Last week, I attended an extraordinary community event. The Eitan Chitayat – I am That Jew presentation organised by the combined parents’ associations of King David, Bialik College, Leibler Yavneh College, Mount Scopus Memorial College and Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah College was a triumph. The sense of vibrancy and unity that was derived from the cohorts of disparate school communities coming together reinforced Eitan’s message that there is so much that is special about our community and our Jewish identity and that we can only gain from exercising our courage in expressing our pride in who we are.

Eitan pointed out that this is always true, but especially so, given the retreat inwards due to the threats of antisemitism and external misconceptions about our values and beliefs.

When I was speaking to Eitan at the beginning of the evening he mentioned how so many people felt that it was exceptional that the Jewish schools were working so closely together on this. I said that I found this somewhat surprising as at so many levels we work very closely together with the other Jewish schools throughout the year.

Many in our community are unaware that all of the Jewish schools come together in the Australian Council of Jewish Schools (ACJS). This is a national group that runs an annual conference, offers advice and support to the schools and assists with lobbying at both a state and federal level. The various school council presidents and principals represent their school communities in this body. 

Alongside the ACJS is the Victorian Business Managers Group which sees the sharing of advice, information and resourcing among the schools which makes us all stronger. Our business team heads work in collaboration to ensure we are compliant with funding agreements, kept up to date with the latest legislation and are prepared for census and audit requirements.

The body that I am most involved with is the Association of Jewish School Principals of Australia. As a Victorian group we meet formally each term. On the agenda are common challenges and situations. For instance, when one school has completed one of the cyclical reviews with our various regulatory bodies, we can share our learnings. The meetings are always collegiate and warm and over the years, the principals have become friends.

This allows for this network of support to carry into other informal channels where we can help each other out when something arises and also to celebrate and commiserate together when the times call for it.

At the community Yom HaAtzmaut celebration, many of our schools came together at the one table to present a united front in our encouragement of those who have have children enrolled in non-Jewish schools to look at access opportunities through the Jewish Education Foundation.

A recent positive initiative is the establishment of the Jewish Educators Network of Australia (JENA) which aims to connect teachers in Jewish Studies, Hebrew, and Experiential educators across Australia’s Jewish educational institutions.

At a student level we were pleased to bring our students together recently for the Jewish Interschools Skiing Competition and the AFL Jewish Schools cup. Next month KDS, Bialik, Scopus and Yavneh will join for a Battle of the Bands event.

It is my belief that the extraordinary quality and diversity of our Jewish schools has been the key determinant in maintaining the vibrancy and engagement of the wonderful Melbourne Jewish community. Collectively we are the envy of the world. 

The collaboration of the parents’ associations was yet another positive step in enhancing the strong culture of unity that has been attained through our deep connections. As we face the significant challenges of our time and reaffirm our commitment to raising the next generation of proud, knowledgeable, engaged and active Jews, we know that we are stronger together.

Shabbat Shalom,
Marc Light