Last year I was asked to give the closing address at the 30thof November event which is the annual commemoration of the plight of the Jewish Refugees from Arab lands and Iran, hosted by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies…writes Hila Tsor.
Being from a Mizrahi background, the event was of special significance for me. The once flourishing Jewish communities of Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen and other countries no longer exist. It is as if thousands pages of our history books have been erased; including the pages of my own family’s histories and our identities.
In my address I proclaimed: “We must remember the stories and celebrate this heritage, and not just tonight. Our community, particularly my generation will take this initiative forward”. I therefore made verbal commitment to my community that I will ensure that our narrative and culture is not forgotten. As a result, when I began my role as the Community Relations Officer at the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, I began a young adults’ initiative which was strongly supported by Lynda Ben-Menashe, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Community Relations and Policy Manager.
With a group of five other young adult volunteers which consist of Janine Joseph, Daniel Elias, Joshua Moses, Prielle Betito, Rafael Ben-Menashe, we started the ‘Yallah’ Committee. The ‘Yallah’ Committee is committed to holding creative and fun educational and social events for young adults ranging from ages 18-30 that celebrate Mizrahi and Sephardi heritage in Sydney.
On Thursday we held our first event, a ‘SePhARTY!’ (Sephardi party) in which everyone enjoyed food, drinks and music with a Middle Eastern Jewish flavour.
Excellent work Hila and the Yallah Committee!