Volume 24 Issue 30 23 Sep 2016 20 Elul 5776

Farewell to Or Mondo, our Shalliach

mordo-or

Or Mondo

Lehitraot/Farewell

 

We are saddened that Or Mordo, our Shaliach, will be leaving Emanuel as he returns to Israel to pursue graduate studies and further his work on behalf of his beloved country. We will miss Or and wish him the best in all his future endeavours and share with him the sentiment-le-hitra’ot be-Yisrael. What follows are Or’s reflections as he bids us farewell.

Rabbi Daniel Siegel

One of the most widespread superstitions is that

every man has his own special, definite qualities; that a

man is kind, cruel, wise, stupid, energetic, apathetic, etc.

Men are not like that . . . Men are like rivers; the water is

the same in each, and alike in all; but every river is narrow

here, is more rapid there, here slower, there broader, now

clear, now cold, now dull, now warm. It is the same with

men. Every man carries in himself the germs of every

human quality and sometimes one manifests itself,

sometimes another, and the man often becomes unlike

himself—while still remaining the same man.

Leo Tolstoy

 

Dear students, families and staff

Imagine that with the end of your studies you have given a task: pack up your life and go to another country for a year in order to fill the task of representing Australia in the State of Laputa. You do not know the culture and customs. You heard very little about Laputa.

Apparently representing Australia in Laputa is not an easy task. Many people think that the people of Australia are descendants of criminals, others think Australians conquered the land by force from the Indigenous people and therefore should leave immediately. Moreover, others criticise Australian immigration policy and call it an apartheid state. Would you feel comfortable to represent your country? And what if people say that you need to destroy Australia? Will you defend it at all costs?

In the past year, I had the opportunity, the privilege and the great honour of representing Israel at Emanuel School. As a Shaliach my job was to be a tool for you, to see how I can answer tough questions about Jewish peoplehood and Israel and how can I bring Israel to you with all of its complexity and uniqueness. It was not an easy task. Many of you shared in this effort and wanted to know and some less so, perhaps fearing to know.

Ze’ev Jabotinsky said that our belief in Israel is not a matter of blind emotion, half-mystical, but the conclusion that emerges from an unbiased investigation of the nature of our history.

To me, the essence of the Zionist education is to show the diversity of Israel. Israel like every human being is not just one thing, and certainly not perfect, nor should it be. Australia is also not perfect. It’s OK to criticize the things that you may think are done poorly in Israel, however, you should also celebrate its existence and its wonder.

Israel is an integral part of Judaism. Therefore, each of us has a particular relationship to it. Precisely in this direction, I appeal to you to please read, study, ask tough questions, visit Israel. And do so with an open heart. No matter whether you are Israeli or Australian, we are one family.

I would like to thank the management and teachers at the School  who accepted me with open arms and supported me over the last year. Your kindness is engraved in my heart.

Special thanks to Anne Hastings, Rabbi Daniel Siegel, Ruth Harvey, Daphna Levin-Kahn, Adam Carpenter and Kobi Bloom. Thank you for your generosity and support.

Good luck and see you in Israel!

 

If there is a country in which a child is given:

His dreams, his fears,

The longing and doubts

It is the Land of Israel

Janusz Korczak