Ruptured launched in the Northern Rivers

Ruptured: Jewish Women Reflect on Life Post-October 7, published by the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia, has had book launches across Australia, with a recent launch in the Northern Rivers, NSW.

Around 70 people recently gathered at the historic community hall in Newrybar to hear about the lived experience of Jewish Australian women since October 7.

The Northern Rivers, which encompasses seven council areas of northern NSW, has a significant Jewish and Israeli population – around 2000 at any one time. Over the past two years the region has felt a growing rise in antisemitism, together with the passing of an Ethical Procurement Policy by the Greens-led Byron Shire Council which has targeted Israeli businesses for boycotts.

With this backdrop, the event was welcomed by many in the Jewish and non-Jewish community, and the mayor of Ballina and two Byron Shire councillors also attended.

Sharon Sztar, a local resident and contributing essayist to Ruptured, led the event alongside Romy Moshinsky, a key member of the books’ editorial team, and Shelley Kenigsberg, who moderated the discussion. With the theme of “story” woven throughout the afternoon’s flow, the guests were treated to the sounding of the shofar, a musical performance of Hebrew songs, an afternoon tea of recipes from Sztar’s Booba Bertha – passed down through the matriarchal line – and an in-depth dive into Ruptured.

The Ruptured anthology emerged from a call for submissions to Australian Jewish women for A Year Like No Other, resulting in 150 powerful personal essays about life post-October 7 that was to be archived at both the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia and the National Library of Israel.

Lamm Jewish Library of Australia chair Dr Rolene Lamm recently fulfilled that promise delivering A Year Like No Other and a copy of Ruptured to the National Library in Israel in Jerusalem, for its archives of the Bearing Witness program, on behalf of its editorial and publishing team.

“These senior representatives of the National Library of Israel were delighted to hear all about the project and so pleased to receive the copy for the archive,” Lamm told The AJN.

“They were moved by the project and grateful for the deposit. This is believed by the National Library of Israel to be the only project of its kind in the world.”