Perth resident elected to International Jewish Genealogy Board
Eli Rabinowitz, a Perth, Australia, resident, was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) at its International Jewish Genealogy Conference, presented virtually on Aug. 12. The Conference drew more than 2300 registrants from 28 countries.
Eli has researched his family’s genealogy and associated Jewish cultural history for over 30 years. A South African-born Australian, Eli has travelled extensively, writing about Jewish life, travel and education on his website, Tangential Travel and Jewish Life. https://elirab.me
Eli writes and manages 87 Jewishgen KehilaLinks, and over 750 WordPress posts. His articles have appeared in numerous publications. Eli has lectured internationally: at educational institutions, commemorative events, at IAJGS and other conferences, and online platforms.
He established the Partisans’ Song Project, and was awarded a U.S. government cultural grant for his WE ARE HERE! Human Rights and Social Justice initiative, https://wah.foundation.
Eli has an Economics Honours degree from the University of Cape Town.
IAJGS is an umbrella organization of more than 91 Jewish genealogical organizations worldwide. The IAJGS coordinates and organizes activities such as its annual International Conference on Jewish Genealogy and provides a unified voice as the spokesperson on behalf of its members. The IAJGS’s vision is of a worldwide network of Jewish genealogical research organizations and partners working together as one coherent, effective and respected community, enabling people to succeed in researching Jewish ancestry and heritage. Find the IAJGS at: www.iajgs.org and like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/iajgsjewishgenealogy.
On Friday 13 March 2020, the South African Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth will be hosting a presentation by Eli Rabinowitz, from Perth.
Eli, who is the founder of the education project the We Are Here Foundation, will be giving a talk accompanied by video footage about the programme for youth across the globe. The foundation focuses on the importance of educating Jewish youth about the Jewish partisans during the World War II. He will be giving an update on the success of this project, which is funded by the US government.
The project which started at schools in Australia is now functioning in Belarus, Lithuania, Israel and the USA. Communities across the globe have been taught to sing the famous Partisans Song (Shir HaPartizanim).
His message is loud and clear: WE MUST NEVER FORGET!
WE ARE HERE! An Education Program That Inspires Upstanders
With Barbara Miller and Ken Wyatt, Federal Minister 2019With Vince Connelly MP 2020
Kristallnacht Cantata Melbourne – World Premiere 2019
With Benny Rabinowitz in Birzh, Lithuania 2019With Ambassadors of of China, Israel and Japan in Birzh, Lithuania 2019Ground Turning at Lost Shtetl Museum, Seduva LithuaniaWith Finnish, UK and US Ambassadors in Lithuania 2018Yad Vashem, Jerusalem 2019With Ian Stein and Dimitri Coutras at Sea Point School in 2019At Beyachad meeting in 2019
Using memory and legacy to educate the generations that follow, and to create upstanders out of bystanders!
The William Cooper Legacy is gaining momentum!
Special events celebrating William Cooper were held in Melbourne over 5 days in December.
These events connected Upstanders from diverse backgrounds, from the William Cooper Institute at Monash University to the Richmond Football Club, and from The Ark Centre in East Hawthorn to Temple Beth Israel.
Below is my selection of photos which highlights these events, and connects our WE ARE HERE! Human Rights and Social Justice project to the growing world of Upstanders influenced by William Cooper’s once long forgotten protest way back in 1938.
I have also incorporated parts of Barbara Miller’s report into this post. Barbara is William Cooper’s biographer. Thanks Barbara!
The Events- 2019:
Barbara Miller Book Launch
The William Cooper Dinner at Richmond FC
The launch of the William Cooper Institute at Monash University
The special Shabbat at The Ark Centre
The interfaith youth seminar in Ascot Vale
A visit to William Cooper’s former home in Footscray
Some William Cooper icons around Melbourne city
The World Premiere of the Kristallnacht Cantata
The Barbara Miller Book Launch
White Australia Has A Black History is available as a paperback from Barbara Miller’s website, and Barbara would love you to review it on Amazon and/or Goodreads.
Barbara giving a talk on William Cooper at an Author Event at Lamm Jewish Library in Melbourne 3 December 2019
Shattered Lives Broken Dreams is at the printer – almost ready to be released!
Barbara on the radio
Barbara Miller:
David Jack interviewing Barbara on J-Air Jewish Radio in Melbourne on 4 December 2019 with Maurice Klein working the desk. The topic was Kristallnacht and William Cooper. It was on the Beersheba Vision program run by Peter Kentley.
