A Publication of the Australian Council of Christians and Jews SCENECSCENE h r i s t i a n a n d J e w i s h

NOV 2010 NUMBER 82 loses professor of Semitic Studies

Library, now houses the archives of Alan Crown, emeritus Professor in over eighty individuals and several Semitic Studies at Sydney University key Jewish organisations including and a world renowned figure in Samar- the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies itan and Dead Sea Scrolls Studies, has and the Australian Zionist Federa- died in Sydney on 2nd November, 2010. tion. Prof. Crown was instrumen- He was 78. tal in introducing Yiddish at the Prof. Crown was a distinguished schol- University. ar and talented teacher. While Samari- He has written, edited, translated or tan Studies were his speciality, he pub- contributed to twenty-five books, lished books and articles ranging from and at least 115 articles: truly an the Dead Sea Scrolls and Biblical texts extraordinary life of extraordinary to Jewish and Christian theology, Aus- achievements. tralian Zionism, Yiddish language and Professor Crown had many friends culture, Jewish education, and Australi- who will mourn his loss deeply. He an Jewry, and published translations is survived by his wife Sadie for from Hebrew. Prof. Crown was also whom he had a deep devotion. He involved in interfaith activities, and was acted as a mentor for many who a founder member of the NSW Coun- would seek his advice. While he cil of Christians and Jews. maintained a personal commitment Alan Crown was born on 28th January to his students, sometimes ringing 1932 in Leeds, England and gained a up in the middle of the night when traditional Jewish education. Both par- he had a particularly good idea, his ents were teachers, and Jewish educa- standards of scholarship were high tion became a key focus in his life. At and he could be severe when work Leeds University his B.A. was in He- Professor Alan Crown AM was not up to standard. brew, Geography and History, and he He inspired his students, of whom obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Prof. Crown was recognised inter- I was one, to give of their best. Education in 1955. From 1955-1957 he nationally when he was appointed People found him approachable, was a sergeant instructor in the Royal acting President (1987-88) of the his office being a hive of industry. Army Educational Corps, and was a Oxford Centre for Post Graduate Alan Crown was my boss for twen- schoolmaster at Bramley County Sec- Hebrew Studies. In 1988 was ap- ty seven years, ever challenging me ondary School, Leeds from 1957-1959. pointed administrator of the Inter- to ―go that extra mile.‖ The life he Encouraged by Professor John Bow- national Qumran (Dead Sea lived has made the world a better man, one of his teachers in Leeds, he Scrolls) Project for the Oxford place. gained his MA (with distinction) at Centre. Leeds in 1958 and began doctoral stud- A Jewish college at the University Marianne Dacy ies. of Sydney was a dream realised by Alan obtained a teaching post at Prof. Crown when a substantial Mount Scopus College, , endowment was left for that pur- This issue: and emigrated to Australia with his pose. Mandelbaum House opened wife Sadie and two daughters, remain- in 1996. Crown was College Chair-  Around the Traps, page two ing in Melbourne from 1959-1962. In man and Joint Master and also  Editorial Boycotting Israel, page two 1962 he became a lecturer in Semitic founded Mandelbaum Publishing. Studies at Sydney University, working With an office at the College, Prof  Abbott and Frederick Toben, page three with Associate Professor Colin McLau- Crown was warmly interested in rin. Prof. Crown became Head of De- every resident and their welfare.  Feature: Jews of the Outback, page four partment in 1983 for thirteen years In 1983 he founded the Archive of and five until his retirement. The university Australian Judaica to arrest the loss awarded him a Personal Chair in Se- and deterioration of archival mate-  Order Now: Christian Jewish Liturgical Calendar, 2010-2011 mitic Studies and he was appointed a rial on the history of Judaism in Member of the Order of Australia in this country. The collection, held  Coming up—Advent, Chanukah, page 1995. within the University of Sydney seven

scene number 82 page 2 Around the TRAPS... Sydney: Kristallnacht 2010 National Bank of Romania has decided to Auschwitz director speaks honor Miron Cristea, even after consideration Piotr Cywinski, the Director of the Auschwitz- of his anti-Semitic actions and statements,‖ Birkenau Memorial and Museum, was the key- Abraham H. Foxman, the national director of note speaker at the Australian Jewish commu- the Anti-Defamation League, said in a letter to nity‘s Kristallnacht memorial services. Piotr M. Romanian President Traian Basescu. A. Cywiński is Director of the Auschwitz-

