JCCV reinstates person-to-person events
The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) has delivered their first Jewish Immersion Day program person-to-person since the beginning of the pandemic.
Participants
Having spent the 2021 lockdown revamping the program, participants were tuning in online until then.
“It was a really happy and meaningful morning,” says JCCV Project Officer – Community Engagement, Joshua Goodman. “Both the participants and the speakers were excited to be in a room together with a line-up of speakers with rich content.”
The Immersion Day program was co-hosted by the City of Port Phillip’s Community Building Team. This is the first time that the JCCV has collaborated with the City of Port Phillip, and the organisation sees this as the beginning of a productive relationship, which will see further opportunities to deliver this program to different Teams within the Council and its surrounding networks.
The program featured a historical, religious, and socio-economic breakdown of Melbourne’s Jewish community, an explainer of Jewish traditions and practice, and a crash course of the Jewish history of Port Phillip and Melbourne with interesting talking points.
Rabbi Yaakov Glasman gave participants a tour of St Kilda Shul. Later, they were guided through the Jewish Museum of Australia by Charlotte Eizenberg.
“It helps community leaders get a more intimate understanding of intercultural and interfaith issues, and the diverse lifestyles and beliefs of the Jewish community,” said participant James Seow, who sits on City of Port Phillip’s Multicultural Advisory Committee, and is a Senior Adviser – Multicultural Communities Engagement at the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness & Housing.
“A lot of coordination between community members has gone into the program,” says Goodman. “We want to hit the important syllabus points that allow people to better understand and work with members of the Jewish community, but this leave cracks to be filled with nuanced insights about identity and experiences of antisemitism. In that sense, it is truly an Immersive experience.”
Joshua Goodman is buoyed by the positive feedback from participants. “New groups have been created out of this one event, which is exactly what we want to see.”
After months of uncertainty surrounding face-to-face events, the JCCV is looking forward to a busy and engaging period ahead..”