My slide – thanks to Stuart Rhine-Davis of Ellenbrook Secondary College
Barbara Miller
The Richmond Football Club and the William Cooper Legacy Project convened by Abe Schwarz hosted a seminar and dinner on 5 December 2019. It announced a new William Cooper Centre which will integrate sport, culture and diversity as the home to the Korin Gamadji Institute emerging Indigenous leaders program, the Bachar Houli Academy, Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS) and women’s and community football.
There were four speakers at the seminar – Barbara Miller, biographer of William Cooper, Mike Zervos CEO Courage to Care, a teacher from Parkdale College called Natalie Baker and Eli Rabinowitz, founder, the WE ARE HERE! Project. Nola Kelly, the great-granddaughter of William Cooper, Leonie Drummond, Uncle Boydie’s daughter, shared briefly. Barbara is pictured speaking. A mural of the Tigers AFL players on the wall.
Richmond Tigers
The Table List
Eli Rabinowitz, singer Lior Attar, Tali Kellman and Alex Kats
Professor Jacinta Elston, Monash University and William Cooper’s great grandchildren, Leonie Drummond and Lance Turner, with Eli Rabinowitz
David Jack
Eli, Rabinowitz, Professor Jacinta Elston & Abe Schwarz
Jamil Tye, Roberto D’Andrea & Aunty Di
Eli Rabinowitz, dancers, Abe Schwarz
Eli Rabinowitz, Uncle Boydie Turner, Alex Kats, Kevin Russel, ?, David Jago
Monash University Clayton – William Cooper Institute Launch
Eli Rabinowitz, Bill Appleby of Jewish Care & Norm Miller
Eli Rabinowitz & John Gandel
Barbara Miller, Minister Ken Wyatt & Eli Rabinowitz
Leonie Drummond
Dancers
Andrew Markus, Pauline Gandel, Simone Markus & Eli Rabinowitz
Eli Rabinowitz & Vedran Drakulic
Eli Rabinowitz & Professor Susan Elliott
Eli Rabinowitz & Professor Jacinta Elston & Associate Professor Chivonne Algeo
L-R photos – The Hon Minister Ken Wyatt with Barbara and Norman Miller at Monash University, the Unveiling of the plaque at Monash Uni with Uni staff, Cooper family and the Minister, and the Millers with Dr John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel.
On 6 December 2019, the 81st anniversary of the 1938 AAL protest, Monash University launched the William Cooper Institute. The Gandel family’s philanthropy made the centre possible. Stirring speeches were made by the Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Mr Ken Wyatt, Chancellor Simon McKeon, the Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Jacinta Elston, Dr John Gandel AC, and Leonie Drummond, Uncle Boydie’s daughter.
Minister Ken Wyatt said that William Cooper cut a pathway for people to follow and showed bravery in the face of opposition. He said William Cooper stepped out and left footsteps in the sand to follow. He said he had recently returned from Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech, had paid tribute to William Cooper.
The Ark Centre – Cross Cultural Shabbat
Rabbi Gabi Kaltman and the ARK Centre held an Indigenous themed Shabbat service and meal honouring William Cooper on 6 December 2019
Eli Rabinowitz, Viv Parry, Lisa Naphtali, Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann, Kate Brocker, Shane Charles & Abe Schwarz
Shane Charles & Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann
A Very Special Duet by Shane Charles & Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann
A Very Special Duet by Shane Charles & Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann
The Ark Centre Aboriginal Kabbalat Shabbat In Honour of William Cooper Melbourne, Australia 6 December 2019
The Interfaith Youth Human Rights Seminar in Ascot Vale
Elana Saks
A visit to William Cooper’s House in footscray
The Footscay Railway Station
Eli Rabinowitz & Christine Newman, owner of the William Cooper house.
The William Cooper Justice Centre
The former Nazi Consulate in Melbourne where William Cooper marched to, and left his petition
Kristallnacht Cantata – Temple Beth Israel
The Kristallnacht Cantata: A Voice of Courage held its world premiere on 8 December at Temple Beth Israel St. Kilda, Melbourne. The strident music of the orchestra conveyed the build-up to the Night of the Broken Glass and the shattering of glass and lives that took place. A tribute to William Cooper, the Cantata imagined a moving duet between Cooper and Otto Jontof-Hutter who was arrested in Stuttgart during Kristallnacht along with thousands of other Jews.
