Celebrating the Day of Choice
PATHWAYS Melbourne, a support group for Jews undergoing a lifestyle change, is gearing up to celebrate a new holiday on October 27, Yom HaBechira (Day of Choice), joining eight similar organisations in Israel, the US, Britain and Germany.
Leah Boulton, founder and CEO of Pathways, said Israel’s Out For Change, the US Footsteps and the UK’s Mavar “provide confidential support services to those in the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox communities questioning their way of life, especially those who choose to become yotzim (leavers)”.
“Yom HaBechira was inspired by the many thousands of young people who leave charedi society each year and the need to raise awareness about them in the Jewish world,” said Boulton. “While challenges and needs vary from place to place and from person to person, yotzim constitute a large movement that crosses borders, and organisations such as Pathways have a common goal — to help ‘leavers’ integrate and succeed.”
On the first Yom HaBechira, Pathways will host a picnic. In the lead-up to the day, Pathways’ yotzim in Melbourne, who call themselves Pathfinders, have been invited to share their thoughts for the organisation’s website and social media.
One Pathfinder, active in Pathways since 2018, reflected, “Leavers are often deemed to be disengaged or complacent in their commitment to Judaism … choosing a different lifestyle does not equate to abandoning my heritage and can actually open doors to a positive attitude towards Jewish continuity.”
Another Pathfinder, who joined in 2016, added, “It also means that parents, teachers, community leaders, rabbis, and anyone else who wishes to exert undue influence over the religious choices made by others, should show the same respect for people’s God-given right to make their own choices in that area that, in that same Jewish value system, even God is said to respect.”
Boulton noted that while Pathways’ partnership with its overseas counterparts would prove invaluable for future Yom HaBechira campaigns and public events, the Melbourne organisation would not exist without its private supporters and key sponsors, the Erdi Group, Spotlight and Besen Foundations, and Gandel Philanthropy.
For information on the Pathfinders’ Picnic, visit www.pathwaysmelbourne.org/events or contact info@pathwaysmelbourne.org.
comments