Daniel Baker’s 2009 letter to the JCCV

Daniel Baker sent the following letter to me in Nov 2009 in lieu of being unable to attend a meeting with the Jewish Community Council of Victoria in person on Dec 4 2009.  This was a meeting that the JCCV had invited members of Aleph Melbourne to attend, to establish issues of concern to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

The initial meeting invitation had been extended by the then Executive Director of the JCCV, Geoffrey Zygier (who is now the Executive Director of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission that is connected to the JCCV).  This meeting/consultation turned out to be a precursor to the formation of their GLBT Reference Group, and it would seem from the discussions that panned out during this meeting that the JCCV had decided to form this reference group in advance of this consultative meeting with Aleph Melbourne.

Attending this meeting at Beth Weizmann were John Searle (the then JCCV President), Anton Block (the then JCCV Immediate Past President), Andrew Rajcher (invited as an unannounced guest of the JCCV, and unwelcome from my perspective given his particularly unhelpful stance on the matters being discussed), about 10 members of Aleph Melbourne and other interested parties that I had invited to attend, and myself.

On concluding my reading of Daniel’s letter to those present at the meeting it was immediately dismissed by the two JCCV representatives present and an expression was given indicating that they were not the slightest bit interested in its contents.

All round, a particularly unfortunate and unpleasant experience, and one that showed the true colours of the JCCV.

—

From: Daniel Ari Baker
Date: 2009/11/17
Subject: Meeting with JCCV
To: Michael Barnett

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your facebook message re the upcoming Aleph meeting with the JCCV. Unfortunately I will be overseas until the end of January 2010, and so won’t be able to attend, but I do have a few comments which you might bring up at the meeting; but there a number of issues raised by such a meeting which I feel I must address.

The JCCV has for many years now discriminated against GLBTQ people in the Jewish community, most obviously by its exclusion of Aleph from membership, but also by its failure to censure Rabbis and other community organizations which preach hate. Further, it has done nothing to counteract the ideology put forward by even the most forward thinking mainstream Victorian Rabbis, viz. that heterosexual marriage and the bearing of children is the only way to achieve full participation in our Jewish community and the Jewish people at large. Indeed, the very fact that this meeting is being organized now, that the JCCV is only now beginning to take an interest in ‘Gay Jews’ Concerns’ (not, incidentally, in gay Jews themselves, but in their concerns – that is, the factors which will influence their next vote for the  JCCV executive) is, in my opinion, appalling. I have been studying in Philadelphia since July of this year, and can tell you that the involvement of the mainstream Jewish leadership with gay Jews puts the JCCV to shame. For example, at the University of Pennsylvania, where I am studying, Hillel, the national Jewish student union, has a subsidiary body called J-Bagel, which caters to the many gay Jewish students across America. Rabbis and community leaders attend Shabbat dinners organized by this group, and gay Jews are treated as valuable assets to the community at large. One can hardly imagine any executive member of the JCCV coming out so openly and positively for the cause of GLBTQ Jews.

Honestly, I am outraged by Mr Zygier’s statement that ‘the details of what form [inclusion] might take have to be worked out; we’re still at the information-gathering stage’. Mr Zygier’s suggestion that there is some uncertainty about what form the enfranchisement of gay Jews should take undermines the earnestness of the JCCV’s ostensibly friendly approach. There are no ‘different forms’ of inclusion: either a community is enfranchised, or it is not. Either gay Jews are full and equal members of the Victorian Jewish community, or they are not. Mr Zygier suggests that the JCCV is trying to be ‘as inclusive as possible’. The remark seems, with respect, disingenious at best and mendacious at worst. Inclusion is the easiest task in the world; all that it requires is the renouncing of one’s own antihuman prejudices. Until Jews of all kinds, including queers, are welcomed, the JCCV cannot claim to be committed to tolerance. It is possible, even preferable, for  an organization which claims to represent an ethnic community to include all quarters of that community; if it does not, it can legitimately claim neither a desire for inclusiveness nor, indeed, to be a fairly representative body.

Further, Mr Zygier’s reference to the ‘information-gathering’ stage is offensive in the extreme. Gay Jews are not specimens to be examined and theorized: we are human beings, and his suggestion that some kind of study must be performed on gays before enfranchisement can be considered is degrading and disrespectful. What information could possibly be required? We are Jews. We are gay. We are unwilling to renounce our Jewishness, and are equally unwilling to renounce our queerness. That is all there is to it: the matter is extremely simple.

