My wife Trixie and I had the privilege recently of representing Christians for Israel Australia at a historic and memorable gathering presented by SCAFI (Southern Cross Alliance for Israel) at Victory Life Centre in Perth on Wednesday 22 February, which was preceded by a fascinating pre-event program at the Perth Hebrew Congregation.
The main evening event was attended by some 250 people and featured a variety of inspiring Jewish and Christian speakers who provided a wonderful kaleidoscope of perspectives on the warmth of relationships between the two faith communities here in Australia.
The earlier synagogue event was hosted by Rabbi Daniel Lieberman, who arrived in Perth in 2017 as the congregation’s new chief rabbi after actively serving the Jewish community in Liverpool, England for many years. He has a special focus on encouraging young people to participate in Congregational life and emphasised the importance of community in Jewish life, helping us to understand that Torah rules need to be interpreted in a modern context. Rabbi Lieberman also provided a valuable summary of Jewish life in Western Australia.
Rabbi Isaac Riesenberg, who is committed to building bridges of understanding between Christians and Jews and the promotion of tolerance through the dissemination of core biblical values, then spoke on the story of Jonah and the issue of the sovereignty of God, and the futility of trying to escape from God. He explained how the Torah was written—never printed—by scribes, how corrections were made, and gave us insights on Torah reading and scribal traditions.
We then heard from WA Supreme Court judge Rabbi Marcus Solomon, who focused on the need to affirm the centrality of the Judeo-Christian ethic as the foundation of our legal system. He emphasised that every individual was created in the image of God and so had within a divine spark, which led him to reaffirm the value of each and every person and therefore the need for empathy in considering and arriving at legal decisions.
The evening gathering at the Victory Life Centre was marked by much expectation, and we were not disappointed. Pastor Margaret Court was welcomed by Rabbi Riesenberg and SCAFI chairman John Lockwood, who introduced the various speakers. Pastor Margaret was presented with a mezuzah (containing the Shema—Deuteronomy 6:4–9) to affix to the doorpost of her home, and shared about her personal faith journey, inspiring the enthusiastic gathering with her affirmation of the importance for Christians to stand with Israel. She emphasised that the flag of Israel is always on display by the main church stage.
HE Amir Maimon then shared how in his first year as Ambassador of Israel to Australia this was now his fifth opportunity in various states in our country to join in significant meetings with Christians who support Israel—he focused on the importance of love and made a special point of how he was inspired by the reality of the genuine warmth that he had encountered at all such meetings. He spoke about the challenges confronting Israel, but focused especially on the amazing contributions that Israel is continuing to make to bless the world, before joining with Rabbi Riesenberg in an impromptu version of a familiar Hebrew song!
Local historian, author and Israel tour leader Kelvin Crombie gave a fascinating and insightful summary of Jewish history right through to 1948, with a special focus on the involvement of Western Australia and its people in the years leading to the establishment of the State of Israel—including a proposal supported by the Western Australian Premier (but rejected by the federal government) to resettle some 70,000 Jewish refugees from Europe in northern Australia before and during the Holocaust, specifically in the remote Kimberley region.
The final speaker was Alon Futterman, the recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of Keren Hayesod (United Israel Appeal), who had just arrived in the country to be involved in the next evening’s UIA Gala Dinner at the nearby Convention Centre featuring former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
The evening was also marked by some rousing singing of relevant and well-known choruses in Hebrew and English, as well as a reading of Psalm 121 by leaders and representatives from different Christian and Jewish communities. A valuable time of sharing and eating together after the main presentation added to the sense of unity, solidarity, love and mutual respect that characterised the evening from the very start.
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