Tikkun Leil Shavuot: What Does it Mean to Be a Jew Today?

Join us for Tikkun Leil Shavuot on the evening of Sunday 1 June for an exploration of what it means to be a Jew in the world today.

Many of us are grappling with that question, and many of us have been surprised by the depth of connection we are craving and feeling more need to declare our Jewishness. Some have felt afraid, and others are wanting to separate from the community because they're struggling to find their place and voice within it. 

For some of us the connection has been through prayer, and, for others, it has been through rallies and demonstrations. For some, their identity is being imposed or defined from the outside, while for others it is a deeply personal, internal journey.

On this Tikkun Leil Shavuot, we will hear from a wide-ranging panel of Emanuel Synagogue congregants about who they attempt to answer the question of Jewish identity in 2025, each from their unique perspective. The panel will consist of Dr Avril Alba, Daniel Sherrell, Dr Melissa Drinkwater, Brandon Srot and Emma DeJong Katz. Read more about them below.

Following the panel, we will break for dinner, before hearing directly from our clergy, Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins OAM, Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio OAM, Rabbi George Mordecai and Rabbi Sam Zwarenstein. 

As is customary on this evening, we will start with our Erev Shavuot service and induction of new board members, and the program will include many opportunities to feast on a dairy-forward dinner and dessert (mountains of blintzes and cheesecakes), all lovingly prepared by Nora's Kitchen.

Full program schedule coming soon.

If you will be joining us, please register to assist us with our planning and catering. 


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ABOUT DR AVRIL ALBA

Dr Avril Alba is Professor of Holocaust Studies and Jewish Civilisation in Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies and Head of the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sydney. She teaches and researches in the broad areas of Holocaust and modern Jewish history with a focus on Jewish and Holocaust museums. Her monograph, The Holocaust Memorial Museum: Sacred Secular Space, was published in 2015. From 2002 to 2011 Avril was the Education Director at the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM). She has also served as the Project Director/Consulting Curator for the SJM permanent exhibitions ‘Culture and Continuity’ (2009), ‘The Holocaust’ (2017), and ‘The Holocaust and Human Rights’ (2018), the latter being a major output of her Linkage project ‘The Holocaust, Human Rights and the Contemporary Museum’. She is currently working on an ARC Discovery project, ‘The Memory of the Holocaust in Australia’ and an ARC Linkage Project ‘Evaluating the Impact of Holocaust Museum Education’.


ABOUT DANIEL SHERRELL

Daniel Sherrell is an American climate and union movement organizer and strategist. He has helped lead campaigns to win a Green New Deal bill for New York State, create good union jobs in renewable energy, and pass America's first federal climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act. His first book, Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World (Penguin 2021), was named a Best Book of the Year by the New Yorker and Publisher's Weekly, and shortlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Nation, and the Drift, among other outlets. He currently lives in Sydney, Australia, where he is the Senior Adviser on Climate and Energy to the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australia's peak body for organized labour.

ABOUT DR MELISSA DRINKWATER

Mel Drinkwater is a General Practitioner based in Sydney, with an interest in women’s and children’s health. Mel is also an HMO in Clinical Ethics at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, a board member of the Clinical Ethics Society of Australasia, and an Executive Member of the Working Party in Clinical Ethics and Professionalism for the World Organisation of Family Doctors.

ABOUT BRANDON SROT

Brandon Srot divides his professional life between psychotherapy and facilitation. As a therapist, he specialises in trauma therapy, couples counselling and grief work. And outside of the therapy office, he designs and facilitates gatherings of transformation for teams, organisations and communities around the world, both virtually and in-person, focussed on leadership development, innovation and personal growth. Leveraging over 20 years of professional and volunteer service in the Jewish community, Brandon now consults to a range of Jewish organisations and proudly serves as the Chief Design and Facilitation Officer of LaunchPad Leadership in Australia and the Content and Facilitation Consultant for ROI Community in Israel. He is deeply connected to his Jewish and Zionist identities and is a proud member of the Emanuel Synagogue community.

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