Kind regards,

Daniel Ari Baker

Clarifying the authority of the ECAJ

Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
legcon.sen@aph.gov.au

January 11 2013

Dear Committee Secretary,

I wish to clarify some potentially misleading information presented in submission #242 by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) on the Exposure Draft of Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012.

The ECAJ describes itself as “the officially elected representative organisation of the Australian Jewish Community and speaks on its behalf.”

If you review the ECAJ web-site (www.ecaj.org.au) you will see on the front page it lists its constituents and affiliates.  These are the organisations and communities it represents.  To help you understand this better, let me give you an example.

One of the constituents of the ECAJ is the Jewish Community Council of Victoria.  The JCCV represents approximately 60 member organisations in the Victorian Jewish community.  There are many organisations it does not represent, including a number of schools, synagogues and other organisations.  The JCCV claims to be the voice of the Victorian Jewish community, yet it has no authority to be the speak on behalf of the organisations it does not actually represent.  Similarly, the ECAJ has no authority to claim to represent those organisations, communities or citizens who are not affiliated with its constituents.

It is also important to understand that the ECAJ does not represent in any way the best interests of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in the Jewish community.  The ECAJ, and its constituents have no formal GLBTI representation, and have never engaged in any formal consultation with the GLBTI community to understand and cater for the specific needs of this highly disadvantaged, marginalised and victimised minority section of its community.

In fact it is clear from the ECAJ submission to your committee that they believe GLBTI people should not have any protection under anti-discrimination legislation.  The ECAJ also give tacit approval that same-sex couples should be denied the right to equality under the Marriage Act, which is further evidence that the ECAJ do not represent the interests of GLBTI people.

To this end you will have a better understanding that not only do the ECAJ not represent the entire Australian Jewish community, but they do not and cannot speak on its behalf.  Further, I can state with absolute authority that the ECAJ do not speak on behalf of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in the Jewish community.

Finally, I would like to make it clear that it is imperative that anti-discrimination legislation afford full protection to people on the grounds of gender identity, gender expression, biological sex characteristics and sexual orientation.

I will be glad to assist in clarifying any of this information.

Sincerely,

Michael Barnett
Convenor
Aleph Melbourne
www.aleph.org.au
0417-595-541

Jewish Gays still excluded from Victoria Police Jewish Community reception

For the third consecutive year Aleph Melbourne, the only organisation representing GLBT people in the Melbourne Jewish community, has not received an invitation to attend this year’s Victoria Police Jewish community reception.  This year’s cocktail party was organised in conjunction with the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), as it was in previous years.  Aleph Melbourne was invited to the 2008 and 2009 Victoria Police Jewish Community reception dinners.

I was advised by Bruce Colcott of Victoria Police in advance of the 2011 Victoria Police Jewish community cocktail reception:

The organisers invited those members of the Jewish Community who hadn’t been given an opportunity in the past to attend  to represent their organisations.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, it would be fair to say that with the number of organisations in the Jewish community, “the organisers” would have been able to include everyone they had previously overlooked in their 2010 and 2011 events.  It staggers me to think that with 100 police and over 70 members of the Jewish community in attendance, there wouldn’t have been enough room to invite one more person.

In their 2011 GLBT Reference Group report, the JCCV said that all community organisations should adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination and vilification based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity and that it was clear that Jewish members of the GLBT community are subjected to discrimination, harassment and abuse because of their sexuality.

It would seem that the JCCV haven’t followed their own advice and Aleph Melbourne continues to be discriminated against by them and some of the wider Jewish community.

I question whether there is some sinister motivation for the ongoing exclusion of the most vulnerable, marginalised, and excluded group of people from such an event.  Victoria Police have not been able to come up with a credible reason why there has been such an “oversight” on previous occasions.

Does Victoria Police have a policy of excluding GLBT organisations from these types of events?  If not, why the ongoing exclusion?  It doesn’t bode well for their liaison with the GLBT community.

---

22 Jun 2012
The Australian Jewish News Melbourne edition
AJN STAFF

Cops, Jews come together

THERE was no emergency call and no suspicious characters or packages that led 100 police to descend on Beth Weizmann Community Centre earlier this month. There was, however, plenty of goodwill and friendship, as the Men in Blue and the Jewish community came together for their annual reception.

Commander Ashley Dickinson chats with hate-crime victim Menachem Vorchheimer.