Canberra: Jews, Muslim elect- Birkenau Memorial and Museum, a post he has ed to parliament held since 2006. Between 1982-1993 Dr Three Jews - and the first Muslim ever - were Cywiński resided in Switzerland and France as elected to Australia‘s federal parliament last a result of his father's, Bohdan Cywiński, politi- August. Michael Danby, Mark Dreyfus and cal exile. He has created a website for Jewish Joshua Frydenberg — all from Melbourne — culture and history in Poland: "Diapozytyw.pl". emerged victorious in the federal elections. Jerusalem: Kosher? Peacocks? Frydenberg, a former adviser to John Howard, became the first Jewish Liberal representative in Canberra since Sen. Peter Baume in 1991. The election also saw the first Muslim ever to be elected to Parliament: Ed Husic won the seat of Chifley in western Sydney for the ALP.

Melbourne: CCJ gives thanks NSW Council of Christians and Jews present- Two members were honoured by Victorian ed the annual Kristallnacht commemoration CCJ recently. They are the Rev. Fr Paul Duffy on 5 November in Martin Place. Kristallnacht, SJ and Dr Jack Opie, both of whom retired at the ‗Night of Broken Glass‘, was the night in the 2010 Annual General Meeting. Fr Duffy 1938 during which in Germany served on the executive of the CCJ Victoria for and Austria were burned to the ground. ‗The over 11 years. Dr Opie was, according to the A restaurant in Jerusalem (named ‗Eucalyptus‘) Night of Broken Glass‘ is generally recognised CCJ, coerced into taking on the position of has hosted an extraordinary dinner to preserve as the beginning of the Holocaust. The service Honorary Treasurer of the Council in 1996. the ancient kosher food traditions. The six- was conducted by Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence, Knowing little about interfaith dialogue then, page menu included treats such as fried locust, aided by the Emmanuel Choir and Fay Suss- Jack‘s insights today have informed his late pigeon broth and cow's udder in saffron. Chef man‘s Klezmer Connection, (pictured). career as a dramatist. With Fr Paul Duffy, Moshe Basson served and 18 course menu of a

Romania: Jews slam bank who is writing a history of the CCJ Victoria, all vast range of weird and wonderful species - members wish both gentlemen a long and considered kosher in the Bible - including gi- Jewish groups criticized Romania‘s central enjoyable retirement. raffe, elk and even grasshoppers. Jewish tradi- bank after it decided not to withdraw from tion dictates the food laws must be passed on circulation a newly minted coin commemorat- Sydney: living with neighbours orally - meaning that many are in danger of ing an anti-Semitic church leader. The coin Eastwood‘s Uniting Church is to hold a semi- disappearing from the menu forever recently. honours the late patriarch Miron Cristea, who nar on ‗living with the neighbour who is differ- But at least one creature has disappeared from as prime minister from 1938 to 1939 stripped ent‘, highlighting relations with Buddhist Aus- the orthodox menu: the peacock is one of 30 about one-third of the Romanian Jews of their tralians. The seminar will host representatives birds in a 19th-century book on kosher poultry. citizenship before World War II. Cristea led of Tzu Chi, the Buddhist charitable organisa- But it's unlikely any orthodox Jew will ever eat the Romanian church from 1925 to 1939. tion, as well as members of the Uniting it again- because no one alive remembers how ―We are shocked and disappointed that the Church, on 20 November 2010. to slaughter it the kosher way. Editorial: Boycotting Israel

