Golden jubilee for JCA
Sydneys JCA has reached its 50th anniversary.
Many in Sydney’s community have no idea how JCA started and what a triumph it was and is.
The first attempt at a ‘community chest’ was disbanded in 1954. By the 1960’s, the Australian Jewish community had grown substantially, largely as a result of pre-and post -Holocaust immigration. It was the six-day war in 1967 that prompted the then leaders of the Sydney Jewish community to step up to the existential challenge and agree to the remarkable co-operative model that is JCA today. The life-force behind this model placed the interests of the community as a whole ahead of the interests of any one organization or any one project.
As JCA celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, it is a good opportunity for our community to take pause and reflect on where we started. Only then can we have a real appreciation of what we have and what needs to be done to pressure and grow it. For 50 years, JCA has been regarded as a highly trusted, professional and forward thinking organisation that places community interests ahead of all else and mobilises around changing communal needs. With your support, JCA has been able to maintain the critical services provided by its 23 member organisations and has also begun the work of creating an engaged next generation instilled with a culture of giving.
To celebrate this milestone, JCA is asking everyone to wear a gold thread (around your wrist, on your handbag or your keys) during this week of the 19th November. This is symbolic of the gold thread of JCA than binds our community – linking us to culture, history, tradition and each other. We are so privileged to live in a safe, inclusive and thriving Jewish community with respected institutions catering to our needs at every stage of life.
JCA is holding celebrations across a range of JCA member organisations and will be reaching over 4500 students through the schools. All Jewish students will receive their gold thread and will bring home the inspired feeling of what our community has accomplished and how bright our future can be if we rally together. JCA will also be joining their member organisations in over 25 events and activities throughout the week, while 10 000 households will be mailed cards of thread in support of this celebration. During JCA’s celebratory week, we urge you to start a conversation about what community means to you each of you and let’s be inspired as we have so much to celebrate.
