The Parliament of the World’s Religions was held at the new Melbourne Convention Centre, beginning Thursday evening 3 December with a very colourful Opening Ceremony showcasing many of the faith traditions represented at the Parliament and blessings from many faith leaders, including the Jewish faith. Over 5000 people from all faith traditions from around the world came together to meet and talk about their own faiths, about common issues of concern, about continuing and expanding interfaith dialogue and about moving forward together on global issues.

It was only possible to attend a small fraction of the presentations on offer in the time we had, with a staggering variety of talks and events being available from early morning until night. A number of NCJWA women were at the Parliament, and while we didn’t do our own presentation, we had the opportunity to network with many organizations and consider future connections that would strengthen our interfaith work. I was part of a presentation by JCMA (Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia), showcasing both the women’s and the mixed conferences, as well as the schools program that JCMA runs. I was also asked to speak briefly about my spiritual interfaith journey at a World Congress of Faiths discussion on ‘The Inner Voice of Peace’, which included a talk by Dadi Janki, the Head of the Brahma Kumaris and one of the very few female world spiritual leaders. Although I was to talk about my personal experience, I had the opportunity to mention the involvement of NCJWA in interfaith activities.

I heard many inspirational speakers, including Rabbi David Rosen, Sister Joan Chittister and Jacqueline Ogega, to name but a few. .

The Parliament showed that Jewish people are making a strong contribution to interfaith worldwide. A Jewish presence was very evident in the many panel discussions that took place, especially in the main plenary hall. Important connections with people of other faiths were initiated or strengthened, which promise to bear much fruit in the future.  I was left with much hope for both the future and relevance of interfaith dialogue throughout the world.

One disappointing aspect of the Parliament was the lack of female voices on many panels, especially as faith leaders. This was commented on by women on a number of occasions.

Di Hirsh OAM

Rabbi Shimon Cowen's article on the environment in the December 2009 Bulletin sets out the extent of man's responsibility towards nature. Torah's injunction that man should not act destructively towards nature works from a religious as well as from  a scientific point of view. In the end we do harm to ourselves by abusing the environment. There is also the question of the worth of every other living thing, flora and fauna, in its own right.

Until the industrial revolution, man was still largely at the mercy of nature, though able to tame her for agriculture. Population was held in check by disease and the earth's resources were not over-exploited. Since the advent of machines and effective medicines, however, an exploding world population is abusing the environment faster than nature can regenerate. By burning large quantities of coal and oil and chopping down huge swathes of forest we are releasing too much carbon dioxide into the air and throwing nature out of balance. Already we are seeing the results of our foolhardiness as temperatures rise and glaciers melt.

Rabbi Cowen states that all that is asked of us is to act non-destructively and with reasonable short-term prudence. It is clear, though, that we have been acting destructively and imprudently for some time, and for our own and our children's sake and the possible future of mankind, we have no choice now but to change our destructive behaviour. Prayer on its own cannot undo the damage we have wrought.

The role of science in the present situation has been to observe and measure what is happening and to explain it to the public. It is politicians who want to regulate to minimise global warming, using emissions trading or a similar commercial device as a way of forcing industry to pollute less.

In the end I believe that people themselves will force change. Some industries have already begun to alter their habits and I believe that this will continue. Industrialists are not stupid, and want to be leading changes and not missing out on new opportunities. The failure of Copenhagen shows how timid our politicians are, but I notice that ordinary Australians are already taking action where they can, and our children will be even more proactive.

Prophecy and prognosis have to do with theoretical situations, but we are seeing events happening before our very eyes. Even if another natural phenomenon were at work, we should still stop destroying the forests, over-exploiting the earth's resources, polluting the air and generally making the planet uninhabitable. That is the least that we can do.

Jeannette Tsoulos

Environment Chairperson

In early December I attended the Asia Pacific Breakthrough Summit which brought together for the first time women’s organizations, faith communities and development agencies in Australia, Asia and the Pacific to discuss action to be taken to achieve United Nations Millennium Development Goals 3 and 5, concerning Women’s Equality and Empowerment, Violence Against Women and Maternal Health.

The summit was jointly organised by Coleen Clare, Chair of Asia Pacific Breakthrough, and Jane Sloane, Executive Director of the International Women’s Development Agency, following on from the Breakthrough event that was held in Washington Cathedral in 2008.

I was privileged to be asked to speak at the pre-Summit event in September about the interfaith work we are involved in, bringing women together, and I was also asked to be part of the Opening Ceremony at the Summit, representing Jewish women.

Some of the speakers from around the world were truly inspirational. Jean Duff, Executive Director of the Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty, offered us the opportunity to join a universal movement to end poverty, by joining the Asia Pacific Women, Faith and Development Alliance, which was launched at the Summit. She asked the question: ‘What can we uniquely do together?’ Sister Joan Chittister, Chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, spoke of the responsibility that faith communities have to be part of society and insist on change, commenting that ‘Everything that they have written about us has been written without us – and they call that theology!’ She is certainly a feisty woman.

As well as hearing from the Chief Executive Officers of World Vision (Tim Costello), CARE Australia, Oxfam Australia, Plan Australia and others, we also heard some deeply moving stories from women from the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Myanmar, concerning domestic violence, maternal health and women’s empowerment issues.