“We are fortunate to enjoy warm and productive
relationships with Victoria Police at all levels.”
Nina Bassat
JCCV president

Now in its sixth year, the cocktail function saw Victoria Police men and women and over 70 members of the Jewish community, as well as representatives from other ethnic communities, celebrate diversity.

“This night is a significant occasion on the police calendar and indicates the commitment of the force to community engagement as a mainstream policing strategy,” said commander Ashley Dickinson, who acted as host and emcee on the evening alongside deputy commissioner Tim Cartwright.

Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) president Nina Bassat thanked police for the way they handled recent protests outside Parliament House, which was hosting a cocktail party to celebrate Israel’s 64th birthday at the time. Anti-Israel demonstrators screamed abuse, called for the destruction of the Jewish State and burned an effigy of Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu.

“We are fortunate to enjoy warm and productive relationships with Victoria Police at all levels,” she said.

“This enables us to feel as a community that our voices are heard, and that we can count on VicPol to do their utmost to ensure our safety,” she added.

A Q&A session with a young member of the police force and a performance by Leibler-Yavneh College’s a cappella choir followed.

Pride March 2012 and Habo joins the ranks

Sunday Feb 5 2012 saw the 17th Victorian Pride March.  The weather forecast was 33 degrees C, windy and thunderstorms.  I guess that’s Melbourne for you.

There were close on 120 entrants in the parade (that’s organisations, not people), which is a remarkable effort.  Check out the march order for the who’s who.

I was again running the Aleph Melbourne entry, ably assisted by Mike and Doobie.  Through the powers of social networking and the Internet we pulled together a pleasingly sized group of guys and girls of all ages to fly the flags and show their queer pride and cultural heritage.

Joining the team this year was a straight ally, Dr Mark Cherny.  I was especially pleased Mark came on board as he is trying hard to break down the barriers and isolation for same-sex attracted people in the Jewish community.

One of the highlights for me at Pride March this year was seeing Habonim Dror (or just “Habo”) enter a contingent.  Habo is a mainstream Jewish youth organisation with a strong social justice conscience.  When I was in New York watching the pride parade there in 2007 I was overwhelmed seeing Habo flying a massive flag and fielding a strong presence.  At first I couldn’t believe my eyes, but gradually my disbelief was replaced by exhilaration, and an ear to ear grin.  Wow.

And the Habo Wow has continued over the last few years here in Melbourne, with increasing numbers of Habo members joining the Equal Love Marriage Equality rallies in Melbourne.  These young adults are amongst the best role models I have seen in ages.  Most are not queer, but they are passionately supportive of queer equality and are prepared to stand up and show their support.

And on a windy Melbourne day in Fitzroy Street, a large group of Habo members turned up, in uniform, accompanied by placards of support and made a strong statement in support for queer equality.  Thank you.

I look forward to the 2013 Pride March and the return of Habo, and Mark, and Mike (and his two Poochons) and Doobie and the rest of the great team, and hopefully many other supportive Jewish (youth) organisations, from a community that is learning gradually that it’s better to include than exclude.

P.S.  I’ve posted my photos from the day on Picasa and Facebook.  You can see my photos and blogs from previous pride marches here.

Josh Frydenberg and the UN Holocaust Memorial Day 2012

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is January 27.  The Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne, Australia held a commemoration for this solemn occasion on Thursday January 25, 2012 (to avoid a clash with the Jewish Sabbath).

In keeping with the tradition of having a representative of the GLBT community to attend the commemoration, Colin Krycer of Aleph Melbourne accepted the invitation to light a candle in memory of the tens of thousands of homosexual men who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis.

Colin Krycer lights a candle in memory of the homosexual victims of the Holocaust

Federal member for Kooyong, Josh Frydenberg MP, delivered the keynote address on the evening.

Josh Frydenberg MP delivers the keynote address

I feel compelled to express my reservations with the selection of Josh Frydenberg as keynote speaker at this event.  My reservations stem from the fact that Josh Frydenberg wishes to deny equal rights for homosexual Australians and calls for a second-class status for the registration of same-sex relationships.

My view is that marriage is a unique relationship between a man and a woman. It is much more than a simple debate about preferred terminology.

Relationships between same sex couples are equally special but nevertheless by definition different.

These relationships are to be respected and valued for the love that they bring and the families that they build. However, the term marriage should not apply.

Civil unions, however, should be an alternative.

