Concise, sweet and inspiring at Jewish Shorts
LEXI LANDSMAN
IT was through a soulful self-written song that African-American Shmaryahu Bowdre relayed the story of his journey to Judaism.
Singing a cappella, Boston-born but now Sydney-based Bowdre told the 250-strong audience at the inaugural Jewish Shorts event at Bondi Pavilion on November 1 that he had gone from being “lost in the dark” to feeling “set free” after converting to Judaism and becoming Chassidic.
“Growing up in America is a difficult thing because you don’t have a true history,” he said after performing his song.
“It’s a serious displacement because you don’t know where you are from. Once I got into the Chabad, I just felt at home there; I felt this is where I belong. It is amazing to not have a history and then have a history.”
Bowdre was one of eight speakers at the Jewish Shorts event, where a diverse range of individuals gave 10-minute speeches with a Jewish flavour.
Five-star hotelier Graeme Goldberg told humorous tales of his life -— from growing up poor in East London and having a bad education, to getting his first job, meeting celebrities and eventually moving to Australia.
Discussing his poor education, he joked: “I left school thinking that Joan of Arc was married to Noah.”
Other speakers during the evening included renowned neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo, who spoke on the topic, “What Does a Buddhist Neurosurgeon and a Jew Have in Common?”
Eric Barecki discussed the film Defiance and his father’s tale of surviving the Holocaust thanks to the Bielski partisans.
Rebbetzin Tzippy Kastel spoke on “Uncovering the Shetl”, while year 11 student Amy Schneider spoke about Acadmey BJE and her life-changing experience during the Discover Israel program.
Artist Yaeli Ohana discussed art inspired by Jewish text, while comedian David Bloustein talked on the topic of Jews and tattoos.
The event’s founder and coordinator, Neer Korn, 42, said he was thrilled with the positive response to the inaugural Jewish Shorts and hopes to make it a regular communal event.
“The diversity of speakers was rich, varying from poignant and serious, to lighthearted and funny. So there was something for everyone and certainly food for thought, hopefully for many days to come,” he said.
The event, hosted by Academy BJE and The Jewish House, aimed to present thought-provoking lectures.
The concept of Jewish Shorts is based on the US phenomena TED, which is a small not-for-profit devoted to “ideas worth spreading”. Developed in 1984, it began as a conference bringing together people from three realms: technology, entertainment and design (TED).
Enquiries: (02) 9386 0770; neer@heartbeat.com.au.
Watch a video of Shmaryahu Bowdre and Graeme Goldberg at Jewish Shorts: