NETZER AUSTRALIA'S HIGH HOLIDAYS CHOVERET 5781 Welcome! Va'ad Chinuch Shana tova and welcome, everyone! We are Noa, Jess and Tahlia, Netzer Australia’s Va’ad Chinuch (education committee) for 2020. Inspired by our sibling snif (branch) in the United Kingdom, RSY-Netzer, we have compiled the following choveret for you all as a gift for 5781. It features pieces of writing from Netzer community members from across the globe and spanning different walks of life. We're launching in the wake of an immense international loss, the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. May we continue her legacy in advocating for justice, and may her memory be a blessing. We would like to acknowledge the following First Nations; the Boonwurrung, Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri) and Wathaurung (Wadawurrung) peoples, the Eora Nation, and those of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples. These peoples are the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which this newsletter was edited. We pay our respects to elders - past, present, and emerging. We have all benefited from their knowledge and custodianship—and the prosperity of “Australia” has come at the cost of the near-destruction of their nations. Take this moment to close your eyes, acknowledge and feel Country around you. Indigenous Sovereignty was never ceded. This is and always will be, Aboriginal Land. Happy reading! Love, Your 2020 Va’ad Chinuch Noa Jess Tahlia 04 What Has Netzer Australia Been Up To? 05 Dvar Torah for Rosh Hashanah 06 Rochy B Lives Her Kvutzah Dreams 07 A Netzer Leader's Journey 08 Meme Culture & Proggy Jews 09 Nicki's Year As Our Netzer Mazkira N E T Z E R C H O V E R E T 5781 10 Climate, Justice & Judaism 12 Colour In Page 13 Shnat Lessons From Home 14 Israel-UAE: The "Abraham Accord" 15 Justice, Music & Language in Israel 17 Community Spotlight: Rabbi Rafi 18 Feminism & Judaism: The Female Prophets 20 Gallery: Winter Camp Picture Search 21 Netzer High Holy Days Events! What Has Netzer Australia Been Up To? Tahlia Bowen As the colourful, promising signs of Spring begin to emerge and our turbulent 5780 comes to a close, we have the chance to cast a reflective eye on Netzer Australia’s past few months. Netzer Australia began 2020 with big visions; outreaches to Progressive Jewish youth in smaller communities within Australia and potentially Asia, and the intention of forming a “Tikkun Olam Crew”, encouraging our senior participants to engage in regular social action projects outside of the Jewish community. Of course, alongside all of our sibling sniffim, COVID-19 proved a significant spanner in the works for all of these plans. Nonetheless, through many a Zoom call, our wonderful Each year, Netzer Australia launches a “Netzer leaders and chanichimot were able to quickly Appeal” to fundraise among our community adapt to the online space. In July, we were able members. Speaking candidly, alongside our to run a successful online winter camp, which neighbouring not-for-profit organisations, brought together over 150 chanichimot and Netzer Australia took a financial hit in the face madrichimot from across Australia. We also ran of COVID-19. Given this, our incredible weekly online peulot, and Sprout - our monthly hanhagah, leadership body and shlichim Netzer Kabbalat Shabbat service (formerly held worked extra hard in the lead up to this year’s in-person in Melbourne) - has also moved online, Appeal. On Sunday the 13th of September, we becoming the highlight of each month. Sprout hosted a “Callathon”, where our leaders spent has guided Netzer Australia’s chaverim through the day contacting our incredible community 2020’s unpredictability by transforming each members and inviting them to support us. We participant's home into a space of community, have been deeply touched by the support of prayer, and connection each month. Our next our Netzer Australia community, which allowed Sprout service will be held on the 25th of us to exceed our original fundraising goal in September, and we would love to welcome any one day. new members. If you're interested in joining, please visit Netzer Australia’s Facebook page. Netzer’s 5780 Appeal spotlighted the expansive and generous nature of our With the transition to online education, Netzer community. While we don’t doubt that more Australia has encountered multiple lessons and challenges lay around the corner in 5781, the developed revised visions for our future. The support of our community has left us entering ease with which our community has been able to the new year with excitement for the engage with one another from the comfort of adventures ahead. their own homes has even inspired us to dream up the idea of a “Virtual Snif”. Hopefully launching in 5781, the “Virtual Snif” will facilitate semi-frequent Progressive Jewish engagement for youth in Australia’s smaller communities and in neighbouring countries. 