Here is a calendar of upcoming events, up and down the country. Some are organized by us, others by like-minded organizations and groups.
David Rutherford, the Chief Human Rights Commission will be opening the new Holocaust Centre of New Zealand.
It will be held on 19 April 2012 on Holocaust Remembrance Day at 80 Webb St. It is commencing at 7.30pm and attendees are asked to be seated by 7.20pm. If you would like to attend, please send your name and contact details to info@holocaustcentre.org.nz, ph (04) 801 9480 by 15th April.
We are running another sausage sizzle as part of our project to further Holocaust Education. This months’ funds will go toward our NCEA professional development course for teachers.
We generally work in two shifts, Morning and Afternoon. Its a great way to get to know other members and to interact with the public about our work. If you could help out for a shift please let us know: contact@nzfoi.org or Ph 027 433 9745.
We have been invited by the Canterbury Hebrew Congregation to an evening with Zeev (Tibi) Ram a survivor of Auschwitz.
Zeev (Tibi) Ram is a survivor from the Holocaust, he was born on December 3, 1930 in the town of Munkatch Czechoslovakia which was annexed to Hungary in 1940. His father and mother were 45 years old, his brother was 18 and he was 13 when they were all sent to Auschwitz Birkenau in May 1944. From there he was sent to a work camp in Silesia – Furstenstein Wistegiesdorf. In January 1945, he was sent on a death march to Bergen Belsen. His entire family perished in the Holocaust – his father at Bergen Belsen, April14, 1945 (the day before the British liberated the camp). His brother died in Bergen Belsen one day after liberation. He met his mother at Bergen Belsen after liberation. She was taken to a British hospital and disappeared. He never saw her again. Tibi came to Israel in 1948 and served in the IDF from 1948-1951. After his release he joined kibbutz Hazarim. In 1964 he returned to the IDF till 1967, reaching the rank of major. In 1958 he joined kibbutz Afikim and remains there to this day. He has 3 children and 2 grandchildren.
Please RSVP to Bettina Wallace (bbwallace@xtra.co.nz) as space is limited.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a relief and human development agency, providing education, health care, social services and emergency aid to 5 million Palestine refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is the only agency dedicated to helping refugees from a specific region or conflict.
With the Arab Spring, change is sweeping the Middle East, removing old regimes and opening new opportunities for freedom and development to emerge.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Filippo Grandi was appointed Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees on 20 January 2010 after having served as UNRWA’s Deputy Commissioner-General since October 2005.
Mr Grandi, an Italian national, has been engaged in refugee and humanitarian work for the past 26 years, 22 of which have been with the United Nations. Prior to joining UNRWA, he distinguished himself in a variety of headquarters and field functions encompassing refugee assistance, protection, emergency management, donor relations and humanitarian and political affairs.
He graduated from the State University of Milan with a degree in modern history and from the Gregorian University in Rome with a BA in philosophy.
Passover celebrates God’s redemption of the Jews from Egyptian oppression. Tony Kan will be giving an address on Passover (Pesach) and how it has a relevant message for today.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tony Kan is a business consultant and long time student of the Torah.
Northwood Villa Clubrooms, O’Neill Avenue, Northwood, Christchurch. Sunday April 27, 2pm-4pm. Please bring a plate of finger food.
Join us for a highly informative and interactive presentation by acclaimed Professor Yoram Barak on a survey of the available evidence, observations and hypotheses on how Alzheimer’s Disease might be prevented.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Yoram Barak is an assistant professor of Psychiatry at the Sackler School of Medicine of Tel-Aviv University, and director of the Psychogeriatric Department at the Abarbanel Mental Health Center. Trained in medicine and psychiatry at the Sackler School of Medicine, he became an Israel Medical Scientific Council Specialist in Psychiatry in 1993, and was awarded a Masters in Health Administration from Ben-Gurion University of Beer-Sheva, Israel in 2004.
Dr. Barak is also a consultant for the National Multiple Sclerosis Center in Israel and a special consultant on Positive Psychology for the Israel Defense Forces. He was president of the Israeli Association of Old-Age Psychiatry, and is currently on the editorial board of the Israel Journal of Psychiatry and the Open Psychiatry Journal. Research interests include multiple sclerosis, cancer, depression, schizophrenia, obsessive–compulsive disorder, suicide and geriatric psychiatry. He has published extensively in these areas, and is author and co-author of over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles.
He is currently on Sabbatical and teaching at the Otago University School of Medicine in Christchurch.
VENUE: Northwood Villa Clubrooms, Northwood Villas Cres, off O’Neill Ave, Northwood, Christchurch
WHEN: 2pm, May 22, 2016
ADMISSION: Please bring a plate of finger food, we’d be grateful if you could avoid pork or seafood products.
FEEL FREE TO INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
THE STORY OF THE JEWS
(Part III)
CHRISTCHURCH:
SUNDAY, 2.30PM, 31 MARCH 2019
Northwood Villa Clubrooms, O’Neill Ave, Christchurch
Simon Schama presents an epic five-part series exploring the extraordinary story of the Jewish experience from ancient times to the present day. Drawing on original scholarship and Sharma’s own family history, this is a story that is at once deeply historical and utterly contemporary, taking viewers on a journey from the biblical past to tomorrow’s front pages. Travelling the globe from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, from New York and Burlington to Cairo in Jerusalem, the story unfolds with the help of a dazzling cast of historical characters, vivid storytelling, stunning location photography, and encounters with people who live with the passions and perplexities of the Jewish story today. At the heart of the story of the Jews is a compelling argument about distinctiveness and difference, separation and isolation, tolerance and prejudice, but it is also a celebration of the ways in which Jewish thought, Jewish imagination and Jewish achievement have transformed the world for us all.
In a review for The Daily Telegraph, Neil Midgley described the first episode as a “resounding success”, saying: “Schama told the story efficiently and evocatively – and deftly picked out stories that would illustrate his overarching thesis about how Judaism managed to survive…In Schama’s view, to be a Jew is to be verbal…By the end of this first episode, Schama had given the title of his programme an intriguing double meaning. Over its four remaining parts, The Story of the Jews promises to be not only a chronological history, but also a common narrative of what unifies and fortifies Jewish people”
Where: Northwood Villa Clubrooms, McNeill Ave, Northwood, Christchurch. Please note the venue is different from that published in our newsletter.
When: 2.30pm, Sunday March 31.
Admission: A plate of finger food. Please no pork or seafood products.