Otto’s grandson, world-famous violinist Ron Jontof-Hutter, active in the Berlin-based World Doctors Orchestra but living in Melbourne, conceived the Cantata. An Israeli composer living in Melbourne, Alon Trigger, collaborated with Ron as the lyricist and world-famous conductor Dr David Kram, as musical director, to put the Cantata together.
The event was held in Temple Beth Israel synagogue and Barbara was asked to read a scripture and she chose Isaiah 62:1-7. There was a beautiful performance by the Yeng Gali Mullum Indigenous Choir.
Photos L_R, Uncle Boydie watching the orchestra of the Kristallnacht Cantata and the Yeng Gali Mullum Indigenous Choir.
For the start of the Kristallnacht Cantata, scroll to the 1 hr 41 min mark
From Tachlis, Michele Gogoski & Elona Steinfeld, Beyachad, Johannesburg:
Eli, who is the founder of the We Are Here Foundation, gave an inspirational presentation about the importance of educating Jewish youth about the Holocaust and the Jewish partisans during the World War II. The talk was accompanied by video footage of the youth of various communities across the globe, who have been taught and are being taught to sing the famous Partisans Song – Zog Nit Keyn Mol (Shir HaPartizanim).
His message is loud and clear: WE MUST NEVER FORGET!
For more information please visit the website
WE ARE HERE! An Education Program That Inspires Upstanders
I attended a Lecture by Eli Rabinowitz @ Beyachad last week, and it was a VERY interesting discussion, the Subject being “ Zog Nit Keynmol’ ( Never say never again), the Partisan’s song…. see https://wah.foundation/ …. I never realized that such a project would have soooo many opinions and ‘Machlokes’ …. The project is to revive the Partisan song that was written by Hirsch Glik in the concentration camps…… The project involves getting schools to start learning the song and of course understanding the meaning…. Eli has teamed up with various Schools, especially in Russia, Poland, Souff Effrikka etc, and World Ort have given him huge assistance, with ORT schools around the World joining in the programme….. The question is ; Should the Song be sung/learnt in any other language than Yiddish, as this is what it was started as…???? Methinks, yes, as it will get lost if not promoted.
At the meeting were a few knowledgeable people in Yiddisher circles, and Saul Issroff ( Absoluuuuut BOFF on Lithuania) from London (Ex PE ‘Amolikke Yoren’), Eli Goldstein who is very involved in the teaching of Yiddish in Joburg, Ishvara Dhyan, who takes walking tours of Joburg, and covers many of the old Yiddisher places, Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft (The Travelling Rabbi) ,Darryl Frankel (King David) Marc Latilla who runs a website Johannesburg 1912, which has a lot of info on many suburbs (in detail) and Joburg City … , https://johannesburg1912.wordpress.com/ where you can find in depth info on Joburg/suburbs….. Tali Nates from the Holocaust Museum also came, and Eli did a show with Howard Feldman on Chai FM 91.7 .. Pictures; http://www.stantgsm.com/category/pictures/4
Coming Up in the UK, Europe and Israel in June, Europe and the US in July, and Australia in August!
I will be participating in:
a commemoration in June in Birzai & a shabbat weekend in Kedainiai, Lithuania;
an eight day educators’ seminar in June at the International School of Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem;
a 100-strong gathering in Novogrudok, Belarus in July, where a full and interesting program will include learning about the Partisans’ Song, and then singing it in the Naliboki Forest, where the Bielski’s lived and hid from 1942 to 1944;
the IAJGS39 conference in Cleveland in July, where I am giving two presentations, including one as part of the educators program – see below; and
WE ARE HERE! An Education Program That Inspires Upstanders in Australia in August.This educational program, which promotes universal human rights and inclusive development, is funded by the US Dept of State, and brings Holocaust educator and specialist Nance Adler of Seattle to Australia.
POSTED
Busy times ahead!
Chag Pesach Sameach and Happy Easter
Please contact me for further details.
Best regards
Eli
———————————
Further details:
I have been invited to be one of six speakers who will presentat the Educators Program at IAJGS39 (International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies) in Cleveland OH, USA on 28 July, the opening event at thisconference.
My topic is:
Projects That Draw Youth to Ancestral Roots.
The details appear below
My second talk is on 30 July on the WE ARE HERE! Project for Upstanders.
The IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy is being held in Cleveland for the first time. It features a special day designed specifically for Jewish educators!
