Acknowledging the past
Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations
Thank you for allowing us to share your news with our School community in Ma Nishma and we hope you all have a great term break.
#Champions4Children
Past parent, Michelle Jersky, works at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. She says: “I love working in the community and witnessing the capacity of art making to transform lives. In my role as the Program Manager, Arts in Health and Community Development at Randwick, it is incredibly rewarding to make a difference through art each day.
“My journey with the Hospital began in 2009 and I’ve mostly worked with Aboriginal families in that time. For a decade, I ran an arts program for mothers and their Aboriginal children (aged 0-5) in La Perouse called Ngala Nanga Mai Parent Group Program. Ngala Nanga Mai means ‘We Dream’ and was named by group participants to reflect their hopes and aspirations. The program builds on the agency and resilience of the attending women and uses art to support maternal health, as well as promote access to health and educational services. I am now supporting others in the delivery of the program both locally and further afield. For me, art making is a rigorous process of exploration, questioning and understanding, it makes visible the complexity and nuance of lives experiences. It is a privilege to witness others engaged in these powerful art making processes.”
Music in Year K and beyond
For some members of our community, it is their school music experience that sends them on a music journey far beyond their school days. Ben Adler is one such musician. Although he did not complete his schooling at Emanuel, it is where, in Year K he began learning to play the violin. He fondly recalls those days and says it was that experience that started him on his journey to become an accomplished violinist today. Ben left Emanuel School at the end of Year 4 in 2001 for the Year 5/Year 6 OC program at Woollahra Public School before going on to attend High School at Newington College. Ben was a speaker /presenter at LimmudOz in 2019, 2020, and 2021 and if you saw the recent production Violins of Hope at the Bondi Pavilion, you may know that Ben was the violinist for these performances. Some of our Year 10 students attended one of the performances and Ben told these students how important Emanuel School was in his formative years, having taken up learning the violin as a 5 year old. His band, Chutney, founded in 2019, featured at The Sound of Terra multicultural music festival last weekend. As Ben says: “What a joy to play Jewish and Israeli music on a glorious day in Liverpool Plaza”. He also performs with Monsieur Camembert at Camelot Lounge in Marrickville, and at Emanuel Synagogue.
THIS IS WHO I AM
Sunday 16 July 2023 – 5.00 pm – 7.00pm
Emanuel grandparent, 95 year old Estelle Stone, is just one of the Burger Centre members featured in this unique free event titled THIS IS WHO I AM. Estelle says: “I grew up in London during the Great Depression and World War II. In the 1950’s I hunted Bengal Tigers in Pakistan and came to live in Kings Cross in Sydney.”
Burger Centre would love members of our School community to come hear Estelle and others tell their story and bear witness to 100 years of living social history as The Burger Centre seniors take part in a poignant theatrical telling on time, place and community. The unique artistic platform was created by Jeremy Goldstein with funding from Randwick Council Community Creative Fund.
Sunday 16 July 2023
5.00 pm – 7.00 pm
The Burger Centre, 120 King Street, Randwick
Book here via the link
Private Tour to the Art Gallery of NSW
Tuesday 2 August 2023
Gesher is pleased to invite you to a private tour of the 2023 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes at the Art Gallery of NSW on Wednesday 2 August 2023. See below for details and to book your ticket(s). If you have any questions, please email Sonia Newell.
Acknowledging the past
Stolperstein (Stolpersteine)
We have many Holocaust survivors within our extended School community, all with a story to tell, although for some that story is way too difficult to recall and retell but it is so important that we never forget. Perhaps some of our readers have been to Europe and seen one or more Stolperstein – a 10-centimetre concrete stone bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. Past parent, Peter Ulmer, together with his wife Xandra and their daughter, alumna Lauren, as well as some other family members, have just made a very special journey to his grandparents and parents’ home town of Gorlitz, Germany. Peter says “I believe Ruth (my aunt), Gerda (my mum) and their parents Richard Simon and Bertha Loewy would be pleased and proud of being officially recognised as Jewish Germans from their home town of Görlitz. This town on the German Polish border has through the enormous efforts of Lauren Leiderman and her hard-working team, brought Jewish history, culture and spirit to current and future generations who would otherwise be unaware of the large contribution Jews made here. Truly a very special day for our families.” ~ Stolperstein Layings – Jewish Remembrance Week Gorlitz – 22 June 2023.
Brave Talks – seeking new speakers
Some of our readers have been in the audience for one of both sell-out Brave Talk events to date, at which three people from our community shared their experience of a mental health challenge. Talya Rabinovitz from Jewish Care says: “Our wonderful, brave speakers have shared stories of anxiety, childhood trauma, anorexia, schizophrenia, addiction….the stuff we usually hide, they’ve shared and left our audiences in awe. We are currently looking for more speakers for our Brave Talks August and November events. If you have a story of mental health and would like to explore speaking, please email me: trabinovitz@jewishcare.com.au even if you don’t think your story is “worthy” – in fact especially if you don’t think it is – please reach out. I promise you, someone in the audience will need to hear it!”
Friendship Circle Walk 
Save the date – Sunday 27 August 2023
Friendship Circle is very excited to announce this year’s Walk theme: Friendship – represented by its AUSLAN sign. They say friendship is at the root of everything we do, and truly what Friendship Circle is all about. We provide opportunities for friendship and connections among children and young people with and without disabilities. And often, parents become friends too after getting to know each other as they drop off their child at a program or meet up at one of our Parent Nights. Over the years, we have been able to create our own inclusive community where everyone feels welcome.
We look forward to sharing our news and yours next term, so if you have photos and/or news you would like to share with us, please send to Sonia Newell.
Shabbat shalom, stay safe, have a great weekend and a fabulous term break.