I know many people in our community, particularly those younger than me will not agree with my view on same sex marriage.

I hope they respect my view as I do theirs.

In the Holocaust homosexual men were denied equality and treated as lesser citizens, with reduced rights and status.  There is no place for any discrimination against homosexual men and women in Australian society.

Aside from the possibility of a same-sex couple producing a biological child belonging to both parents, same-sex relationships are equal in every way to opposite-sex relationships, including those opposite-sex relationships where a biological child is not a viable or a desired option.

I ask Josh Frydenberg to understand this reality and to join the increasing ranks of Australians who understand that marriage equality, a definition of marriage that does not discriminate on the basis of gender, is in the best interests of all Australians.

Merv Barnett on Aleph Melbourne’s exclusion from the JCCV

My father Merv Barnett penned this cartoon in June 2008 in response to a JCCV advertisement in the Australian Jewish News showing the dozens of organisations represented by the JCCV.  Glaringly absent from the tree of community organisations was Aleph Melbourne, or any other organisation representing the interests of GLBT Jews.  Needless to say this is still the case.  Hopefully 2012 will bring a more positive outlook toward GLBT Jews from the JCCV’s leadership.

Aleph Melbourne beyond the JCCV fence - Merv Barnett - 21 June 2008

A peace of pride

Channel 31 TV’s Jewish show The Shtick was at the Melbourne Pride March on February 6 2011.  Henry Greener and his team spent a few moments talking to me in the marshalling area by Lakeside Drive just before the march.  They then made their way toward the end of Fitzroy Street to capture the colour and excitement of the parade.

No joy in Jewish community heads gaining Lion membership

[SOURCE]

This week the Australian Jewish News (Mar 4 2011, p3) reported that heads of key organisations in Melbourne’s Jewish community faced difficulty gaining membership of embattled aspirant community broadcaster Lion FM (Melbourne Jewish Radio):

“MJR president John Kraus … submitted Lion FM membership applications for ECAJ president Dr Danny Lamm, JCCV president John Searle and Zionist Council of Victoria president Sam Tatarka. The executive, however, passed a resolution to defer membership deliberations – “a disgusting and disgraceful state of events”, according to Kraus, particularly given that Searle and Tatarka were present.

This comes two weeks after the JCCV issued a media release (covered in my blog here) stating:

Rabbi Rapoport contends that the GLBT community must accept that they cannot become official members of the JCCV as this would fracture the Jewish community.

In 1999 the JCCV refused membership to Aleph Melbourne^[1], then a social and support group for gay and bisexual Jewish men.  Now in 2011 the JCCV unapologetically endorses the unsubstantiated view of Rabbi Rapoport that membership of the JCCV by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the Jewish community would be harmful to said community.  In my opinion these two events overshadow the fraught membership application by the JCCV president of community radio station Lion FM.

There may be meritorious reasons for Lion putting on hold the membership applications of Searle, Lamm and Tatarka.  It is unhelpful that Searle endorses Rapoport’s claim the JCCV should not have GLBT membership.  This action further marginalises GLBT members of the Jewish community.  If any community organisation wants to be successful, it must work cooperatively with every member of the community it is a part of, not just those that fit its political agenda.

It’s worth noting that in 1999 that both the State Zionist Council and Danny Lamm actively spoke against membership of Aleph Melbourne to the JCCV.

By no stretch of the imagination do they [Aleph Melbourne] follow Jewish ideals and the motion [for membership] should not be put forward — Erwin Lamm, SZC delegate^[2]

The organisation [Aleph Melbourne] … is not an organisation that ought to be represented at the JCCV. — Dr Danny Lamm, Mizrachi delegate^[3]

If Searle, Lamm or Tatarka approached Aleph Melbourne for membership, they would be pleased to hear that membership would be approved without hesitation.  Aleph Melbourne doesn’t ask questions about how prospective members bat or the way they prefer to score goals.  The organisation welcomes all members of the Jewish community, with the only prerequisite being a Jewish identity or heritage.

Lastly, if any of the aforementioned wish to become members of a long-standing and reputable community radio station in Melbourne, they can approach JOY 94.9.  Their membership application process is especially transparent.  Apply here.

