The B’nai B’rith Victoria Menorah Awards were established in 1978. They are presented annually to worthy recipients who:

• have worked for the welfare of the community, and
• have not previously been recognised for their efforts.

 
Eligibility:

• Menorah Awards will be presented to individuals who have performed voluntary work of benefit to the community, usually over a long period.
• Recipients will usually be members of the Jewish community. Members of other faiths, who have contributed significantly in relation to the Jewish community, may also be considered.
• Nominations must be made on the Menorah Awards nomination form (see attached), obtainable from the B’nai B’rith Victoria office.
• Nominators will be asked to suggest two referees that the Committee may consult. All nominations will be handled confidentially.
• Nominees are not to be informed that they are being considered for an Award until after the selection process is complete. Only successful nominees will be notified.

Judging Criteria:

All nominations will be considered by the Menorah Awards Committee, usually in October each year. Awards will be offered to individuals who

• have furthered religious, educational and social welfare by their communal work, for which they have not previously been recognised, and
• have performed such work on a voluntary basis, usually over a considerable period of time.

The Committee will assess each nomination in the frame of the above criteria, and it may seek additional information and/or clarification, either from the nominator or other sources, before advising successful candidates of the outcome of its deliberations.

General:

The names of successful candidates for the ensuing year are advised to the B’nai B’rith membership at the December Combined Units Meeting. Prior to this they are asked to nominate a sponsor, who will prepare the citation for presentation at the Awards Ceremony in May.

Applications for the 2019 Menorah Awards should be sent to:

           Chairperson, Menorah Awards,
            B’nai B’rith Victoria Office
           71 Kooyong Road,
           Caulfield North VIC 3161

           or email to:  council@bbvic.org
 
           by the last day of September.
 
               Nominators and successful candidates will be notified in December.
                                Presentations take place in the following May.

The B'nai B'rith Jewish Youth Music Eisteddfod is a member of, and has accreditation with,
The Association of Eisteddfod Societies of Australia Inc.

THE  2018  EISTEDDFOD  FINALS  CONCERT

B’nai B’rith Victoria invites the public to an afternoon of musical excellence, showcasing the talents of our young Jewish musicians.

The Eisteddfod competition has been a highlight of the Jewish youth music calendar for many years and is the culmination of many months of hard work by our budding musicians.

Date: Sunday, 2nd September 2018
Time: 2:00 pm
Venue: See Poster
 
Enquiries:
Phone (03) 9576 1116
or email eisteddfod@bbvic.org 

Proudly supported by Glen Eira City Council

Entries are invited for the 23rd Annual B'nai B'rith Jewish Youth Art Competition 2018

The Exhibition will be held at Glen Eira Art Gallery, Caulfield.
From Wednesday August 1st to Sunday August 19th

Official opening and presentations on Sunday August 5th at 2pm
Major Awards:

Morrie Gold Memorial Prize - $500
B'nai B'rith Victoria Inc. Jewish Theme Prize - $250
Entries close on Thursday the 7th June, 2018

Age Groups:
11 - 13yrs; 14 - 15yrs; 16 - 18yrs

Categories Include:
Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Digital and Other Medium

Entry Forms Available From: 
B'nai B'rith Office, 71 Kooyong Road, Caulfield North (Open 10am - 4pm Monday to Thursday)
Jewish Schools' Art Department
The Lamm Jewish Library and the Australian Jewish News

Contact:
Leah Black 9531 8837
https://www.facebook.com/events/1235506156582277/​ ​

Courage to Care encourages individual acts of courage, social activism, action against apathy, a sense of empathy, a better understanding of history.

Chairman (NSW): ​Juliet Seifert
Chairman (Victoria): Tony Weldon 

Courage to Care is a major outreach program and travelling exhibition, designed to show people of all ages, all races and all persuasions that the individual can make a difference in a society which no longer cares, and that all of us has a personal responsibility to ourselves, our family and our community.

