A proposal amid the darkness

In a moment that brought unexpected joy to Melbourne’s Jewish community during one of its darkest weeks, Brian Berger proposed to his girlfriend of five years, Mia Shenken, on stage at Federation Square’s Pillars of Light Chanukah festival on Sunday night.

Berger, 43, operations and marketing manager with Young Jewish Professionals Melbourne, asked Shenken, 29, to marry him in front of approximately a thousand people at the multicultural festival, with Premier Jacinta Allan among those in attendance.

The proposal came just days after a terror attack at a Bondi Beach Chanukah event left the Jewish community reeling. Berger had been coordinating multiple Chanukah events throughout the week, during which many presenters pulled out of programmes because they were scared to appear in public.

“This whole week’s been monumental,” Berger said. “A lot of people I spoke to, unfortunately, when I started the conversation and said how are you, they’d say, okay, or not good. The answers were dark. It was gloomy.”

He had been carrying the engagement ring for three months, contemplating various proposal locations including New Zealand, where the couple recently visited Mia’s grandmother in Auckland, and the NGV, where they had their first date during COVID lockdowns in 2020.\

But as the eighth night of Chanukah approached, the significance of the moment crystallised for him.

“I thought this couldn’t be a better moment. It is the moment to bring light into my world, into Mia’s as well,” Berger said.

“The whole week I’ve spent trying to spread light. I wanted to complete this week, complete this holiday, taking care of business that I’ve got of my own that’s been overhanging and celebrate that we do put lights into this world.”

The path to the proposal was not without challenges. Rain threatened the outdoor event, and even getting Mia’s friends to the city proved difficult.

“It was hard for me to get many of Mia’s friends,” Berger said.

“One of them genuinely said she was a bit scared to go to the city. I told them, luckily, I happen to know that Jacinta Allan is going to be there. We’re going to have the tightest security and visible police presence you could imagine. It still was a no.”

Eventually, two of her school friends, who were celebrating a birthday at the theatre, were convinced to attend.

When Berger finally took to the stage after the menorah lighting, the crowd rallied behind him with cries of “Go, Brian!”

“Rain, hail or shine, that proposal was going to happen,” he said. “No storm is going to stop us. We’re getting through the storm together.”

And Mia’s response to her new fiancé’s efforts?

“I didn’t suspect a thing, I’m absolutely shocked. You did so well!”

“Mia and I have always been a strength together, and we want to continue to be strengthened,” Berger said.

“It’s been a storm of beautiful wishes and messages.”