1 JCCV Plenum Meeting minutes – May 10 1999

2 “Gay group seeks to join the JCCV” [AJN, Apr 9 1999; p7]

3 “Could Aleph split the JCCV?” [AJN, Apr 30 1999; p7]

Melbourne’s Pride March 2011

Last Sunday was the 16th annual Pride March in St Kilda.  Melbourne’s weather started out a little rainy and overcast, but cleared in time for the parade, leaving an abundance of blue skies and sunshine.

Young Aleph in Pride March

Kaye Sera always brings a ray of sunshine, and a pink plastic penis.

Kaye Sera in Pride March

Behind-the-scenes magic was performed by Colin Krycer, back with a vengeance after missing the prior year’s parade due to an appointment with a heart surgeon.

Colin Krycer (L) offering a helping hand

Pride March celebrates the diversity and under the umbrella of the Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council marched a diverse array of cultural organisations.

Alyena and John from the AGMC

I’ve posted my photos from the day in Picasa and Facebook.  Enjoy them and feel free to comment.

John Searle and the JCCV want full acceptance of homosexuality in the Jewish community

Yes, it’s true.  The JCCV, under the presidency of John Searle, want to work toward full acceptance of homosexuality in the Victorian Jewish community.  It’s been reported in the Australian Jewish News (Melbourne edition,) on page 9 (Dec 3 2010).

Praise for the JCCV
AJN STAFF

UNDERSTANDING and cooperation between faiths is key to promoting a better society, according to commissioner of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission Helen Szoke.

Szoke made the comments as guest speaker at last week’s Jewish Community Council of Victoria’s (JCCV) 3rd annual general meeting.

She explained the work of the commission, the importance of building a human rights culture, and law reforms planned for the near future.

Szoke also noted the similarities between her organisation and the JCCV, praising Victoria’s peak Jewish body for its efforts to stamp out hate crimes.

Changes to the JCCV executive included Matthew Lazerow and Helen Light joining, and Gerard Max stepping down.

With one year of his term remaining, president John Searle said he felt it appropriate to reflect on the JCCV’s achievements to date, as well as looking ahead to the next 12 months.

“In so doing, it is important to remember that five or 10 years ago, the JCCV was cash-strapped, not particularly well known and lacking in influence.

“Today, it is truly an influential body, capable or representing our community at all levels and whose input is sought by government, police, the media and many other bodies.”

Searle spoke highly of the Youth and Alcohol Project and thanks project office Debbie Zauder for her efforts.

He also made mention of the GLBT reference group formed by the JCCV, which is continuing to work towards combating discrimination, vilification and managing mental health issues.

You see, the only way that discrimination and vilification against GLBT people in the Jewish community, along with managing mental health issues in same-sex attracted people who don’t necessarily identify with the GLBT community (ie, they haven’t accepted their sexual orientation and may still reluctantly identify as heterosexual) will come about is when the JCCV work toward full acceptance of homosexuality in the Jewish community.  It’s a bit like being pregnant.  You either are or you aren’t.  There are no half measures in taking on these challenges.

Some more good news to share.  It’s now been 12 months since the JCCV formed their GLBT reference group and they have had a number of great successes as a result of this.  These include

• making sure that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the Jewish community still don’t have a voice at the table in the community and effectively remain unrepresented by the JCCV
• further alienating, excluding and isolating GLBT Jews
• having nothing to show for all that has been done over the past 12 months
• not speaking out against intolerance of homosexuality in the Jewish community
• ignoring homophobic hate in the Jewish community
• closing lines of communication with established GLBT networks in the Jewish community
• not acknowledging that suicide amongst same-sex attracted youth is a major problem in Australia and is worst amongst religious communities intolerant of homosexuality

It really has been a great twelve months of success for the JCCV.  Let’s toast a l’chaim to the next twelve.

PS.  I’m still here waiting for you, when you’re ready to re-open the lines of communication John.  My number is on the contact page here.

Anton Block silent on his one-time support for gay Jews

[SOURCE (refer agenda item 10.1)]

Almost twelve years ago, in 1999, Anton Block seconded the motion for the gay Jewish social and support group Aleph Melbourne to become an affiliate member of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV).

Motion for affiliate membership status of Aleph Melbourne

As history dictated in May 1999, this motion, put a second time after the first was deemed void due to a technicality at the March plenum meeting, failed to pass and the application by Aleph Melbourne was rejected by the JCCV.  No further application for membership by Aleph Melbourne has been made since and, particularly during the term that Block was president, no invitation to reapply for membership was extended by the JCCV.

