B’nai B’rith is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 Bernard J. Lustig Scholarship:
Rabbi Sammy Brygel (full scholarship), Isabel Gelb (full scholarship) and Rabbi Alon Meltzer (partial scholarship).

Rebecca Forgasz, Chair of Trustees, expressed the trustees’ delight with the standard of all of the applications received, both the level of academic achievement of the applicants and their involvement in Jewish and communal life. “We were also particularly pleased to have received such a good number of submissions and to have been able to make an award, after not having done so last year due to COVID19. We wish all our scholarship recipients the best of luck with their travels and their studies."
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Sports enthusiast and Mt Scopus Jewish Studies teacher Rabbi Sammy Brygel has been awarded a travel grant to enable him to attend Yeshiva Shapell's – Darche Noam for a year. The immersive Yeshiva experience will provide Sammy with professional development as a Jewish Studies teacher, focusing on core Jewish literacy skills. Additionally, Sammy and his wife Esther will be joining the World Mizrachi Shalhevet program - a program designed to train young educator and rabbinical couples as they lead communities in the diaspora. Forgasz noted that the Trustees “are confident that Sammy and his wife Esther will return to Melbourne with even greater passion and experience to continue to serve the Jewish community.”
 
Isabel Gelb, a student of Monash University, holds Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce degrees and will be using the Scholarship travel grant to further her studies abroad at King’s College London. Isabel is passionate about engaging herself and her peers in Jewish focused events and as such, has held many leadership positions, one of which was President of the Monash Jewish Students’ Society (MonJSS). During her presidency, Isabel coordinated many programs and initiatives to engage the thousands of Jewish university students at Monash. She is also a student leader on the Monash Student Association Student Affairs Committee where she acts as a representative of the interests of the entire Monash University student body, particularly of the interests of Jewish students.
Isabel is looking forward to participating in the many leadership opportunities available at King’s College as well as the legal volunteering services in London.
 
Rabbi Alon Meltzer is the Rabbi of Or Chadash Synagogue and the Director of Programs at Shalom. He serves as a board member for the Relationships Australia NSW Research Ethics Committee, and on the board of the international organisation, Grow Torah. Rabbi Meltzer’s work focuses on the development of community at large, and how best to intersect secular lived experience with relevant Jewish wisdom.
Rabbi Meltzer is currently studying a PhD at LaTrobe University's Law School
and has been awarded a research grant to enable him to write his thesis on “Digital Fidelity: how social media has impacted on Modern Orthodox Jews and their relationship with Jewish law and the rabbinic establishment”. This fascinating research will not only inform current research on the trends and impacts of social media across different areas of society, but will also serve to educate the institutions, communities, Rabbis and laity of the trends and impacts of collaborative social media on Jewish legal texts and processes.
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SIXTY YEARS ON, A LIVING MEMORIAL REMAINS
It happened in 1955. Summer holiday period.  Hume Highway. Car, driver, two passengers.  The car swerved off the road and hit a tree.  A common event, a tragedy, more frequent then than today. Two young men died. The woman passenger survived. The accident ended the life of Bernard Lustig, a brilliant young barrister, winner of the University of Melbourne’s Supreme Court Prize. He was the older son of Adolf and Kate Lustig, German refugees from Nazism who fled to Australia before the war. As the war ended Adolf helped found the first B'nai B'rith lodge in Melbourne. ​

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TO VIEW THE 2022 ART COMPETITION PAGE,
CLICK ​HERE !

Background to the Competition:
Morrie Gold was born in 1917 in Warsaw, Poland and immigrated to Australia in 1937.
 
Always a lover of the arts, his work was furthered by his artistic wife, Marie. As an art benefactor he contributed to the National Art Gallery of Victoria. His interest in fostering art in Jewish youth was prompted by watching his grandson's artistic abilities developing. He realised that to encourage the interest and confidence of children in art there must be interaction with the public.
 
Having been a member of B'nai B'rith for some time, Morrie felt it was the right organisation to fulfil his wish of running an Annual Jewish Youth Art Competition.
 
