Lockdown was a fabulous time for our family!
Thanks to the widespread adoption of online technology, we were able to participate virtually in many activities that had been previously been unavailable to us. It was an incredibly diverse and busy and enriching period of time.
I miss it…
You see, our family lies at the intersection of a Venn digram that encompasses those who live in regional areas, those who have a family member who is profoundly disabled, and being Jewish.
I realise that it’s a very specific Venn diagram – and yet there are many Jewish families and households who live outside Melbourne. Similarly, at any given time there are many families with disabled or ill or incapacitated family members who are unable to attend communal events, even if they live in the heart of Caulfied.
Those who live outside the “shtetl” and those who are disabled are still important parts of the Jewish community.
Just because we are not physically in the room does not mean that we are not part of Am Yisrael.
We were disenfranchised before COVID. I can tell you – from bitter personal experience – that many Jewish communal events were organised with little or no thought to how/if they could be accessed by those in wheelchairs or other forms of physical impairment.
And that attitude still exists. (I recently emailed an event organiser to ask about disabled parking – explaining that we were driving in from the country. “Come early” I was told. Not. Helpful.)
Despite the lessons of COVID, many Jewish events are no longer offered with an online option. The technology clearly exists but there seems to be little desire to utilise it, which is incredibly hurtful.
The fact is, our family was able to participate much more fully in Jewish communal life during Victoria’s two years of COVID lockdown. Since, then, we have (again) been sidelined.
So this is a heartfelt plea to the organisers of the (Victorian) Jewish community – but really to all the Jewish communal organisers across Australia.
Since October 7, it has felt especially important to connect with the larger community. Moreover, there have been some incredible speakers and concerts already, and I am aware of so many more events planned. We would love to participate in it all, if only we were given the chance.
So please, keep families like our’s in mind when planning large communal events… smaller events… anything that is designed to bring members of the community together.