Having since served a three-year term as President of the JCCV (2006-08), and now appointed to the position of Chairman of the JCCV’s Anti-Defamation Commission, there has been nothing but silence from Block on his one-time support for gay Jews.

But why did Block go silent on this matter?  Is he fearful that if he openly supports visibility and inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people in the Jewish community he might face a backlash from the Orthodox sector of the Jewish community?  He will only stand to gain support and adulation from the large Progressive, Conservative, secular and other sectors of the community that express their unconditional support for GLBT Jews.

I understand that Block is on the mysterious “GLBT Reference Group” that the JCCV formed in December 2009.  However his inclusion in this group has not been made public, as the JCCV has refused to disclose its membership.  If Block is on this reference group, as I believe he is, then he must speak up about it, and he must speak up as to why he sits on it.  I hope it’s for a more altruistic reason than kudos.

I put it to Block that maintaining this silence is harming the entire community, along with his credibility.  The alarming rate of suicide amongst same-sex attracted youth does not bypass Jews.  It is imperative that Block takes an active and vocal stance on fighting all intolerance of and working toward unconditional acceptance, visibility and inclusion of GLBT people in the Jewish community.  Only then will he show he is capable of being a genuine leader in his community.

United We Dance IX

For the past nine years United We Dance has been one of the highlights of Melbourne’s queer community’s calendar.  Primarily established as a fund-raising event, bringing together people from different multicultural communities, the event has gone from strength to strength.

United We Dance - Dancing the Zorba

Organising an annual dance party with the best multicultural DJs and 15 excellent performances staged over the evening doesn’t just happen by itself.  Many months of hard work happen behind the scene and accolades must be given to John Tzimas, Colin Krycer and their teams who have undertaken this mammoth effort annually.

United We Dance - Mambo Italiano (the lesbian version)

I have been lucky enough to have been involved as the photographer for the event since 2004, when it formed the closing party for the Inaugural Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Conference in October that year.

United We Dance - Colin Krycer & John Tzimas

United We Dance has raised tens of thousands of dollars for organisations such as the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard, JOY 94.9, Pride March, the Australian Lesbian & Gay Archives, the Gay & Lesbian Foundation of Australia and many more.  It has also provided grants through its parent body, the AGMC, for the smaller multicultural groups in Melbourne’s queer community, such as Greek & Gay, Arcilesbica, Aleph Melbourne, i Ragazzi and others.

United We Dance - Hot entertainers

It has been an honour being involved with United We Dance for all these years.  I love the people who attend, in all their diversity.  I love the organisers for putting on an excellent night’s entertainment, knowing that every cent raised is going directly to support the community.  I love the buzz it gives me, being there and getting to meet and photograph everyone.  I also love that it’s a place where people from every nationality, cultural background, religion (and absence of), gender identity and sexual orientation come together to enjoy a night out and treat each other as equal.  It sets an example wider society can take a lesson from.

United We Dance - The Punters

Please take a few moments to browse my galleries from this and previous years and enjoy a sense of the unity and harmony that United We Dance fosters.  It’s truly unique.

• 2010: Picasa & Facebook
• 2009: Picasa
• 2008: Picasa & Facebook
• 2004: AGMC

United We Dance - The atmosphere

Thank you again Colin and John.

A response to the JCCV’s Victorian Community Report

[SOURCE]

In J-Wire, Geoffrey Zygier of the JCCV says:

Finally Searle said that ”the GLBT Reference group formed by JCCV, is continuing to work towards combatting discrimination, vilification and managing mental health issues for this community. The plan is to look at speaking with school representatives in regards to bullying issues.

and

Searle has pledged to host more politicians’ lunches, conduct more interfaith activities starting with the Croatian community and expects to welcome more new affiliates next year in keeping with the JCCV’s policy of inclusion.”

Combatting bullying in schools necessary, as we know from the It Gets Better Project, but we need to hear the JCCV say that any intolerance of homosexuality is unacceptable to know they are taking the issue seriously.  To date that is the one thing they refuse to say.

For a secular organisation, with no official religious position, it is evident they are biased toward the interests of their Orthodox membership, and this is not the role of the organisation that is supposed to represent the entire Jewish community.

As for the “JCCV’s policy of inclusion”.  That is deceitful.  The JCCV has a strong history of excluding various organisations in the Jewish community, including the gay group Aleph Melbourne, and it certainly has excluded me from any discussions.