Scene readers will recall last July that the Na- Both Judaism and Christianity affirm the message. The July statement fails to teach – tional Council of Churches of Australia responsibility of religious leadership to teach. that is, dig into our shared religious tradition (NCCA) issued a media release calling for ‗a ‗Teach your children‘ says the Torah; ‗go and apply the lessons of our history-in-faith - boycott of goods produced by Israeli settle- forth and teach all the nations‘ says the Gos- to the contemporary dilemma. The call to ments in the occupied Palestinian Territories‘. pel. Teaching is a significant theme in the boycott is an ill-considered and politically Delegates had no prior notice of the resolu- Scriptures. cheap judgement. The NCCA has demonstrat- tion, which were introduced late on Sunday 11 By contrast, the Bible is much more ambiva- ed the very opposite of the servant-leadership July 2010 and voted on early the next morning. lent about the idea of judging. Hebrew Scrip- called for by the Gospels, as the statement was The call to boycott was made without refer- tures repeatedly assert that God alone is the delivered with no regard to the NCCA‘s claim ence to the Aust. Council of Christians and true judge. The shift from the rule by proph- that it ‗belongs to its member churches‘. Jews, nor any of the state branches, all organi- ets to judges to the monarchy is interpreted The CCJ believes that faith-based organisations sations with whom the NCCA is in dialogue. by the sacred writers as evidence of a critical such as the NCCA and the ACCJ can contrib- Inevitably, hackles were raised. failure by Israel, in apparently preferring judge- ute to the development of peace in Israel by The NCCA now appears to be in something of ment by a strong temporal leader to the teach- offering appropriate support and encourage- a quandary. A meeting occurred on 4 Novem- ing of God‘s wisdom by the prophets. The ment to both sides and by helping to find com- ber, at which this matter was discussed. Scene Christian scriptures are even more explicit: mon ground. Favouring one side against the sought clarification, but to date there has been Judge not, lest you be judged (Matthew 7:1). other will not only deprive a faith group of its no further statement from the NCCA, nor a Teaching, then, is affirmed by the Scriptures objectivity but will diminish the desired viable retraction of the earlier statement, nor has the and judging is to be regarded with caution. and constructive role. earlier statement been amended. The NCCA would do well to heed the biblical Editor

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Sydney: Töben and Abbott ‘go back a long time’

Australia‘s leading anti-Semite Fredrick the Holocaust is a ―conspiracy theo- Töben has claimed an association with the ry‖. Echoing Israel-haters in academ- federal leader of the parliamentary Liberal ic and media circles Töben argues party Tony Abbott. Speaking to the Aus- that the current U.S. government is tralian, Töben was quoted as saying: influenced by world Zionist consider- ‗Tony and I go back a long time.‘ ations to retain the survival of the His claim followed Abbott and Töben European colonial, apartheid, Zionist, having a chat after a protest meeting ad- racist entity of Israel. Töben remains dressed by the Opposition Leader of Ade- a fugitive from German justice for laide residents complaining about the having published racist material imminent arrival of asylum seekers in online. It should be noted that Tony their neighbourhood. Abbott has in the past been a sup- Töben has spent most of his days arguing porter of Israel.

Israel: honouring the ‘refuseniks’ - australia’s role

Early in November the Knesset hosted a within the ranks of the Jewish Left who until ceremony honouring former Soviet then had slavishly been defending Soviet anti ‗refuseniks‘ and activists from around the -Semitism. world. Liebler, who now lives in Israel, believes

Australian Isi Liebler was recruited in the that the campaign on behalf of Soviet Jewry 1950s by Shaul Avigur, the head of Nativ was ‗the most glorious achievement of the (the then-covert agency dealing with Soviet Jewish people‘ since the creation of the state. Jews) who played an enormous role behind In 1987, when, after initially resisting calls the scenes in the formulation of policy dur- for demonstrations, public demand forced ing the early years of the state. Jewish leaders to proceed, and more than

‗I became engaged in a campaign which in 250,000 Jews rallied in Washington.

