TELL Magazine: October - November 2019

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{MOVING FORWARD AS ONE COUNTRY FOR ALL} Rabbi Jeffrey B. Kamins OAM We take great pride that our word of greeting, “shalom”, means both wholeness and peace. Shalom is a word of engagement that champions inner and relational peace. Yet we often live lives that are not as whole and full as we wish, because of things we have done, or things we have failed to do. While we can work for forgiveness, healing and reconciliation every day, we often fail to take the initiative and overcome the obstacles. The upcoming Yamim Noraim provide the opportunity for us to focus on the power of repentance, or teshuva, in all of our different relationships and situations. Judaism, which has been in the forefront of bringing the notion of forgiveness to human culture, has over time developed a simple rubric of steps to follow for repentance – recognition, remorse, restitution and resolve. We can practise repentance daily - but most of us do not. Many Jews still come to synagogue over the days of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, but not all of them will take advantage of this concentrated and focused time to heal self, relationships and society. Nevertheless, the opportunity beckons on many levels. I would encourage all of us to recognise the significance of what it means to live in Australia, especially those of us who have immigrated here in the last two centuries or so. I arrived in 1989, and so loved being in this country, felt so much at home, that I became a citizen in 1992. (Those were the easier pre-September 11 days.). Little did I know of the country’s deep time history, let alone its last 200 years. I knew the Aboriginal people had been wronged, but not to what extent, and I knew even less about their history and culture. Mabo, Sorry Day, Rabbit Proof Fence and other aspects of contemporary history 6 and culture made me more aware of the displacement and racism in the formation of this modern country, but while I knew somewhat of the injustices done, the knowledge was vague. Then one night in late May 2017, I was watching the late-night news and heard the report on the newly released Uluru Statement from the Heart. As I have written before, I sensed deeply that I had experienced an historic moment in Australia, the opening of a true moment for real reconciliation. But real reconciliation requires a process similar to repentance. For there to be true healing, there needs to be recognition of what the First Nations and their descendants have suffered for over 200 years - the near destruction of the most ancient human culture on earth. You and I were not here during the settlement and colonial era, nor the decades beyond in which genocide occurred and racism became endemic. Most of us came to political consciousness when the 1967 referendum passed. Yet still, nearly all of us who are not descendants of Indigenous people have benefited from the enterprise of 18 th century colonial settlement. Therefore, we have some responsibility toward the descendants of those whose lives were destroyed by that very enterprise. Thus, we have a responsibility to learn about those citizens of the greater society in which we live. When the government of the day dismissed the Uluru Statement from the Heart, it seemed as if an historical opportunity had been lost. Fortunately, two and a half years later, it appears that there is bipartisan work being undertaken to respond to the Statement. Deeply sensing that this issue is a moral one for all humans, and especially for Jews given our stated values, I chose to learn more about Aboriginal culture and history during my recent eight-week sabbatical. In no way am I implying that after a few weeks of reading, I have internalised a sense of what it is to be an Aboriginal person in Australia, any more than someone reading a few books on Jews and Judaism would have that inner sense about us. But my reading has made me clearly recognise that in learning
about Aboriginal history and culture, we also learn so much about our journey as Homo sapiens; about a highly developed, self-sustaining, spiritual and unique, semi-nomadic and agrarian culture. My reading has also opened my eyes to an inevitable culture clash between English settlers and First Nations; the former’s material power, combined with a sense of cultural superiority ranging from paternalism to racism, that led to the devastation of the latter. There are so many places where each of us can begin to learn and understand the past of this land we share. Billy Griffiths’ Deep Time Dreaming 1 takes one on an archaeological tour of ancient Australia, opening our eyes to the fact that the knowledge of Homo sapiens’ arrival in Australia has shifted our entire understanding as an evolving species. Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu 2 demonstrates the previously unacknowledged agrarian practices of Aboriginal peoples, and how they developed technology to work sustainably within a harsh environment. In Treading Lightly 3 , Karl-Erik Sveiby and Tex Skuthorpe reveal the wisdom behind Aboriginal practices, offering suggestions about what we can still learn from the first inhabitants of this land, in the harsh environment in which we all live. Together, these books undermine the notion that the First Nations of this land were in any way culturally or spiritually backward. However, they were comparatively materially underdeveloped, and thus subject to European “might makes right”. There are several histories, such as Richard Broome’s Aboriginal Australians 4 and C.D. Rowley’s The Destruction of Aboriginal Society 5 , which reveal the broad history of conflict and endemic racism of Europeans toward Natives that has resulted in a decimated society. The hard hitting The Colonial Fantasy 6 , by Sarah Maddison, underscores the fact that Aboriginal Australians have never given up their identity and their claims to this land that they have inhabited for at least 60,000 years; claims that need to be addressed in contemporary Australia by all of us. Hopefully, as we read and learn in different formats, we will not only recognise the historic injustice suffered by the First Nations of this land, and their descendants, but we will also feel remorse for not having done enough to date to make restitution. I strongly believe that in the same way that two decades ago Emanuel Synagogue took a leading role in the move toward marriage equality, so too should we take the lead on this issue at this time. We have the opportunity now, when both government and opposition have in some fashion supported a referendum to address the inequity that still plagues society, to help move justice forward. The 1967 constitutional referendum, the Mabo case and the Federal apology by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2007 have been necessary precursors, but not sufficient responses to actualise true teshuvah, repentance and reconciliation. A beautiful book that can help open our hearts and minds to Aboriginal Australia is called Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia 7 , edited by Anita Heiss. Stan Grant's Talking to My Country powerfully presents the issues of racism and displacement endemic to our country. Ever since Thomas Mayor came to HEALING THE WORLD us ‘In Conversation’ in March of this year, we have been promoting learning about Indigenous Affairs under the Social Justice link on our website. Details of many of the books mentioned above, plus links to films and speeches can be found there as well. Emanuel Synagogue will continue to take the lead on this issue over the year ahead, hoping soon to have Thomas Mayor’s book launch, a special screenings of The Final Quarter, The Australian Dream and other films and presentations by leaders of the Aboriginal community. Only when we recognise the truth of the past can we truly walk toward the future together. As it says in Pirkei Avot 1:18, The Wisdom of our Sages, “The world stands on three things: on justice and on truth and on peace.” We Jews who have been displaced from our land, suffered as a minority, and struggled to have our truth heard and understood by others, should have great sensitivity and empathy for the First Nations of this land. Repentance begins at home, and in continued over... 7
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TELL Magazine: October - November 2019

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