The JCCV needs a major overhaul, which I would suggest should start with the removal of the president.  Only then might the organisation start to become representative.

The world needs more people like Rochelle and Jonathan

From time to time I find myself remembering Rochelle Millar.  The world needs more Rochelles.  The world also needs more Jonathans.  They’re decent people.  The world needs more decent people.

Michael.

Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black and Rochelle Millar

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Gays are people too.  Jonathan Keren-Black.   LBC 04/11/06

At the end of the Noah story, Noah plants vines, makes wine, and gets drunk.  After all that he’d been through, you can hardly blame him!  But in his drunken state, his usual sense of modesty and decency seems to have been set aside – something inappropriate happened.  It is not at all clear what it was.  It involved his son Ham, who may only have seen his father naked – whatever it was though, Ham was damned as a slave for all time.

In our own portion this week, Avram palms off his wife Sarai as his sister.  She goes off to be one of Pharaoh’s wives.  Clearly this is again an inappropriate, at least potentially sexual, relationship.  And the bible abounds with such stories, such as Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar, who he thought was a prostitute, or Potiphar’s wife trying to entice Joseph.

The bible returns time and again to the theme of appropriate and inappropriate sexual relationships.  You probably heard the story of Moses returning to the Israelites – I’ve got good news and bad news, he says.  The good news is I’ve got it down to ten – the bad news is number seven is still in!  So we are reminded that the prohibition against adultery even made it into the ten commandments.

Just because something may have been considered inappropriate to our ancestors of three thousand and more years ago does not mean it is necessarily the same for us today.  For example, they decreed that if a woman was raped in a town, she and the rapist should both be put to death.  The rationale is that if she wanted to, she could have called for help.   Never mind that the rapist could be threatening her with a sharp flint or knife, or that no-one else dared go out to help.  The kind of argument that rightly causes a furore in the western media even today if someone suggests it.

Bear in mind that the goal of our ancestors was to build a big, strong nation – to produce as many children as possible, to successfully conquer the land of Canaan. The first commandment, given to the animals and then repeated to humans, was P’ru U’rvu – be fruitful and multiply.

If anyone felt attracted to their own sex, that was not considered normal or permissible.  It would not produce new children, more soldiers.  And so, right in the heart of Leviticus, we seem to have two strong prohibitions on homosexuality – one who lies with a man as with a woman should be put to death.  When, at a later stage, the ancient rabbis considered the matter again, they decreed that, even if you did have homosexual feelings, you should still marry and have children.  It was not in the feelings that one was sinning against God, but in the action.

Let us wind forward to 1885.  In Pittsburgh, the Reform movement of America held a conference and launched the so called Pittsburgh Platform, one of the formative documents of progressive Judaism.  In part it read ‘we hold that the modern discoveries of scientific researches in the domain of nature and history are not antagonistic to the doctrines of Judaism, the Bible reflecting the primitive ideas of its own age…’.  In other words, we do not consider the Torah to be binding on us, when it seems to conflict with our modern understanding and insight.  Now in 1885 it is likely that many of those wise rabbis of the Pittsburgh platform may well have been strongly homophobic.  Hopefully today we are not.  When we say that all are created in the image of God, we must truly mean it.  All are different, and in sexual identity, some are heterosexual, some are homosexual, and some are in between, or move over time in their sexual identity.  Today we understand that some people have a mismatch between their physical and emotional sexual identity.  None of this makes people better or worse, right or wrong.  Progressive Judaism, progressive religions in general, should not be prejudiced against any sexual identity.  We must address and check our own prejudice, and consider and treat each person as an equal creation of the one, all-loving God.

This is why I spoke last year and again last month at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Multicultural conference.  So far as we are concerned, people can be Jewish and Gay, and indeed for years we have been ordaining outwardly gay rabbis within our movement.  Rabbi Zylberman kindly directed me to a website and centre at Hebrew Union College for the study of human sexuality and Judaism.  There I found a prayer for coming out, and even one to use whilst taking medication for changing gender.

I am reminded of what an orthodox rabbi said at the end of the Jewish Christian Muslim conference last year: What I have to go back and explain to my congregation is that I didn’t meet Christians and Muslims, I met PEOPLE.   It is the same with the Queer conference.  I didn’t meet Homosexuals and Gays and Queers and Lesbians and Trans-sexuals – I met people, with cares and concerns about their lives and our world, just like everybody else.  Sometimes, people like to meet in interest groups, where they share something significant and feel safe and comfortable – like AFL, or an Italian, or an Israeli, background.  So we shouldn’t be surprised when gays sometimes also prefer to meet together – indeed they probably face far more prejudice from wider society than Italians or even Israelis!

