Young Jewish Leadership – Connecting our Community Gesher
Young Jewish leadership – Alpha Epsilon Pi
I hope you find this interesting and that you will pass this interview with alumnus Daniel Brockwell on.
“My first semester of university was filled with the usual challenges of adjusting to campus life and working out my subjects. That was until I received a call from Grant Bigman in Indianapolis.
He was calling as a representative of Alpha Epsilon Pi, an organisation I had never heard of. It was, Grant said, the only Jewish or intercontinental fraternity, with over 100,000 members from Canada to Israel. Unwittingly, through involvement in the Jewish learning program ‘Sinai Scholars’, I had been asked to help found Australia’s first fraternity chapter.
Curious about the idea, I gave him the names of several other Emanuel alumni, including Jonathan Moallem, Raphael Sebban and Zachary Lazarus. We collectively tossed and turned, unsure of whether such a seemingly surreal concept could work in a continent that had no ‘Greek’ presence, let alone one that catered exclusively to the Jewish community.
If the story stopped there, it wouldn’t be worth telling.
We took a chance to form that vision from a meagre 17 and, with strong leadership and perseverance, we have grown to triple that size. Today, as Vice President, I now help support the academic, professional, communal and religious development of nearly 50 brothers (including 12 from Emanuel School) across 6 different tertiary institutions in Sydney, with a dedicated fraternity house at Shalom College at UNSW.
Telling people you’re part of a fraternity in Australia always elicits bemused smirks, possibly even a ”Wait, what’s a fraternity?” It’s an exciting challenge to create and cultivate something not just for the Jewish community, but for a country in which this sort of organisation is unprecedented. More than that, trying to create an inclusive space for Jews on campus has been its own challenge – one that, with more than 1200 visitors in the last few months, I believe we’ve risen to.
This July, myself and Raphael had the phenomenal opportunity to learn from Jewish leaders in government, business, charity and religion for a week and a half at the 2018 AEPi International Convention in Las Vegas. There, it was announced that we were being officially chartered as a Chapter, having been a colony for a mere 12 months. As a deafening applause of over 1000 people greeted the small Australian contingent that stood up, it really clicked for me just how strong the Jewish community was, regardless of location or language.
With a chapter in Melbourne in progress, and a sorority showing interest, we’re excited to be developing a sense of brotherhood among young Jewish men at university regardless of religiosity, faculty or schooling background. Our vision is to support Jewish men at university in developing the skills and experience to become leaders in whatever field their passion lies.
Any and all Year 12 students interested in learning more about upcoming recruitment for 2018, contact aepisydney@gmail.com or feel free to reach out to me personally.”
Daniel Brockwell, Class of 2015 and UNSW Commerce/Computer Science student
Friendship Circle Toy Drive
A fun and meaningful volunteer activity for primary aged children and their parents on 5 November, 3 to 5pm @ Friendship Circle, 339 Old South Head Rd, Bondi.
Decorate a card and wrap a gift to brighten the life of a child with disability. This is a great introduction to Friendship Circle – children will learn about the power of community, the art of giving and explore the common human needs of children with disabilities.
You are welcome to bring a toy to gift or you can wrap toys that we have already collected in the Toy Drive.
To RSVP for decorate and wrap on 5 November: hello@sydneyfc.org.au
To make a donation: www.sydneyfc.org.au/toydrive
VOICES
A spectacular cross-cultural musical event is coming to Australia.
VOICES, a musical journey that merges the melodies, harmonies and rhythms of Israel, Africa and the world, comes to Sydney on Sunday 19 and Monday 20 November with 24 Professional performers including the group, BLACK YOGHURT. VOICES is a not-for-profit project presenting a world-class touring Jewish cultural event. All profits from the Sydney concerts go to Friendship Circle.
Every musical journey begins with a dream. And when this dream converges into reality, the results can be breathtaking. Such is the story of VOICES, the latest in the series of ‘Celebration’ spectaculars (including Celebration 60 which wowed Australian audiences!). Again conceived and created by legendary South African cantor Oshy Tugendhaft, VOICES fuses Hebrew, English and African music into a blend that emerges as a different genre of music altogether.
FOR BOOKINGS: www.voicesoshyaustralia.com.au
ART HOP 2017
Celebrating five years: www.arthop.com.au
Enjoy the scenic walk from Bondi to Vaucluse on 25 or 26 November whilst visiting local artists, including ceramic artist and past parent Lia Klugman, in their studios.