Charity begins at home in Perth

PERTH’S Jewish organisations are apparently so short of funds that a leading member of the community has called on donors to give their tzedakah to local causes, rather than sending it all to Israel.

Roger Davis, vice-president of the city’s only Jewish aged-care facility, the Maurice Zeffert Home (MZH), told The AJN: “This is a very touchy subject. It is something few people are happy to talk about, but when you are talking to people one-on-one, everyone shares that view.”

In Perth, he said Israel receives roughly three-to-four times more in donations than the local Jewish community.

And in the ultimate case of role reversals, Davis said the community might even need to turn to Israel to raise funds.

MZH board members have already started talking to donors in the eastern states, and Israel is their next stop, if it comes to that.

“I was recently there, Israel is wonderful, they have a booming economy,” he said. “They’ve obviously got a lot of issues, but they do a really good job of charity and looking after old people.

“If you speak to most Israelis, they say ‘we don’t need as much as we once did’, and they know it is important to have a strong Diaspora.”

MZH held an appeal function last month, where Davis made a pitch to guests to get behind a new project. That project will capitalise on the only profitable arm of MZH, its independent living units.

Davis explained that MZH would like to redevelop its 30-year-old Sir Zelman and Lady Cowen Retirement Village into luxurious, multi-story units for elderly members of the community as part of its 10-year plan.

“It has to happen,” he said, adding that $3 million-plus is the initial fundraising target.
“If we can’t do that, we can’t develop more nursing home beds.”

NAOMI LEVIN