I am delighted, therefore, to say that we at LBC are able to offer the Aleph group for gay Jews a home for some of their Shabbat, Pesach and New Year Havurot.  And gathering together is also empowering.  The more numbers, the more so.  This is why the Gay Pride rallies have become so important.  You might be aware of the huge battle being waged, so far through the courts, but sadly perhaps this week also on the streets, in Jerusalem.

This week the High Court finally ruled that is could go ahead, but  Yaacov Ederi, the minister responsible for Jerusalem, called on police commander Ilan Franco to reconsider and to transfer it to another city given the confrontations expected.  MK Nissim Zeev of Shas also called for the march to be stopped, saying that the participants should be sent for treatment. According to him 90% of the residents of the capital are against this demonstration.

On Tuesday the police arrested 14 orthodox protestors at an anti-Gay Pride demonstration. On Thursday they released 8 of them. They are not allowed to be in Jerusalem during the next two weeks.

On Thursday evening it was reported that the parade may be cancelled. If the police manpower necessary to safeguard it will interfere with general police operations, they may cancel it, says. Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter.  Sounds like he’s been got at!

I don’t have the latest update – but no doubt Israel will be back in the news again this week!  And of course, I hope it goes ahead safely and spectacularly.  Jerusalem is the capital for all Israelis, not just the ultra-orthodox – within which also, I understand, and as you would expect, there are more than a few gay Jews to be found.

The bible, as we saw, was preoccupied with what it considered to be inappropriate sexual relationships, and, though we would no longer accept its definitions, we would concur that there are appropriate and inappropriate sorts of relationships, and times and places.  Sex is ultimately a personal and private matter, as long as it is not exploitative or harmful.  Perhaps it is really not the realm of religion?

Finally, I mentioned Aleph a few moments ago, but Melbourne also has a Jewish lesbian group, and one of its key members over many years was a lovely woman named Rochelle Millar who I got to meet  just a few times over the past few years.  Rochelle was also involved in running the Australian Gay Multicultural council that organises the conferences.  Like me, she hailed from the United Kingdom, though her accent revealed that she came from across the Scottish border.  She arrived here when she was 14.  Michael Barnett knew her for longer than I did so I thank him for this information. He tells me that Rochelle was very proud of being a gay woman, and also of being Jewish.  Through both communities she made many lifelong friends and was loyal to them all.

Rochelle had an infectious laugh and smile and a sense of humour and outlook on life that made people want to be around her.
Sadly, the pneumonia with which she was first diagnosed turned out to be aggressive lung cancer, and her health deteriorated fairly rapidly over the past few months.  Yet up to the very end Rochelle had a smile on her face and a laugh in her voice.  She was an amazing woman that everybody loved and who loved everybody.  I believe that this was the closest to a Jewish ceremony that she had, and I am proud to be able to share it with you and with Michael and her other friends who are here this morning.  I think Rochelle would be smiling, and would be proud.  And I hope that we, as individuals and as a community, will all be a little more open to those who are a bit different, in some way or other, from ourselves.  After all, are we not all people, and all made in the image of the one, loving God?

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JCCV – the Victorian Jewish community’s Animal Farm – an unkosher affair

Funny what you find on the Internet.  Red Jos has his own take on the leadership of Victorian Jewish community’s unrepresentative and self-styled “umbrella” organisation, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria.  He likens it’s president John Searle to a farm animal:

This article was in the Southern Star and is further evidence of attacks on Melbourne’s Jewish gay group Aleph. It was somewhat dismaying to read some comments in the article advising Michael Barnett of Aleph to “calm down”! This is just what must NOT be done to a group calling itself the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, because this is just what it isn’t!!
“An Aleph member who asked not to be named……” – what on earth are they frightened of??? And if they are embarrassed by someone having the guts to stand up to the bullies of the JCCV they should leave Aleph and start their own splinter group of quiet timid mice who wouldn’t say boo to a goose such as John Searle and others.

A goose?  Naw.  Anyone who’s read Animal Farm will see the startling similarities with the Orwellian farm yard’s leadership and that of the JCCV.  It’s not a goose at the top of the JCCV, and it’s certainly not kosher.

Michael.