Who Should Attend
Educators who:
Work in formal and informal settings
Work in day or synagogue schools
Create and facilitate family and intergenerational programs
Teach history
Teach writing and research skills
Sunday, July 28th is the date. The program begins with breakfast and a keynote by noted Jewish educator and genealogist Carol Oseran Starin, former Vice-President of the Jewish Federation of Seattle. Participants may select from two workshop time periods, each with a choice from three nationally known presenters, followed by lunch and idea exchanges.
Program Details
Goal
To introduce educators to how Jewish genealogy strengthens students’ Jewish identity through the experience of researching their roots and how their history shaped family and community.
Schedule
8:30–9:00
Registration and light breakfast
9:00–10:00
Keynote speaker: What is Jewish about Jewish Genealogy, Carol Starin
10:15–11:15
Three workshop sessions
Jewish Genealogy for Beginners, Maurice Kices
Designing an “Introduction to Jewish Genealogy” Program: Being Ready for Surprises, Sylvia Abrams
Projects That Draw Youth to Ancestral Roots, Eli Rabinowitz
11:30–12:30
Three workshop sessions
DNA as a Genealogy Tool, Gil Bardige
JewishGen—Everything You Need to Know, Phyllis Kramer
How to Get Kids Involved in Family History, Daniel Horowitz
12:30–1:15
Lunch and “tachlis” how to implement ideas
1:15–2:45
Participation in SHARE Fair and Exhibits
2:45–4:00
Education track participants are invited to the conference keynote address
Title of the Presentation
Projects That Will Draw Our Youth Back To Their Shtetl
Short Title
Visit the shtetl: the virtual way forward!
Type of Session
Presentation
Topic or Category
Jewish History and Culture Methodology and Mechanics Telling Your Family Story Using Technology for Research
Brief Abstract of Your Presentation
Since 2011, and after nine trips to Poland and Lithuania, as well as travel to Belarus, Germany, Russia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Turkey and Israel, I have compiled a sizeable collection of information, stories, photos and contacts. My focus is not only about my own family history, but that of Jewish cultural history, general history, as well as contemporary Jewish life. Working with schools in these countries, I have been able to bring students together online to collaborate and to exchange information about the lands of their heritage.
My presentation takes you on a tour of how you can use this body of work to further your own knowledge on family research, Jewish cultural heritage and Jewish life. This includes a tour of my 86 JewishGen KehilaLink websites, including 55 in Europe, plus over 600 posts and pages on my Tangential Travel and Jewish Life website and associated social media.
Presentation is best suited for
All skills
How will your presentation help your intended audience?
Expand research skills Develop interview skills Teach best practices Expand social media skills Teach innovative strategies Assist with personal research
Second Talk – Tuesday 30 July 2019
Title of the Presentation
WE ARE HERE! Project: Becoming An Upstander Rather Than A Bystander
Short Title
How Jewish Partisans Inspire Our Youth To Stand Up
Type of Session
Presentation
Topic or Category
Genealogy and Jewish History Related to WW2 Jewish History and Culture Methodology and Mechanics Preserving our Jewish Past
Brief Abstract of Your Presentation
WE ARE HERE! Project This project seeks to inspire in young people the confidence and ability to stand up in the face of prejudice and oppression. Encourages and inspires Upstanders through the stories of Jewish Partisans and the learning of Zog Nit Keynmol Provides role models for standing up for yourself in the face of prejudice, hatred, violence and evil Shows that an individual can make a difference – regardless of their personal circumstances Translates the stories of Jewish Partisans and the words of Zog Nit Keynmol into a universal message of hope and inspiration for all who are victims of prejudice and oppression Empowers young people to create the change they want to see in their communities and the world. Teaches that while the partisans used weapons – they were fighting the Nazis – you can fight oppression with only your voice and presence
Presentation is best suited for
All skills
How will your presentation help your intended audience?
Teach best practices Expand social media skills Teach innovative strategies
With Heather Blumenthal and Richard Freedman at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre
Wednesday 10 October – Sydney Jewish Museum – lunchtime
The Partisans’ Song, written by Hirsh Glik, age 22, in the Vilna Ghetto in 1943, is one of the most powerful songs of resistance and defiance ever written.
In August of this year, an article appeared on the website of the Lithuanian municipality of Kėdainiai, under the headline: “With a minute of silence, Kėdainiai met Tel Aviv.” The text described an annual event, begun only a few years ago, commemorating the extermination of Kedainiai’s Jewish community on August 28, 1941, during the Nazi occupation of Lithuania.