1962 led Australia to become the first to Mr Liebler is presently collaborating on a raise the plight of Soviet Jews at the UN.‘ In further book on this subject with University 1965 Liebler‘s book, Soviet Jews and Human of Sydney‘s Associate Professor Suzanne Rights, served to ignite a fierce global debate Rutland.

Perth: the spiritual quest of two artists

In August, Curtin University‘s Simon At the conclusion of Mr Blond‘s thought- backlash against Chagall‘s use of Christian Blond (pictured) explored Marc Chagall‘s provoking presentation, Fr Waddell invit- icons? Mr Blond stated that though there and Anselm Kiefer‘s use of spiritual icons ed questions from the guests. was, amid anti-Semitic feeling, his use also outside of their own tradition, before a initiated a new sensitivity to each other‘s gathering of CCJWA members and guests spiritualities. at St Peter‘s and Emmaus Church in In answer to guests‘ questions as to what Joondanna. Executive member the Revd particular colours and imagery meant, Mr Dr Charles Waddell introduced the even- Blond stated that we should treat these ing with the thought that though art may works as an exploration by the artist into be taken as a mere preference of taste, in his own experience of the world. The this particular art we are confronted by viewer‘s role is to enter the expression of suffering, religious identity, and where that experience. redemption might lie. In Chagall‘s and Kiefer‘s works, we view a Chagall (1887-1985) and Kiefer (1945–) ‗still‘ in the movement of the artist‘s life, have borrowed symbols from each other‘s but within that ‗still‘ there is movement; a religious background, investing them with struggle with this world, a question about new meanings, in order to ask questions the possibility of redemption through the about spiritual belief and religious destiny. transcendent. Chagall‘s and Kiefer‘s use of Chagall was a Jewish artist who through- the other‘s sacred symbol illustrates the out his career used the image of the cruci- depth of violation against human identity fixion; Kiefer, from a Christian back- in relation to God, and in relation to re- ground, and one of the most renowned demption. artists alive today, has used the iconogra- Judith Schneider, Committee phy of Jewish Kabbalah to interrogate his The response indicated that the subject Member, CCJWA own spiritual beliefs. was by no means exhausted. Was there a

scene number 82 page 4

Jews of the Outback: 100 years of Jewish life in

In November, some 200 descendants of Jews from the Diaspora and to a remote outpost dle of the nineteenth century. However, Broken Hill met to celebrate the centenary of the like Broken Hill. Nicholas I‘s ulterior motive was enforced there. When the Broken Hill Syna- Tsar Nicholas I‘s decree of enforced mili- assimilation leading to the conversion of gogue was built in 1910, it was only the second of tary conscription set an annual quota of his Jewish population. two rural synagogues in New South Wales, the Jewish males from 12 to 25 years of age. Jews are not traditionally associated with other being in Maitland. But Maitland was a big Their length of service was to be twenty farming, which is perhaps why the Jewish and important city, and Broken Hill was, well, five years. This removed the boys from agricultural experiments around the world hardly the place you would expect to find a sub- family to military depots with the hidden had limited success. Similarly, Jews are not stantial Jewish population. Where did these Jews purpose to enforce Christian baptism associated with mining. That said, the come from, and why did they come? This extract is and/or to prevent Jews from living as biblical evidence shows that Jews were from the newly released Jews of the Outback: Jews. well acquainted with metallurgy and with Many Broken Hill descendants reported silver mining. The Jewish community in Broken Hill that their ancestors left the Russian Em- According to the Bible, silver, like other really emerged as a result of the persecu- pire to avoid this compulsory military metals, was brought by Solomon from tion of Jews in Tsarist Russia in the nine- service. Russian Jews responded to a raft Tarshish (II Chron. 9:21) and Arabia teenth century. With the assassination of of anti-Jewish Tsarist legislation by at- (9:14). Silver was extracted from its ore by Tsar Alexander II this reached a crescendo. tempting to re-fashion themselves in smelting, with the use of bellows, and the 1881 may be said to be the second most such a way as make Jews acceptable to slag containing lead was separated from important date in post-Temple Jewish his- the Russian majority. This manifested the silver (Jer. 6:29–30). Job was acquaint- tory since the expulsion of Jews from itself in the romanticised vision of Jews ed with the technical process of extracting Spain in 1492: in 1881, more than two and as farmers, which emerged in the middle silver: ‗Surely there is a mine for silver, a half million Jews fled westwards. of the nineteenth century. and a place for gold which they re- A tiny group of these refugees sought to These Jews believed that the healthy, fine‘ (Job 28:1). Ezekiel also describes the get as far as they could from the despotic natural life of the farmer would make method of extracting silver and mentions regime they had grown up in – and so end- them more acceptable to the Gentile slag containing bronze, iron, lead, and tin ed up in outback Australia. world, and give Jewish people a return to (Ezek. 22:20–22). The dangerous, and degrading, experiences a ‗purer‘ life through agriculture. These Jews from Ekaterinoslav were perhaps of Jews under the Tsars is reflected in the views coalesced with Nicholas I‘s deci- more familiar with mining than most. reminiscences of the descendants of the sion to encourage Jews to settle in the Ekaterinoslav province was an important Broken Hill Jews, helping to shed light on newly created Jewish colonies in the Eka- centre of mining. Furthermore, Jews their reasons for travelling to the edge of terinoslav province (Ukraine) in the mid- played a significant role in mining in the

