Nothing is Impossible
Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations
We hope you and your families are well as we continue to spend these challenging times in lockdown. Our teachers and support staff continue to be amazing, as are all our students and their families. We should all be so proud of each other! As we know, the rules change all the time – by checking this link, you can see the latest updates.
Challenging times of a different kind
The Tokyo Paralympic Games start next week and we are excited to see the many inspiring stories of these athletes for us to appreciate. Perhaps you have seen the promotional advertising on TV leading up to the Games, with the catchy theme song “Nothing is Impossible” written by past parent Ilan Kidron originally for The JCA Choice Foundation, and then more recently, taken on by Channel 7 for promoting the start of The Paralympic Games: Sydney Jewish swimmer Matthew Levy OAM will be representing Australia in Tokyo in a number of swimming events, in this his fifth Games, having first competed at Athens in 2004.
We wish Matt and all our Paralympians good luck for these Games and look forward to cheering them on from our lounge rooms in Sydney.
In conversation with Steve Solomon
Have you registered yet for our special event with Australia’s 400m Olympian, Steve Solomon?
Steve will be talking to our students, staff and the Emanuel community about his incredible journey to the Olympics.
Date: 1 September 2021
Time: 2.15 pm – 3.15 pm
Link: The Zoom link will be shared closer to the event
RSVP is essential
If you would like to include a question for Steve, please enter this on the registration form.
Music continues to make the world go round
Listen to music from more of our talented musical alumni:
- Jessica Loeb (Class of 2011) together with her fiancé Steven Kyriakidis, are better known in the music world as Jess and Steve Duo.
- Aliza Waxman (Class of 2012) together with Miron Williams make up the band Brooklyn Bear. They were part of LIMMUD OZ 2021.
- Chloe Ben-Mayor (Class of 2019), daughter of alumna Nadine Ben-Mayor (Class of /1990) has written and released her debut single “STILL”.
Remember September
Many of our readers joined us late last year for our online Gesher Speaker Series and will remember the interview with alumnus Ben Wilheim, founder of Remember September. A number of Emanuel families have lost loved ones from pancreatic cancer, and as we fast approach September, Ben would love us to join in this year’s event, to raise awareness and funds for research to find a cure for this dreaded cancer. A new challenge has been added this year, the walking challenge, which is the most popular so far – GIVE IT UP and MOVE IT. Ben says “this year, with nearly two weeks out from the challenge starting, we have more than 1,200 challengers and have raised $238,000.00 already.
See here for the latest figures and how to sign up.
Zoom Kabbalat Shabbat
Emanuel Kabbalat Shabbat
Don’t forget to join us for our Zoom Emanuel Kabbalat Shabbat at 4.00 pm each Friday, when you will see the smiling faces of so many members of our School, with students from Kornmehl through to High School, as they sing and dance at home in the lead-up to Shabbat, led by our dedicated Jewish Life staff and student leaders. We encourage grandparents to also join us.
Mitch Burnie
Alumnus Mitch Burnie, Manager of the amazing Adamama Urban Farm was interviewed recently by Plus61JMedia re the farm’s search for a new temporary home.
Jewish Changemaker Awards 2021
Many of our current High School students and past students in the Jewish community are making the world a better place through their amazing volunteering efforts. If your children or grandchildren fit this brief, please nominate them to win. Through the Jewish Changemaker Awards, JNF Australia, B’nai B’rith NSW and The Australian Jewish News are honouring individuals in our community who have made a difference. Seven incredible young adults aged 14 to 36 from around Australia will be recognised for their outstanding contributions to Jewish Community, Australian Society and to Israel.
We would love to see more of our students recognised for their wonderful volunteering efforts, so please send through nominations.
Friendship Circle (FC) Walk 2021
Sunday 29 August 2021
The race is on but it’s important to stay safe! Please follow all directives from NSW Health as advice keeps changing.
This event is FC’s main fundraiser of the year, supporting their programs and activities for children, teens and young adults with and without disabilities, as well as community initiatives. Members of our School community have supported this wonderful organisation and their events over the years, and it is hoped that we can do so again this year by signing up to join them on the walk. Given the current situation with lockdown, all participants are encouraged to create their own route and walk with FC wherever you are. This year, they will be having an Amazing Race with lots of different fun tasks to complete on the way, such as photo and video challenges, brain teasers, trivia questions and scavenger hunts.
Don’t forget, if you would like to support Friendship Bakery at Mark Moran Vaucluse, a social enterprise initiative of The Friendship Circle engaging young adults with disabilities in the local community through skills development and workplace experiences, please use their contactless ordering and pick-up.
If you have a special online activity, photos or news you would like to share with us, please send to: snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au
Shabbat Shalom. Stay safe, stay home and we hope are all have a good lockdown weekend. We look forward to sharing more news with you again next week.