1 4 Friday, May 27, 2016NEWSThe Australian Jewish News – jewishnews.net.au

LaunchPad for a better worldZOE KRON

IT is often said that the most effectiveway to change the world is throughthe youth. For the Australian JewishFunders (AJF), with help from inter-national organisations the Charlesand Lynn Schusterman FamilyFoundation and the ROI Community,that is exactly how it envisions makingthe world a better place.LaunchPad is the AJF’s premier

event for the year, where it selectsmore than 50 Jewish young adultsfrom around Australia to get a crash-course in leadership, social enterpriseand giving back. Held annually in theMornington Peninsula, the retreat lastweek saw professionals, activists andphilanthropists build connectionsand innovate for a stronger commu-nity. The three-day retreat was jam-

packed with workshops, guest speak-ers, incubators and thought-provokingdiscussions. Highlights included a ses-sion with CEO Emergent and directorof Port Adelaide Football Club HollyRansom, as well as a masterclass withBlackbelt in Excellence founder PeterThurin on leadership and personalgrowth.To assist with the many programs

and activities, the AJF team recruitedAron and Kristy Turest-Swartz fromSouth Africa and Diego Goldmanfrom Argentina in an effort to sup-port a more connected and global

Jewish community of collaborationand shared impact.Beyond equipping the participants

with solid networks and leadershipskills, the purpose of LaunchPad is tonurture ideas to assist the communityin becoming stronger, more con-nected and more engaged.Encouraged to innovate on vari-

ous concerns in the Jewish commu-nity, participants explored therelationship between the Australianand Asian Jewish communities, aswell as discussing mentoring and skillsharing opportunities, a rabbi sup-port network and a search engine forJewish community organisations.Discussing the success of this year’s

LaunchPad, AJF CEO Tracie Olchasaid, “The LaunchPad retreat focusedon the participants, how they can

connect and support each other, stepup as agents of change and createmeaningful and relevant engagementexperiences for themselves, their fam-ilies and peers strengthening thefuture of Jewish community life inAustralia and beyond.”Meg Edelman, a participant from

Melbourne, enthused, “LaunchPadchallenged us to think outside of thebox, face our fears and to rethink thepower of collaboration and Jewishsocial innovation to maximise impactand better the world.”The retreat followed the success of

the 2014 and 2015 LaunchPads andthe subsequent creation of more than10 new projects for the community.

For more information, visitwww.launchpadoz.org.

The participants of this year’s LaunchPad retreat held in the Mornington Peninsula.

Shepparton exhibition opensAJN STAFF

A PERMANENT exhibition chroni-cling Jewish life in Shepparton – andthe agricultural settlement thatexisted there between 1913 and1966 – has been launched at theShepparton Heritage Museum.Greater Shepparton mayor Dinny

Adem officially opened the exhibitionat a May 15 launch attended by themuseum’s secretary Peter Ford, itspresident Robin Close, and local his-torian Elsie Brady, who helped withthe monument that marks the site ofthe former Shepparton Synagogue, aswell as with the exhibition.Alf “Uncle Boydie” Turner –

grandson of renowned Aboriginalactivist William Cooper who spokeup for Jews during the Nazi persecu-

tion of the 1930s – was a special guestat the launch.More than 50 people attended the

opening of the display, many comingfrom Melbourne, as descendants of60-80 Shepparton Jewish familieswho were mostly fruitgrowers innearby Orrvale.Devorah Zmood (nee Alperstein),

who had lived in Shepparton,explained to guests that the Jewishfamilies remembered the district as asafe haven, where they were free tofollow their religion, earn a living inreturn for hard work, and gain freeeducation for their children.Zmood, who worked tirelessly to

collate items for the exhibition, said theexhibition was “a cross-section of thefamilies and their story” in a diversemix of observant and secular Jews.

She said the majority becameorchardists, others were shopkeepers,and a few diversified into other areasof business. Some settlers remainedfor over 50 years.After World War II, a steady exo-

dus from Shepparton began, as par-ents wanted their children to live inMelbourne for education and jobopportunities.Numbers dwindled and by 1966,

the local Jewish community no longerexisted, with the shul falling into disrepair.Local Jewish historian Shirley

Randles reflected: “The synagoguemonument and the SheppartonHeritage Centre’s exhibition demon-strate that these early Jewish settlershave become a proud part ofAustralian history.”

A tallit’s tale through the ages NATACHA MALOON

A TALLIT that’s stood the test of timeand the pride in the eyes of its newowner, bar mitzvah boy JacobWhitmont, ensured tears would flowat Sydney’s Mizrachi Synagogue ear-lier this month.The tallit belonged to Jacob’s

great-great-great grandfather JacobWeissberger who was born inBochnia, Poland, in 1845.Against the odds, they remained in

the family’s hands after Weissberger’sdeath despite being handed to his eld-est son Moritz, who perished with hiswife Anna at Auschwitz.Their neighbours came across the

tallit and posted it along with otherbelongings to the couple’s daughter,Helen, as a signal that her parents hadbeen arrested.

She herself was in a work camp atthe time, prior to being sent toBergen-Belsen. Having buried the belongings and

surviving the Holocaust, she was sub-sequently able to retrieve them andtook them with her when she movedto Pennsylvania after the war.

The tallit was later brought toAustralia by Jacob’s older cousin,Scott Whitmont, who was given it byHelen while he was an exchange stu-dent in the US in 1978.Earlier this month, he passed it on

to Jacob as his bar mitzvah present. “Idon’t have children myself and I knewthe tallit should stay in the familyline,” Scott told The AJN.“Jacob held it like a treasure and I

knew immediately I’d made the rightdecision.”Jacob’s father, Theo, said everyone

was incredibly moved by Jacob wear-ing the century-old tallit – the firsttime it had been worn in more than90 years.“I don’t think his namesake, Jacob

Weissberger, really could have imag-ined that would be the case five gen-erations later.”

Scott Whitmont with Jacob wearing hisgreat-great-great grandfather’s tallit.(Inset) Jacob Weissberger.

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