Morrie Gold died in May, 1993.  This annual Jewish Youth Art Competition was established through a bequest left by Mr. Gold to B'nai B'rith.
 
B'nai B'rith has taken up the challenge to organise and hold the exhibition each year.  The competition aims to promote artistic competence and a sense of unity among youth of various sections of the Jewish community.
 
It is open to Jewish youth between the ages of 11 and 18. Entries are divided into age groups 11 to 13, 14 and 15, 16 to 18.  In each age group there are four categories, namely, painting and drawing, mixed media, digital, and sculpture. A fifth category of photography is open to artists aged 16-18. Students enter from Jewish day schools such as Beth Rivkah Ladies College, Bialik College, Leibler Yavneh College, Mt Scopus Memorial College, the King David School, Yeshivah College as well as students from state schools and other independent schools.
 
The artworks are judged by a panel of professionals in the arts industry and prizes are offered in all categories and age groups. Numerous prizes will be awarded including an overall prize and a Jewish Theme Prize. Approximately 150 artworks are submitted annually. ​

The window below contains a virtual gallery of the winning entries from 2020's competition. Please wait a short time for the virtual gallery to load.

Making a Difference – a Project of Lodge Melbourne Mitzvah
​Making a Difference has been in operation since 1996. Our purpose is to support financially disadvantaged Jewish students in our community, whether they attend a State school or a Jewish school. We support students going into year 11 and year 12, as it was felt that it is these two years which are critical for students to achieve success.

​Money is raised through the support of our members, their families and friends. We receive donations when a variety of events are celebrated and we are grateful for each donation. Since 1996 we have donated over $220,000 to some 280 students. We welcome donations from all.

Our banking details are:
Melbourne Mitzvah Lodge ( MAD) - BSB 013-017, Account No 9001 28923

Click and Connect (C&C) is a Melbourne-based organisation that got off the ground in 2016. Their project is already under way, helping students in four schools in various parts of Israel. 

• For more information about it, see its website, www.clickandconnect.org.au
• C&C wants to expand its activities, not only in Israel, but here in Australia, by assisting students who need help with English.
• C&C’s leadership approached B'nai B'rith seeking our support.
• At its August executive meeting, BBVic agreed to explore ways in which we could assist them in their work. BBVic President Dr Benny Monheit endorsed the project, stating that “C&C’s vision of supporting community service in Israel and locally is strongly aligned with the aims of B'nai B'rith”.

Dr Paul Gardner AM has agreed to be the initial liaison between BBVic and C&C. Here are his thoughts about how B'nai B'rith might be able to assist:

“I have met with some of their leadership on two occasions and have been impressed by their vision and their competence. For them to grow, they require more resources, especially human resources.  This is a hands-on-the-internet-direct-help project, not a fund-raising exercise.
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So, here’s how you might become involved:
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Are you a retired teacher willing to spend an hour every fortnight on the internet with a particular child in Israel?

Or if not a teacher, would you enjoy having a conversation in English about any topics of mutual interest? (The aim is not to cover a curriculum, simply to encourage the kid to talk.)

Or, if direct conversation with kids is not your forte, would you be willing to provide volunteer assistance to C&C to help out with managing their project?

Do you know anyone in your circle of family and friends – they don’t have to be B'nai B'rith members – who might be interested in helping out in some way?

If the answer to any of these questions is YES!  -- and I would love to get some enthusiastic YES! responses – please contact me.”
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pgardner@bigpond.net.au      9578 4724        0412 275 623

Fellowship Group Concert: provides an outing which includes afternoon tea and entertainment once a month to senior citizens who either come from independent living or aged care facilities. Our volunteers offer transport to the event, where possible.

Volunteers prepare and serve afternoon tea.  Many of the entertainers provide their services for free or a reduced rate.

Proceeds go to B’nai B’rith projects.

For more details, please contact Cera at 0412 304 894

All photos on this page, thanks to Judi Schiff Photography (click on photo to see the full picture)