrook Secondary College – Carmel High School choir first performed this inspiring anthem on 5 August at Ellenbrook Secondary College in front of 2000 people, and then repeated it at Carmel School on 7 August. The original recordings are here: https://wah.foundation/program/
The Kristallnacht ceremony this year will be attended by Lance Turner, son of Uncle Boydie Turner and great grandson of William Cooper, the indigenous Australian, whose protest against the pogroms, at the Nazi consulate office in Melbourne, was finally recognised by the German government in 2017, 79 years later!
Eli Rabinowitz
Perth, Australia
Carmel School welcomed at Ellenbrook Secondary College
