A Surprising Champion of the Mitzvah Campaign
by Rebbetzin Elka Feldman – Newtown Synagogue, Sydney Australia
We all know Chanukah is the story of light over darkness, of what is right over what is wrong. But the story of Chanukah is much deeper. It is the story of identity and a nation committed to an eternal relationship with G-d that other nations still don’t want to accept.
The Seleucid Greek empire was a sophisticated culture. They were powerful, modern and appreciated intelligence. They liked the Jews. They found them to be educated contributors to society. They accepted them as people but they hated the religion. To them circumcision was barbaric, kosher ritual slaughter was cruel, an alternative calendar dysfunctional with Shabbat and holidays a nuisance. So they banned them all, at the risk of death. They told the Jewish people they looked weird with their sideburns and fringes. Collectively they could be a progressive and cohesive society if only the Jews would let go of their antiquated and divisive practices. The Greeks appreciated the beauty of the Jewish Temple but they scorned the practices that took place inside. They slaughtered a pig on the altar and placed idols inside its great halls. They ridiculed holiness and they spurned allegiance to God. They found the store of pure olive oil for lighting the Menorah, only meant to be touched by the Temple Priests. They broke the seal on each jug, effectively contaminating them all.
Many Jews defected. They assimilated, they threw off their religion, they became lost to the Jewish people. Although the Greeks didn’t threaten their bodies, they were robbing them of their souls.
The Maccabees weren’t soldiers. They didn’t want to fight a war. But they realised they were left with no choice.
That is the story of Chanukah. Of a people who maintained a vision and a mission to be G-d’s ambassadors to earth. Unashamed to be different and committed to be holy.
Fast forward 2,189 years. I am standing at the funeral of Boris Tetleroyd, the dear father of a close friend Yaakov. Boris chose at the age of 60 to enter the covenant of Abraham and be circumcised. He was murdered at the Chanukah party in Bondi Beach, only because he is a Jew. Next to me stands Steve Kamper, NSW Government Minister for Multiculturalism. He tells me how he never really got to know Jewish people well during his life until recently. And now that he has met us, he realizes what a beautiful people we are. He tells me how spending time with the people, visiting the sick, paying respects to the deceased, listening to the words, the speeches, the stories, is so powerful. His staff keep telling him to get back to the office and maybe it’s unhealthy to perpetuate the trauma. But he feels there’s nowhere else he wants to be right now. It is healing him. “You people have so much to offer this society.” He tells me, “but we never see you.” He feels it strongly, urgently even. He knows of the fear, the security risk and it saddens him. But he is a man who lives with hope and vision. He knows his role and he feels it his personal obligation to use it for the betterment of NSW. And so he tells me with passion “I want to see Jewish people being more Jewish!”
The day after the massacre Mr Kamper called an emergency meeting of the Faith Council, comprising leaders of a range of faiths in NSW to plan a response to the tragedy.
Rabbi Nochum Schapiro, President of the Rabbinical Association of Australasia suggested that the Government encourage its citizens to take on extra Mitzvahs in honor of the victims, thereby bringing light into the darkness.
Mr Kamper was very moved by Rabbi Schapiro’s idea and instructed his staff to create a mitzvah campaign. And to call it that. He was inspired to take the message and mission of the Jewish people to the community of NSW. He asked his faith council to encourage leaders of faith, and of no faith, to further the cause. Especially now at their festive season. The message is that we can be different from one another and at the same time each of us can make the world a better place through our actions. And he hopes Jewish people feel safe and proud to be more Jewish.
It is Chanukah. The message isn’t lost on me.
Fun fact: Minister Steve Kamper is Greek.
To participate in the Mitzvah campaign please click here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/community-services/one-mitzvah-for-bondi