At precisely 18:30, local leaders and others observed a minute of silence – while at that same moment, in Israel, descendants of that vanished Jewish community, who called their home Keidan, were doing the same thing.
Two simultaneous ceremonies – one at the hall of the association of the Vilna Jews in Tel Aviv, the other by the mass grave where more than 2,000 Keidan Jews were murdered 77 years earlier.
Such commemorations are a longstanding tradition in Israel, home to thousands of Jews who trace their families to Lithuania. But in Lithuania itself this is relatively new, and still uncommon, tradition. Kėdainiai’s annual observance began several years ago, and has grown each year. This year it was led by Saulius Grinkevičius, mayor of the municipality, and Rimantas Žirgulis, director of the regional museum. The participants included two mayor’s deputies, the heads of local cultural and educational institutions, members of the administration and museum workers, school teachers and other Kėdainiai citizens. A local television station broadcast the ceremony.
The event reflects an important recent change in public consciousness and attitude. To a significant degree, Lithuanians are confronting their country’s painful past. This is reflected in the media, in increased research into local Jewish history and culture, and in the restoration of sites related to Lithuania’s former Jewish communities. In Kėdainiai, the regional museum and its director have played an important role, as have teachers such as Laima Ardavičieneof the Kėdainiai Atžalynas gymnasium, or secondary school. As it was often in the past, Kėdainiai is providing leadership and serving as a role model for other communities in Lithuania.
Supporting those efforts going forward is a recently published English translation of the Keidan yizkor book – a volume of memoirs, historical accounts and other material gathered from survivors and descendants of the Jewish community after World War II. Originally published mostly in Hebrew and Yiddish in 1977, the book offers a multi-faceted view of Jewish life in Keidan – its history, its religious, educational, social and cultural institutions, youth organizations, portraits of its prominent people, recollections of witnesses and survivors before, during and after the Holocaust.
Cover of the Keidan Memorial (Yizkor) Book, recently translated into English. Edited by Aryeh Leonard Shcherbakov aryeh.shcherbakov@gmail.comand Andrew Cassel awcassel@gmail.com of the Keidan Associations of Israel and the U.S.; published by David Solly Sandler sedsand@iinet.net.auin Perth, Australia. The book is obtainable from any of the three above mentioned
Photos of Commemoration in Kedainiai – 28 August 2018
A section of the memorial erected in 2011 at the site of the Jews’ massacre near Kedainiai. Names of the victims were recorded as cutouts in the metal sheet.
At the site of the 28 August 1941 massacre of Kedainiai’s Jews. Mayor Saulius Grinkevičius lays flowers, while Rimantas Žirgulis (in white shirt) observes.
Local students and media participated in the commemoration.
Laima Ardavičiene, a teacher at the Kėdainiai Atžalynas gymnasium, records the event.
I met with Merunas Jukonis, the youth coordinator in the town. He and his dad, Vidmantas, have been very active in working in the field of Tolerance education, Holocaust commemoration and related projects. See report below:
Report by Abel and Glenda Levitt, November 2015
While in Lithuania last week we spent a fascinating 4 days in Birzai, known to the Jews who lived there as Birzh.
On 8th August 1941 the 2400 Jews of the town were marched to the forest where they were all murdered, Men, Women and Children.
There exists in Birzai an ancient Karaite and Jewish cemetery. For years it remained neglected and uncared for.
And then a few years ago, the local teacher of History and Tolerance, Vidmantas Jukonis, together with his son Merunas, also a teacher of History, started a project of cleaning up the cemetery , removing the overgrown grass and weeds, and cutting the trees. They were joined by the local Reformed Lutheran Church where they are members ,and then by a Lutheran community in Germany who came to Birzai in the summer, camped outside the walls of the cemetery, and helped with the work. Later they made contact with SEFER, the well-known organization in Moscow specializing in Jewish Heritage, Sefer conducted a big 3 year academic international project
The participants were:
1) Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization “SEFER” .Moscow
2) Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences .Moscow
3) Centre for the Studies of the Culture and History of East European Jews . Vilnius
4)Birzai Regional Museum “Sela” Birzai
5) Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority . Jerusalem
Professionals and Volunteers joined in the project and expertly cleaned the gravestones, identified the names, and mapped out the gravestones that were still there.The leader of the final group was Motl Gordon, a St. Petersburg Jew, who became religious a few years ago, fluent in Yiddish.This final group was funded by the Birzai municipality (half) and by local sponsors, including the family of Sheftel Melamed, the last Jew in Birzai, who passed away on 31st August 2015. The Birzai district municipality also helped with materials, logistics and more.
