Queen’s Birthday honours ’09

Jewish achievers from all walks of life were recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday honours. The AJN spoke with some of the Victorian recipients.

Esteemed law professor recognised

 

 

NAOMI LEVIN

FOR his contribution to law and sentencing reform, and also for his work in academia, Professor Arie Freiberg (right) has been honoured with a Member in the General Division (AM). Well known in academic circles, Prof Freiberg is currently dean of the Faculty of Law at Monash University. 

He was previously dean of the Faculty of Arts at The University of Melbourne, where he was highly respected for his work in criminology and his decade-long service as head of the Department of Criminology.

Prof Freiberg is also chair of the Sentencing Advisory Council and in that capacity will assist the Victorian Government with its recent decision to amend the way judge’s hand down sentences for hate crimes.

“My whole real contribution is to the area of policy development, rather than individual cases. I think we’ve got quite a number of brilliant barristers and judges who will work at that, but my preference is to deal with systemic issues, rather than case-by-case issues,” Prof Freiberg said, citing work on racial vilification and sexual assault crimes as among the most rewarding in his career.

 

“It is very pleasing to be recognised for your work,” he said.¬†”It’s a cliche, but it is always true, you stand on the shoulders of others. I’ve always done that with my staff at various institutions. You’re reliant on other people.”

 

Lionel Sharpe ‘surprised’

 

PETER KOHN

ACADEMIC, communal worker and genealogist Lionel Sharpe has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the Queen’s Birthday honours.¬†Sharpe, 77, is currently a research associate at Monash University’s School of Historical Studies.

The Caulfield grandfather of three was recognised for his services to Jewish welfare organisations and the Jewish community generally.¬†”I’m surprised and honoured. What else can I say?” Sharpe told The AJN.

Sharpe was born in Australia and worked in his Russian-born father’s Melbourne business before completing a bachelor of arts in psychology. He later joined the Jewish Welfare Society (now Jewish Care).

In 1989, when he had already been a long-time worker for the welfare society, he was approached to join a Mount Scopus Memorial College advisory committee that supported pupils with disabilities.¬†”At the time, there were perhaps around 10 kids with special needs in our Jewish schools. Today, there is funding for more than 190 children,” he said.

After a number of years on the Mount Scopus committee, Sharpe became involved in the Posh Op Shop project, which raises money for special-needs children in Jewish schools.¬†Through the Posh Op Shop, around $500,000 in funding has been made available annually and is distributed to individual children on a “needs basis”, he said.

When Sharpe’s daughter Monique brought home a family-tree project during her school years, a dad’s helping hand led him to discover one of his great passions, genealogy.¬†Sharpe attended a lecture by Sophie Caplan, then president of the Australian Jewish Genealogical Society (AJGS), and soon became absorbed in the field.¬†Today he is secretary of AJGS in Victoria, and one of his many projects was to visit Germany last year with AJGS colleagues to examine a former Nazi archive at Bad Arolsen. The archive has been digitised and placed on a database for access by Shoah survivors.

 

A woman of valour

 

DALIA SABLE

NATIONAL Council of Jewish Women Australia’s (NCJWA) Di Hirsh has been honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to the community through contributions to interfaith dialogue and to the NCJWA.

Past-president of NCJWA, Hirsh said she was “surprised and honoured” at receiving the letter informing her of the award.¬†”I feel like I have to earn it and that I have a lot more work ahead of me that I want to do. It will spur me on to do more,” Hirsh told The AJN.

Involved with NCJWA for 10 years, Hirsh served in capacities ranging from committee member to president. ¬†Her work with NCJWA led her to become involved with the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Womens Commission (VIRWC), the Jewish Christian Muslim Association (JCMA) and the Australian Intercultural Society.¬†But it is the area of interfaith and inter-cultural communication that is closest to Hirsh’s heart.

“Multiculturalism really speaks to me and makes me feel as though I have made an impact that is worthwhile. I want to do more in this area,” Hirsh said.¬†”Australia has such a rich mix of people. We need to encourage people to see that it is good for all of us.”¬†Hirsh’s first interfaith initiative involved organising a Living In Harmony conference day with women from the VIRWC. From this conference, her work expanded to include leadership-training initiatives and public speaking.¬†Hirsh then organised women’s conferences for JCMA, and over the past two years has initiated and organised interfaith seders.

 

Prize for a pioneer

 

ASHLEY BROWNE

A CALL for interest in 1962 yielded around two dozen Jewish families interested in creating a new synagogue in the far-flung reaches of Doncaster.¬†That plea served as Ben Alexander’s introduction to the North Eastern Jewish Centre and 47 years later, he has been honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to the shul.

At its peak in the late 1970s, North Eastern boasted a membership of about 700 families and was thriving, with 35 social, cultural and sporting activities linked to the shul. Alexander, an architect, served as president of the centre on five occasions and even designed the shul. 

He sees the honour as recognition of the centre, which for many years served as the major Jewish presence in Melbourne outside the Caulfield/St Kilda East area.¬†”I’m proud to have been part of this from the start,” he said. “It’s more than a job for me; it’s about giving something back to the community.”

Alexander also plays an active outreach role and is involved in the Manningham Interfaith Group. Interfaith has its critics, and while he admits that it sometimes means “one step forward and two steps back”, the activities “generally do a lot of good”.

An exodus back to the south-east had an impact on the shul and while North Eastern now has about 200 member families and Alexander is no longer on the board, he can’t help but roll up his sleeves and get involved.¬†”I just designed the new kitchen for the shul,” he said, with pride.

 

 

Former King David president honoured

 

PETER KOHN

EXTENDING The King David School (TKDS) from year 8 to year 12 and major investment in infrastructure are the two developments nominated by the school’s former president, Jim Cyngler, as highlights of his term.

Cyngler, 56, who has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his services to Jewish education, described his reaction to the news as “a little stunned and quite humbled”.

President of the Progressive Jewish school from 1997 until last year, when Michael Lawrence took over, Cyngler said enrolments are now almost double the 800 or so students when he took up the reins 11 years ago.¬†”The school is now recognised by the [Jewish] community as a community school,” he told The AJN.

Cyngler continues to sit on The King David School council as immediate past president and is also active in the Jewish Christian Muslim Association, an interfaith initiative, and in Student Partnerships Worldwide, an international non-profit organisation working with young people in Africa and Asia.

He is an associate of Leadership Victoria, which trains future leaders in the not-for-profit sector, and also acts as a mentor for various Jewish organisations.¬†Cyngler’s children and his partner Helen’s children attend TKDS.