Calling all Emanuel former pupils
February 28, 2013 by Community Editor
Sydney’s Emanuel School will celebrate its 30th anniversary next month and if you are one of its alumni, you are invited to the party. Read more
Carr welcomes Israeli enquiry
February 28, 2013 by J-Wire Staff
Foreign Minister Bob Carr has been advised by the Australian Embassy in Tel Aviv that Israel will conduct an investigation into the death in custody of a Palestinian prisoner. Read more
Cemetery desecrator sentenced
February 28, 2013 by Miriam Bell
Punishment for the man who desecrated 15 Jewish graves in Auckland’s oldest cemetery, with swastikas and crude anti-Israeli graffiti, is to be 320 hours community service, nine months supervision and $3000 reparation. Read more
ECAJ complains to your ABC
February 28, 2013 by J-Wire Staff
The ABC’s Elizabeth Jackson recently interviewed co-founder of Independent Australian Jewish Voices’ Antony Loewenstein about the Ben Zygier case. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has lodged an official complaint to the ABC about its content. Read more
Israeli Politics: On the Edge of the Precipice…writes Isi Leibler
February 28, 2013 by Isi Leibler
There is madness in the air. Israel faces extraordinary challenges whilst virtually all our leaders uninhibitedly continue their intrigues and machinations in pursuit of power. They regard their responsibility to the national interest as a distant mirage uttering occasional hypocritical rhetoric. Read more
Side Effects ***/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli
February 28, 2013 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
There’s something delightfully old-fashioned about Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects. Read more
The Paper Boy **½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli
February 28, 2013 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Whatever else it may be cited for, The Paperboy, Lee Daniels’ follow-up to Precious, is not going be called “the feel-good movie of 2012.” Read more
Cloud Atlas ***/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli
February 28, 2013 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Based on a perusal of reviews for Cloud Atlas, one might be convinced that the sprawling, ambitious, epic adaptation of David Mitchell’s 2004 novel is either a masterpiece or an unmitigated disaster. Read more
Carr condemns rocket attacks
February 27, 2013 by J-Wire Staff
Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr has condemned the rocket attacks on Israel launched from Gaza yesterday. Read more
Israeli trip motion in NSW Parliament
February 27, 2013 by J-Wire Staff
The Nationals Whip in the NSW Legislative Council Rick Colless will move a motion in parliament following what he described as “a successful trip” to Israel recently. Read more
Shalit meets Sydney school students
February 27, 2013 by Henry Benjamin
Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who spent five years as a prisoner of Hamas, has addressed over 1800 senior school students in Sydney. Read more
The university facilities you want
February 26, 2013 by J-Wire Staff
The Australasian Union of Jewish Students is providing an opportunity for university students and the Jewish youth of the community to participate in a special survey during Orientation Week (O-week) and the first few weeks of university this semester. Read more
The Struggle for the Negev
Ari Briggs – International Director of Regavim, an Israeli Non-Government Organization, and JNF Shaliach Ygal Shapir have shared a platform at Sydney’s The Central Synagogue discussing good and bad news coming out of the Negev. Read more
Face to Face with Ari Briggs
February 25, 2013 by Henry Benjamin
Former Sydneysider Ari Briggs now lives in Ra’anana and is Director of International Relations with Regavim…a Jerusalem-based organisation which contests in court claims made the Bedouin over ownership of State and privately-owned land in the Negev. Watch the video Face to Face interview ahead of his public meetings in Sydney and Melbourne. Read more
Two for One Offer from J-Wire
February 24, 2013 by J-Wire
J-Wire is offering twelve readers the opportunity to buy one ticket and get one free for the Australian Chamber’s Orchestra’s concert in Sydney’s The Great Synagogue on Tuesday. Read more
Victorian teachers welcomed back
Fourteen Victorian educators have been welcomed back from the 2012/13 Holocaust studies course at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. Read more