The Birzai “Ausra” secondary school’s Tolerance Education Centre, headed by Vidmantas Jukonis provided volunteers , citizens of Birzai, who remembered Jews, arranged meetings for those people, and drove groups of students to meet them.
In Birzai on Friday afternoon an event was held to celebrate the completion of the project, and to launch the book that had been written about the project and its findings.
The book, 374 pages , in Russian, was published by SEFER with the help of the GENESIS Philanthropy Group and the UJA FEDERATION OF NEW YORK.
INSIDE OF FRONT COVER
There is little in English in the book. But from the table of contents (in English) it appears that there is much of interest. The book is written in the form of essays written by scholars involved in the project and tables recording the 1627 stones that were found in the cemetery, mostof them with names.
Glenda and I were given a copy. When I asked if we could buy some more, for family and friends with an interest in Birzai (Birzh) Motl Gordon told usthat they had distributed the few copies that they had brought for the event, but that he would enquire from Sefer in Moscowwhat the cost would be to buy.
It is hoped that a translation into English will be available via a PDF document on-line. Attached are photos of the front cover (1), the back cover (2), a photo on the inside front cover (5) and a photo on the inside back cover (6). This book is of great historic importance.
A rough check of the list of tombstones shows that the last two tombstones to be erected and that remain are those of Barukh Michaelson (he was the famous town photographer) who died on 13th July 1939, and Herce (Hirsch) Evin, who died in 1940. Michaelson’s tombstone was found buried during the work on the cemetery and restored. It should be noted that after the Soviet occupation in June 1940 Jewish religious life came to a halt and it is probable that no further Jewish funerals and consecration of tombstones took place. There was however a tombstone dated 1945. And the newer tombstones from the ’30’s were probably stolen and used in building as was the case throughout Lithuania.
A short walk around town. Old buildings in the former Jewish area.
Merunas’s Lutheran Church
Soviet War Memorial
Merunas’s High school
Lunch Time and enjoying kvass
Kvass
Kvass – Wikipedia
Kvass is a traditional Slavic and Baltic beverage commonly made from rye bread ,[1] known in many Eastern European countries and especially in Ukraine and Russia as black bread. The colour of the bread used contributes to the colour of the resulting drink. It is classified as a non-alcoholic drink by Russian standards, as the alcohol content from fermentation is typically low (0.5–1.0%).[2][3] It may be flavoured with fruits such as strawberries and raisins, or with herbs such as mint.[4]
Biržai Regional Park covers 14,659 hectares (36,220 acres) in northern Lithuania near its border with Latvia. It was established in 1992 to preserve a distinctive karst landscape. About 20% of its area is covered by forest.
Biržai ( pronunciation (help·info), known also by several alternative names) is a city in northern Lithuania. Biržai is famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, and the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries.
Abe Schwarz
Eli Rabinowitz, Barbara & Norm Miller
My slide – thanks to Stuart Rhine-Davis of Ellenbrook Secondary College
Barbara Miller
Richmond Tigers
The Table List
Eli Rabinowitz, singer Lior Attar, Tali Kellman and Alex Kats
Professor Jacinta Elston, Monash University and William Cooper’s great grandchildren, Leonie Drummond and Lance Turner, with Eli Rabinowitz
David Jack
Eli, Rabinowitz, Professor Jacinta Elston & Abe Schwarz
Jamil Tye, Roberto D’Andrea & Aunty Di
Eli Rabinowitz, dancers, Abe Schwarz
Eli Rabinowitz, Uncle Boydie Turner, Alex Kats, Kevin Russel, ?, David Jago
William Cooper’s family
Eli Rabinowitz, Bill Appleby of Jewish Care & Norm Miller
Eli Rabinowitz & John Gandel
Leonie Drummond
Dancers
Andrew Markus, Pauline Gandel, Simone Markus & Eli Rabinowitz
Eli Rabinowitz & Vedran Drakulic
Eli Rabinowitz & Professor Susan Elliott
Eli Rabinowitz & Professor Jacinta Elston & Associate Professor Chivonne Algeo
Eli Rabinowitz, Viv Parry, Lisa Naphtali, Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann, Kate Brocker, Shane Charles & Abe Schwarz
Shane Charles & Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann
Elana Saks
Eli Rabinowitz & Christine Newman, owner of the William Cooper house.
Source: 