The purpose of our commission is to:

• Raise money for charities and organisations in Israel that require financial assistance
• To raise awareness of needs in Israel amongst our members and increase their involvement and responsibilities.

This slide presentation was prepared for the District Convention in October 2013, and describes the projects supported by the Israel Commission

Chairperson: Yvonne Shapiro

The B'nai B'rith Syd Einfeld Unit is privileged to administer a scholarship trust through bequests from the Sir John Monash Unit and from Catherine Gluck, in memory of her brother, Frederick B. Lamberger.
 
Application is open to all Jewish students from K-12 and tertiary institutions.
 
The main criteria for selection are financial need, academic ability and contribution to the wider Jewish Community. The awards are made in $500 instalments for each semester and the student's situation is reviewed by the Scholarship Committee at the end of each semester.
 
In recent years we have assisted a medical student to graduation, a primary school student with learning difficulties to enable her have specialist remedial tuition, and a talented Fine Arts student to graduation.
 
The money allocated is used for textbooks, special materials, tuition, transport fares and even accommodation.

Potential applicants can contact the committee in writing, addressed to:

The Chairperson
Sir John Monash and Frederick B. Lamberger Scholarship Committee
B'nai B'rith
PO Box 6126
UNSW Sydney
NSW 1466

The B’nai B’rith Alfred Dreyfus Anti-Defamation Unit and JNF Australia are honouring individuals in our community who have made a difference – in the process inspire others to get involved.

Category 1 Research Grant   
Category 2 Travel Grant


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. 
 
Bernard followed in his father’s footsteps as a lawyer, although Adolf’s career in Munich was cut short by the Nuremberg Race Laws.  Bernard also became interested in B'nai B'rith in 1951, becoming a founding member of B'nai B'rith Youth Melbourne and one of its earliest presidents.
 
His death generated a thought among the members of the BBY committee.  Let’s establish a scholarship in his memory.  Too ambitious, said some.  But anyone who knew the late Pauline Richter (later Pauline Glass) would testify that this was a young woman who was motivated, capable and persistent.  She won the day.
 
With financial contributions from B'nai B'rith Melbourne Lodge and its Women’s Chapter, the youth group set up a fund later that year, and awarded the first scholarships, to assist capable Year 12 students about to embark on a university course in 1956.
 
Six decades have passed, and the scholarship is now the oldest continuing B'nai B'rith project and the longest running scholarship in the Victorian Jewish community.  As with any project that survives for so long, it has had to change with the times.  The first scholarship was worth ₤50. Today, winners receive $2500. Winners are decided by a long-serving group of trustees comprising senior academics and representatives of the Lustig family.
 
The administration has changed.  BBY Melbourne no longer exists:  the scholarship is now a B'nai B'rith Victoria project.  Instead of treasurers handling a couple of cheques, the scholarship receives some of its funding from an investment fund managed by the B'nai B'rith Charitable Fund (and from numerous individual donors).  
 
Information technology has wrought changes too.  Originally, applicants sent hand-written letters in response to an AJN ad. Now there are detailed guidelines and an extensive application form, submitted by email. Nearly all communications among the trustees are handled electronically.
 
The purpose of the scholarship has also altered since its early days.  The scholarship is now offered in two categories: as a research grant to master’s and doctoral thesis candidates, and as a travel grant to outstanding student leaders at university level, to fund overseas travel to participate in leadership development programs.
 
Some recent winners have travelled to Israel to participate in short courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Another worked as a deputy speech-writer for the Israeli Mission at the United Nations in New York. A young medical practitioner was assisted to pursue post-graduate research at Harvard University. The major winner in 2017 was a school counsellor researching for a master’s degree in psychology.
 
Applications open in March each year and close at the end of April. Intending applicants should send an email to the B'nai B'rith Victoria Office, council@bbvic.org, requesting a copy of the guidelines and an application form.

2017 “Strength in Harmony” Winning Entries

Prize Giving Ceremony 30 May 2017