JCA puts the pieces together
Spending her first weeks reading Holocaust history and listening to survivor testimony, she realised that the past came alive in a way it didn't in her reading.
“By being in this room, you have told us that you care about our community,” JCA president Ian Sandler said at this year’s campaign event, ‘Putting the Pieces Together’.
For the first time in three years, the event brought 25 community organisations together to connect, engage and cover the critical issues impacting our community.
“Last year we raised $14.3 million – the most money ever in a JCA campaign,” Sandler said.
“Even though we managed to achieve this lofty goal, we were still $5 million short of the asks from our 25 supporting organisations. Our goal is to increase our fundraising for the current year to raise $15.8 million, with the intention of raising $20 million in the 2025 campaign.”
This week, the JCA campaign’s focus is on Holocaust, history and heritage.
A much-loved member of the Sydney Jewish Museum team, Rebecca Kummerfeld, farewelled the organisation after six-and-a-half years recently. Reflecting on her years working there she said it’s similar to a well in historical times – a place of connection, a place for the gathering of community and a place of nourishment.
When she first arrived she felt like it was coming home. While she was literally returning home after a stint in the UK, she was also reconnecting with her roots. Her family history became entwined in her work in a way that she had previously avoided because it felt too personal.
Spending her first weeks reading Holocaust history and listening to survivor testimony, she realised that the past came alive in a way it didn’t in her reading. She also quickly realised that it was the people who made the history important and connected not just her, but all the museum’s visitors with history, culture and tradition.
This connection was only possible because the museum is a gathering place for community, with its volunteers being the heartbeat that brings the museum to life. With growing student numbers, Kummerfeld implemented a program to increase support for Holocaust survivors by recruiting and training a group of floor assistants who were there to help with the process of telling their stories and facilitating interactions.
Through strength and generosity the community has built a museum of connection, community and nourishment, and in the coming years it will continue to grow.
As a supported member of JCA, the museum relies on an annual allocation to run programs for students from schools across NSW, educating them on the Holocaust and its lessons. To support the 2023 campaign go to www.jca.org.au to donate.
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