scene number 82 Page 5

area from the beginning of the nineteenth century: in 1807 there were 253 Jewish copper and tin workers in Minsk, Kiev and Ekaterinoslav, that is, nearly 7% of all Jew- ish craftsmen in these towns. A century later, of the 96 large iron ore and tin plants in Odessa in 1910, 88 belonged to Jews. These facts may help to explain why so many Ukrainian Jews ended up in the ‗El Dorado of the South‘ – Broken Hill. Amongst the earliest arrivals were Hirsch and Isaac Krantz, who arrived in Australia in 1890-91. They applied for and were granted a mining lease at ‗Bulbun‘ in Neerim, Victoria; but they never took up this lease. Instead, the Krantz brothers went to Broken Hill. was Captain of the Broken Hill Fire Bri- of the 19th Century, a time of strict ob- Many Broken Hill ‗Russians‘ escaped to gade in the 1890s. To this day, there is a servance, hard-headed practicality, family Australia. The names Krantz, Lakovsky, section of Broken Hill known to locals and the wisdom of God. Renowned Jew- Teplitzky, Rosenthal, Dryen, Gordon and colloquially as ‗Mt Zion‘. ish historian Solomon Grayzel wrote of Edelman – all with connections to Ekateri- them: noslav - founded the stores providing vir- Broken Hill Jews were keenly aware of tually all the goods and services needed to events in the Tsarist Empire. In 1917, …it would be hard to find a period in the history sustain the emerging mining giant. Miners just after the Russian Revolution, Broken of the Jews in Europe which produced more beau- were quietly supported with food and sup- Hill Jews established a Zionist Society. tiful living, more pious souls, more happy homes plies during lockouts and strikes. Their Leo Gordon, the chairman, spoke to a and, indeed, greater sympathy even for their perse- patronage supported the so-called large meeting at the Broken Hill Syna- cutors, than the nineteenth century in Eastern gogue, saying: ‗the great revolution that Europe…If the measure of a culture’s success is had taken place in Russia was an event of the development of beautiful character, these pov- vast historical importance, and from it erty-stricken, socially degraded and politically the Jews of Russia would derive great right-less people shed a brilliant luster on their benefits.‘ culture and religion. The meeting supported Gordon‘s point The Jewish Australian mind is now much of view that the ‗powers of reaction and closer to the sharp-eyed, uncompromising tyranny had been shattered by the will of Orthodoxy and national adherence of the the people‘. At the second meeting of the Eastern Europeans of a hundred years ago Broken Hill Zionist Society, it was than the pre-1945 Anglo-Jews in Australia. moved: ‗That the Broken Hill Zionist Few Jews in Australia today would sup- Society pledges itself to support every port the anti-Zionist views of Jewish Gov- effort on behalf of the creation of a legal- ernor General, Sir Isaac Isaacs, on Jewish ly secured and publicly recognized home nationalism or the need for the State of in Palestine tor the Jewish people. Israel. How much more contemporary – What, then, may be said about the Jews and eternal - are the ideas of the tiny, poor of Broken Hill? What may be learned group of Russian refugees in outback New from them? At this distance the most South Wales who in 1917 boldly and arresting quality of these Jews is their bravely, announced to the world: clear, uncompromising understanding of That the Broken Hill Zionist Society themselves and their faith. Their life- pledges itself to support every effort on situation in the Russian Empire would, behalf of the creation of a legally surely, have encouraged a lesser people to secured and publicly recognized home Broken Hill Fire Chief compromise, to pretend to convert, or to in Palestine tor the Jewish people. Samuel Isaac Solomon even abandon Judaism. It may be said The Jews of the Outback are no longer. that the Jews of the Outback are merely ‗Brushmen of the Bush‘, allowing artists But their example and their memory re- an interesting footnote in Jewish history. such as Pro Hart to flourish in the outback main, for all who have ears to hear, for all However, Jewish historians need to de- town. who seek, and to all who wish to learn. termine how and why Judaism flourishes. The Jews of Broken Hill held numerous The conservative and even assimilationist Jews of the Outback: The Centenary of leadership positions in community organi- attitudes of Anglo-Jewry which dominat- sations, disproportionate to their numbers. ed Australian Jewish experience from the Broken Hill Synagogue, is by One notable was Samuel Isaac Solomon convict days until very recently have lost Suzanne Rutland, Leon Mann, Kate Mannix (pictured, above), himself a descendent of credibility. By contrast, Broken Hill Jewry and Margaret Price. Published by Hybrid Press, Solomon Vaiben Solomon. Samuel Isaac was the child of Eastern European Jewry November 2010.

scene number 82 page 6 Books

Not in the Heavens: The Tradition of Jewish Secular Thought by David Biale, Princeton University Press, October 2010 $35.00

Not in the Heavens traces the rise of Jew- medieval Jewish philosophy, recast the biblical ish secularism through the visionary God in the role of nature and stripped the To- writers and thinkers who led its develop- rah of its revelatory status to instead read scrip- ment. Spanning the rich history of Juda- ture as a historical and cultural text. Biale ex- ism from the Bible to today, David Biale amines the influential Jewish thinkers who fol- shows how the secular tradition these lowed in Spinoza's secularizing footsteps, such visionaries created is a uniquely Jewish as Salomon Maimon, Heinrich Heine, Sigmund one, and how the emergence of Jewish Freud, and Albert Einstein. secularism was not merely a response to Not in the Heavens demonstrates how these modernity but arose from forces long at many Jewish paths to secularism were depend- play within Judaism itself. ent, in complex and paradoxical ways, on the Biale explores how ancient Hebrew very religious traditions they were rejecting, books like Job, Song of Songs, and Es- and examines the legacy and meaning of Jewish ther downplay or even exclude God secularism today. altogether, and how Spinoza, inspired by

In the Land of Larks and Heroes, Aust. Reflections on St Mary MacKillop editor Alan Cadwallader, ATF Press, October 2010 $39.95