4 Dvar Torah for Rosh Hashanah Ada Keren Black Rosh Hashanah features one of the most unsettling of all Torah portions – the Akeidah, known in English as the Binding of Isaac. (No, not the video game, but yes, its inspiration.) The Torah tells us that God commands Abraham to ritually murder his son Isaac, as the ultimate test of faith. Abraham agrees, leads his son up the mountain, ties him up, whips out the knife – but just in the nick of time, an angel pops out and says, “Only joking! Here, sacrifice this ram instead.” Well, not only joking. It certainly wasn’t a joke for Isaac! Why then? What is this doing in our venerated Torah? How could anyone look at stories like this and decide that the God featured in them was all-good, kind and compassionate? There are many possible interpretations, which I’ve often discussed with fellow Netzerniks and with my family. One could be that in fact he failed the test, through not managing to stand up to the ultimate authority (until a different authority figure came in to tell him to). He already very effectively stood up against God in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, bravely challenging, “Shall not the judge of the whole Earth do justice?”, so it’s notable that he doesn’t manage on this later and much more personal occasion. Perhaps the lesson is to seriously consider what sacrifices you’re making, and if they’re for good enough reasons. In this ever-increasingly complex modern world in which we live, many of our choices are sacrifices in one way or another – of time, goals, money… Choose wisely, and take care not to hurt others through your choices. found another avenue from Rabbi Michael Lerner’s excellent book Jewish Renewal. Rabbi Lerner suggests that there are actually two distinct voices of “God” in the text. The voice which tells Abraham to sacrifice his son is “ha’elohim” – which is a term commonly used to refer to God, but also could reasonably be translated as the gods. He then identifies the voice which tells Abraham to stop as YHVH, the mysterious name of God whose pronunciation is now lost to us. Lerner suggests that “ha’elohim”, the gods, implies a connection to the polytheistic society of Mesopotamia that Abraham lived in. This was in some ways a cruel society, and it practiced human sacrifice. Abraham has very viscerally suffered at the hands of this society. Lerner relates a midrash wherein Abraham is cast into a fire by Nimrod, their ruler. He is miraculously saved from physical harm by God, but (as the rabbi suggests) perhaps not from the mental harm and trauma that such an experience would engender. So if we take this midrash on board: Abraham, having suffered in this oppressive society, hears a voice telling him to make his son suffer like he has. And at the last minute, he hears a divine voice telling him things can be different. We don’t have to pass pain on, we can remake the world to be fairer and better. Now, of course, I’m not saying that suffering abuse excuses abusing other people. (I’m not one of those filthy Severus Snape-defenders.) What I am saying is that none of our foremothers or forefathers (sadly we haven’t yet found reasonable suggestion from the tradition of nonbinary Jewish ancestors) were perfect. And that perhaps a lesson to take from the Akeidah, and a way to relate to a difficult story, is to remember that nothing is ever set in stone. “It is what it is” is a lie, or at least not the whole truth. The other half is, “but it can be different.” Even when it seems too late. 5 Rochy B Lives Her Kvutzah Dreams Rochelle Braverman But it is a combination of all these things that allow us to see each other as full and complex Shalom Netzer friends, people that deserve empathy and love. Maybe I’m a bit of a romantic, but Netzer always It’s been a while since I've been able to think taught me to dream big and to trust the world. As about my life through some forest green lenses. my icon and our collective chalutza (pioneer) And while for now I remain impartial as I hold up Hannah Senesh said, “Zionism and Socialism were the AZYC umbrella, Netzer Australia will always instinctive within me, even before I was aware of hold a big space in my heart. them. The foundation was a part of my very being, and my consciousness merely reinforced my In 2016, due to the encouragement and support I instinctive beliefs even before I knew their received from my amazing madrichimot, I went designations, or had the means of expressing on Shnat (btw Zionism rules!).