Israel’s Oscar nominees tell us something about Israeli society…writes Or Avi-Guy
February 22, 2013 by Or Avi-Guy
There are two Israeli films among the nominees for the 2013 Academy Award for best Documentary; Dror Moreh’s “The Gatekeepers” and Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi’s “5 Broken Cameras” (My review of “5 Broken Cameras” can be found here). This is yet another achievement for the Israeli film industry, which keeps on punching above its weight and produces world-acclaimed films, often acknowledged in film festivals around the globe. Read more
Palestine – Backtracking Begins As Democracy Dies…writes David Singer
February 22, 2013 by David Singer
Arab attempts to undermine and trash the Bush Roadmap and end any hopes of a negotiated peace between Israel and the PLO were flagged with some remarkable comments made by James Zogby in his article published this week headlined “Putting the Blame on “Palestine’s Democratic Deficit”. Read more
New Old Torah for Central
February 22, 2013 by Henry Benjamin
Thanks to investigative work by New York-based George Klas, a Torah captured by the Germans from a synagogue in Czechoslovakia has been found..in Sydney. Read more
New Board Members for the Lowy Institute
February 22, 2013 by J-Wire Staff
James Spigelman and David Gonski have been appointed board members of the privately funded Australian think tank The Lowy Institute for International Policy. Read more
Purim Q&A…from Rabbi Michoel Gourarie
February 22, 2013 by Rabbi Michoel Gourarie
Question:
I find Purim to be a very noisy festival. During the Megillah reading, when the name of Haman is mentioned, children (and adults) make a tremendous racket with their graggers and other noise making instruments. I find this very distracting. Wouldn’t a quiet celebration be more respectful? Read more
Melbourne Science Writer visits JNF Projects
February 22, 2013 by Ahuva Bar-Lev
Melbourne-based science writer Dr. Elizabeth Finkel has visited KKL-JNF agricultural projects in Israel, as part of her research for her upcoming book on feeding the world in the future. Read more
The Ben Zygier case: Questions that not even the journalists are asking…a J-Wire editorial
As intriguing as the Ben Zygier case undoubtedly is, there is perhaps an additional, unstated reason it has attracted the level of media frenzy we have seen over the last two weeks. The entire incident raises searing questions about the ethics and responsibilities of journalists. Read more
Purim – Sobering Thoughts
February 22, 2013 by Community Editor
The Rabbinical Council of Victoria has issued a warning about the overindulgence of liquor during Purim…and so has The Jewish Community Council of Victoria. Read more
Netanyahu’s Political Cynicism will Backfire…writes Isi Leibler
February 22, 2013 by Isi Leibler
Without doubt, many Israelis share my disgust as they observe the deceitful and cynical machinations of those we elected to represent us in the Knesset. Read more
165 Years of Care
February 21, 2013 by Michelle Coleman
Victorian Premier and Minister for the Arts Ted Baillieu has formally recognised and congratulated Jewish Care Victoria on its pivotal role in the community. Read more
Roman Polanski: A film memoir
February 21, 2013 by Henry Benjamin
Andrew Braunsberg, is a close friend and former business partner of iconic movie director Roman Polanski. Their intimate filmed conversation originally intended to be private, during Polanski’s house arrest in Zurich are the subject of a new film “Roman Polanski – a Film Memoir”. Read more
The Last Stand **½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli
February 21, 2013 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Old action heroes don’t die or fade away; they just keep going. Read more
Amour ***½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli
February 21, 2013 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Films can be tremendous vehicles for escapism – paths to freeing oneself from worldly concerns and considerations. They can also be a means of getting in touch with essential elements of humanity such as love, sacrifice, and mortality. Read more
Beautiful Creatures **½/4 – a movie review by James Berardinelli
February 21, 2013 by James Berardinelli - Reelviews
Beautiful Creatures is the latest attempt by a Hollywood studio to cash in on the popularity of a YA (Young Adult) series. In this case, instead of vampires and werewolves, it’s witches and warlocks. Read more