This book seeks to provide an opportuni- reflections from Catholic and Seventh ty for voices of other religions to be heard Day Adventist to Jewish and Muslim writ- as Australia celebrates its first Catholic ers. Some have taken the brief as an op- saint — Mary MacKillop of the Cross. portunity to reveal more of the heroes and saints of their own tradition and how Here are reflections on sainthood and they came to be esteemed. Others have heroes of faith from within different reli- directly described how their own tradition gious traditions and different Christian esteems saints and heroes. denominations. Contributors were asked to show how holy persons and heroes are But whether Baptist or Anglican or tradi- esteemed in their own tradition and how tions beyond Christianity, the writers have this might frame that tradition's apprecia- extended the capacity of Australians to tion of Mary MacKillop. appreciate Mary MacKillop as an Australi- Readers will find critical yet appreciative an saint and hero.

Among the Gentiles: Graeco-Roman Religion and Christianity Luke Timothy Johnson, Yale University Press, October 2009 $32.50

The question of Christianity‘s relation to Luke Timothy Johnson is the R. W. the other religions of the world is more Woodruff Professor of New Testament pertinent and difficult today than ever and Christian Origins at Candler School before. of Theology, and a Senior Fellow at the While Christianity‘s historical failure to Center for the Study of Law and Religion appreciate or actively engage with Judaism at Emory University. is notorious, Christianity‘s even more shoddy record with respect to ―pagan‖ Stop press religions is less understood. Christianity‘s failure to adequately come Sr Marianne Dacy's newest book, The to grips with its first pagan neighbours, Separation of Early Christianity from Judaism Johnson asserts, inhibits any effort to (reviewed in Scene 81) is to be launched engage positively with adherents of vari- at Parliament House, Macquarie St Syd- ous world religions. This thoughtful and ney on Tuesday 23 November 2010 at passionate study should help break down 5.30pm for 6pm, with the kind involve- the walls between Christianity and other ment of Peter Debnham, MLA. religious traditions. All welcome!

page 7 Coming Up...

Advent Advent is a period of anticipation and reflection, a time of looking forward and back. It invites personal repentance in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah on Christmas Day. Advent also encourages believers to look forward to the ‗Second Coming‘, when the Kingdom of God will be established on earth.

In Western Christianity, Advent begins on the fourth Sun- day prior to Christmas Day, or the Sunday which falls closest to November 30 and lasts through Christmas Eve.

In the Eastern Orthodox churches, which use the Julian Calendar, Advent begins earlier, on November 15, and lasts 40 days rather than four weeks.

November 28 First Sunday of Advent December 5 Second Sunday of Advent December 12 Third Sunday of Advent December 19 Fourth Sunday of Advent

Chanukah Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, commemorates Judah and the Maccabees‘ victory in recapturing the Temple from the Greeks. When the Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted and services stopped, Judaism was effectively outlawed.

In 167 BCE, the emperor Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus be erected there, banned circumcision and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the Temple.

These desecrations caused the Jewish Revolt and the Temple was reclaimed by the Maccabees. Upon entering the Temple, they found only enough oil to light the Me- norah for one day.

But then, the miracle: the oil burned for eight straight days.

Wednesday 1 December Light first candle Thursday 2 December light second candle

Friday 3 December light third candle Saturday 4 December light fourth candle Sunday 5 December light fifth candle Monday 6 December light sixth candle Tuesday 7 December light seventh candle Wednesday 8 December light eighth candle

Australian Council of Christians and Jews ABN 43 144 362 171 326 Church Street, Richmond, Victoria, 3121, Australia Tel/Fax: 0011 61 3 9429 5212 [email protected] scene number 82 Scene Editor: Kate Mannix NOT YET A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS? The Councils of Christians and Jews are a vital part in the combined Christian-Jewish effort to foster social harmony. We aim to combat all forms of religious, racial and social discrimination using the powerful insights of Judaism and Christianity. Join today! I hereby apply for an annual membership of the Council of Christians and Jews:

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