On the second day the co-convenors of the Global Women, Faith and Development Alliance, which resulted from the summit at Washington Cathedral, spoke about the activities of the Alliance. The co-convenors are Jean Duff and Jacqueline Moturi Ogega, Director of the Women’s Mobilization Program, which is part of the World Conference of Religions for Peace. The Global Alliance advocacy campaign focuses on placing women and girls at the centre of efforts by the United Nations, governments, corporations and non-government organizations to reduce global poverty by monitoring their commitments, while at the same time building and maintaining the coalition of faith communities, women’s organizations and development agencies.  Eve Mahlab AO and Fleur Spitzer OAM were at the Summit as women philanthropists. Both are members of NCJWA and supporters of our projects. A number of workshops were held on the second day. I attended ‘Immigrant and Refugee Women in Australia’, organized by Melba Marginson from the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition (VIRWC), and ‘The Role of Faith in Development and Peace Building’, where I had the opportunity to talk about our interfaith work.

As both faith-based organizations and women’s organizations, I feel that NCJWA and ICJW have a great opportunity to be part of the Asia Pacific Alliance to ensure that the voices of Jewish women are heard. The aims of the Alliance relating to empowerment of women, domestic violence and maternal health are important platforms in both our organizations.

I recommend that we join the Asia Pacific Women, Faith and Development Alliance and demonstrate the concern of Jewish women to improve the situation of women and girls worldwide. The voices of Jewish women need to be heard on these issues, at a national, regional and international level.

Nina Richwol was also present at the Summit, representing the UNAA (United Nations Association of Australia) Status of Women Committee and also WIZO Victoria. We discussed briefly the possibility of involving Jewish women’s organizations so that a broader range of Jewish women are involved.

I would like to finish this report with the words of Sister Joan Chittister –

“Without women, the world will never be whole

Without women, the world is seeing with one eye, listening with one ear.”

Further information about the Summit and the Alliance can be found on the website, www.breakthrough2009.com.au .

Di Hirsh OAM

MICHA Tel Aviv and Central Region operates a multidisciplinary center for infants, toddlers and preschool children with hearing loss.  MICHA cares annually for approximately 300 children from varied ethnic, socio-economic and religious backgrounds, from the critical period of infancy through first grade. 

MICHA’s mission is to enable children with hearing loss to acquire language, speech and communication skills in order to best facilitate mainstreaming into the public school system.  Approximately 85% of MICHA’s graduates are integrated into the public school framework.

MICHA Tel Aviv, Multidisciplinary Center for Children with Hearing Loss

23 Reading Street

      69024 Tel Aviv,  ISRAEL

Tel:  ++972-3-6994777

      Fax: ++972-3-6996821

      e-mail:  society@michata.org.il

      website: www.michata.org.il

There is a beautiful description by the poet Bialik of the children of Israel who were leaving Egypt during the Exodus.  ‘Dor acharon  le-shi’abud vedor rishon ligeulah’-

‘The last generation of slavery and the first for redemption’.

Passover is incomparable in the Jewish calendar in form and content, in romantic setting and historical association.  It is the oldest of the Jewish festivals and the first national commemoration.  It recalls the birth of Israel’s nationhood and the travail that preceded it.  It commemorates the passage of a people from subjection under a foreign tyranny to national and religious independence.  It is the festival of spring when the world of nature awakes to life, growth and fruition.  It also marks the springtime of a nation when a people passed from the darkness of bondage to a new life under a law which was ultimately to serve as the foundation for the whole structure of modern society.

Although the message of the Passover is universal in application it is essentially a domestic celebration.

The mode of celebration is educational in character.  The Haggadah, the order of the Seder is read and  ’every generation regards itself as though it came forth from Egypt.’    Jewish memory is long and tenacious.  It cannot forget past suffering.  Yet while remembering times of persecution and suffering it is also a festival that expresses hope for the future. It is a time of spring and hopefulness and a belief that the future will be bright.

Dr. Ziva Shavitsky

1.     Purpose

The Australian’s women’s Coalition (AWC) presents this report as an update on new projects commenced in late 2009 and continuing in early 2010.

The projects summarised highlight AWC’s continued efforts in:

·          Expending its reach to other women’s organizations, in particular through implementation of a national Advocacy Workshop program open to both AWC and non-AWC members.

·         Building women’s capacity as effective advocates in their specific fields and more broadly in the women’s sector.

·         Contributing to contemporary policy debates of importance to Australian women.

·         Continuing to provide a forum for the expression of diverse views and breaking down cultural barriers.

2.     The specific projects are in:

·          Intercultural dialogue

·         Leadership capacity and building initiative

·          Sexual assault and advocacy initiative

·         Trafficking project

·          GFC project collaboration

·         Health consumers and medical decision making

·         DURRI Aboriginal Women’s Health project specifically on:

-       Improving reach of programs

-       Improving the Pap Smear experience

-       Improving program cultural sensitivity and safety

-       The need for advocacy

·          Submission to house of representatives ATSI Committee enquiry on indigenous juveniles and young adults in the criminal justice system.

3.  Happy healthy women, not just survivors

This advocacy initiative, a joint project between AWC, the Victorian Medical Women’s Society (VMBS) and the Australian Federation of Medical Women (AFMW), is to enable communities and professionals to more effectively respond to sexual abuse survivors as an essential aspect of developing healthy Australian communities.

Being a “survivor” is not good enough. We must develop more effective national responses that do no harm; prevent retraumatisation, improve recognition, improve access and service provision and train and sensitise professionals to this seriously disadvantaged group of women’s needs.

Rysia Rozen OAM

Di Hirsh OAM