Community unites despite rain
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles mingled with attendees, alongside Member for Macnamara Josh Burns.
Melbourne’s Jewish community came together in a powerful display of cultural pride and unity last Sunday at the In One Voice festival in Elsternwick, in the face of challenging weather conditions.
Despite rain throughout the day threatening to dampen the festivities, festival goers enjoyed stalls, food, live music, markets and more. The annual event was made possible through the support of sponsors, donors and more than 120 volunteers.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles mingled with attendees, alongside Member for Macnamara Josh Burns.
Addressing a function in the Kadimah centre for communal leaders and politicians, Marles acknowledged the challenges the Jewish community has experienced over the past 18 months.
“Throughout history, the Jewish community around the world, in the most difficult of times, in the darkest of places, have turned to the arts and to a celebration of culture as being a place of refuge and salvation,” he said.
“It is a stubborn persistence in enjoying what it is to be human, but it also is an expression of the pride of culture, and that has been such a powerful statement of global Jewry throughout history. And that spirit very much invigorates In One Voice today.”
Speaking directly to The AJN, Marles also lauded the vision of the proposed Jewish Arts Quarter (JAQ), to be built at the site of the festival in Selwyn Street.
“If we can make this happen, it will be fantastic for the Jewish community, but actually a really great contribution to Melbourne, to the state and to the country,” he said.
Displays showcasing the vision for the cultural precinct featured prominently in the Kadimah hall.
Member for Caulfield David Southwick emphasised the importance of the proposed JAQ, describing it as “the gates that open up the Jewish community to the rest of Australia”.
“We can’t be hiding in our homes. We need to celebrate Jewish life,” Southwick said, noting the project’s significance in the wake of the October 7 attacks.
Kadimah co-chair Joe Tigel outlined the plans for the precinct, which would bring together Melbourne’s Jewish cultural organisations including the Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne Holocaust Museum, and Kadimah Yiddish theatre.
The In One Voice festival, first established in 1988 to coincide with Australia’s bicentenary, has become Melbourne’s largest Jewish community event.
SKIF co-chairs Phil Ringelblum and Trixie Burstin-Irwin reflected on the festival’s ability to bring the community together.
“What makes today so special, so powerful, is that we can come together and celebrate that which unites us,” Ringelblum said.
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