NCJWA and Wolper’s Pink Breakfast in the succah
“Jewish women stand behind and still hold up some of our community’s greatest assets and institutions.”
NATIONAL Council of Jewish Women of Australia (NCJWA) and Wolper Hospital recently co-hosted a Pink Breakfast in the succah to celebrate Succot and the organisations’ common alliance against breast cancer.
Attended by over 50 women from diverse communities across NSW, the Pink Breakfast acknowledged a long, shared history between the NCJWA and Wolper Hospital and marked the launch of the NCJWA’s NSW centenary program.
“Jewish women stand behind and still hold up some of our community’s greatest assets and institutions,” NCJWA NSW centenary program coordinator Lynda Ben-Menashe said.
“National Council of Jewish Women NSW Division played an absolutely pivotal role in Wolper’s story, and that deserves recognition, as does the role it plays on the frontline of Jewish representation and advocacy in the wider community.”
Gertie Wolper Stone bequeathed her home in 1949 to the then National Council of Jewish Women NSW Hospital Visiting Committee, in thanks for their care of her, and designated it for the establishment of a Jewish convalescent home.
The property was then sold in exchange for the Trelawney Street site in Woollahra, which became the Wolper Convalescent Hospital in 1953.
The hospital amalgamated with the Sydney Jewish Hospital in 1961, and in 1966 the eponymous Fanny Reading Surgical Wing was dedicated in honour of the founder of the National Council of Jewish Women.
In 1982 the hospital was rebuilt and in the spirit of communal cooperation, NCJWA transferred to it the title deeds of the property for the symbolic sum of $1.
The Fanny Reading Lounge, dedicated in 2011, further honours Fanny Reading, the revolutionary feminist and doctor.
This history was highlighted at the Pink Breakfast, which raised $1000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and was attended by Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Christian women from First Nations, Indian, Greek, Afghani, Chinese, Iraqi, Philipina, Islander and Pakistani backgrounds.
Board member of the Wolper Jewish Hospital and founder of JeneScreen, Dr Lesley Andrews, and senior genetic counsellor Risha Zia explained the role of genetic counselling in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.
Woollahra deputy mayor Isabelle Shapiro told of her own breast cancer journey, as did Davina Ash, chair of Tikva v’Or, the Jewish Women’s Breast Cancer Network.
Ben-Menashe said, “It is my hope that our centenary program, which started with this event and will run for almost 12 months, will not only celebrate the organisation’s history and achievements, but also increase awareness, appreciation for and acknowledgment of local Jewish women’s achievements and contributions to Jewish and wider communal life generally … and that it will inspire Jewish women of all ages to be revolutionaries like our founder, Fanny Reading.”
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