Blog

Though the pandemic has certainly not been easy for anyone, it is the frontline workers in particular - the medical practitioners, health care workers and aged care staff who continue to carry the heavy burden and emotional impacts of this public health crisis.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - Hunger must be one of the most frightening words in our vocabulary.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - The crescendo of the blessing is the wish for peace. The quest for peace is fundamental to Jewish tradition.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - It's a statement from the heart, but it’s also a cry from the heart, a cry in search of a voice, a plea born out of despair, an appeal nurtured by hope.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - The well-known actor Michael J Fox put it simply and directly: Family is not an important thing. It's everything.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - In real estate it may be all about location, location, location. In Judaism it is all about names, names, names...We are obsessed with names.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - The Jewish people have had a long love affair with Israel. It's probably one of the most extended loves for a land and for a place, bar our first peoples. It was there at our beginning, it has been there for us throughout the long ages in which we were exiled from it or made exiles and strangers in it.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - Courage is not confined to heroes with extraordinary strength. I love the line of one of the most fearless of men, Nelson Mandela...

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - I recently came across the remarkable little book written in 1903 by the German poet Rilke...

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - I love a good question. It challenges the mind, it stimulates sensitivity, it opens the doors of perception.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - A traditional Japanese diet is exceptionally well balanced. As a result, many of the Japanese tend to live long and healthy lives.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - At the beginning of the celebrated Jewish ethical work called Ethics of the Fathers, is the statement of Rabbi Shimon.

The famous opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two cities, begins: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…"

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - There is surely no more powerful form of communicating than face- to-face, eye to eye, heart to heart.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - The great English poet, W. H. Auden, wrote a poem entitled September 1, 1939 which was published a month later in October 1939.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - There's a line of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks pertaining to this week’s Torah reading this week (Exodus 24) which leaps off the page. The line is: God lives in the heart of those who give. I can’t think of a better way of expressing the Jewish notion of giving. The capacity to give is one of the greatest gifts we have.

Rabbi Ralph OAM Keeps Connected - It’s almost two years since our lives were overturned by the pandemic. We have moved on incredibly since those early days, developed vaccines and booster shots, endured lockdowns and liberations…

Rabbi Ralph keeps in touch – Lessons for living from the Jewish tradition What’s the essence of a good and meaningful life? It’s an old question that has perplexed some of the finest minds and challenged some of the best of our leaders....

How do school leavers make the right choice about their next study moves? It’s that time of year for VCE results and reviewing preferences. Decisions for 17-18 year olds that seem at the time to be life changing. At the Employment Centre we advise...

Why we need to talk about Dinah By Cassandra Barrett – Program Manager Healthy Communities *Content warning: sexual violence. It is apt that this week’s Torah portion, Parsha Vayishlach, should so often coincide with the International Day for...

Access to a secure, stable and reasonably paid job is the best route out of economic hardship and poverty.

It is fitting that on the eve of Anti-Poverty Week (17 - 23 October), Netflix’s Maid is one of the most-watched television shows in Australia.

The extraordinary resilience and adaptability of young people has never been more evident than in the past 18 months - and for all of its challenges, COVID-19 has presented some opportunities as well.

At Jewish Care, we understand the vital role that supportive communities place in keeping children safe, and connecting families to the support they need.

August 1-7 marks National Homelessness Week. The theme of the 2021 campaign is Everybody needs a home. For the more than 116,000 Australians who are homeless on any given night, this is the unfortunate reality.

Not in Our Community – Not in Any Community webinar sought to raise awareness about the critical issue of coercive control, a largely invisible form of family violence.

As lockdown measures continue to lighten, many of us may be experiencing a mix of emotions when faced with socialising for the first time in months.

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25) marks the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, an annual campaign that calls for an end to violence against women.

Transgender Awareness Week is typically observed each year during the second week of November and is a one-week celebration that leads up to Transgender Day of Remembrance

Our four organisational values guide us in how we think about the community we serve. These values have a strong influence on the work we do and how we conduct ourselves outside of this work.

Employment is one of the key ways in which people living with a disability can be supported to reach their full potential. This blog discusses how small and medium enterprises can support people living with a disability by providing employment opportunities.

The telephone call and subsequent email from the Aged Care Royal Commission in early 2019 informing us of an impending site visit was almost perfunctory.

Here we are, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, in what has been a most challenging and unusual year.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought about changes to the way we do many things, including job seek. This blog explores what you can do if you're unemployed during the pandemic.

2020 has been a challenging year for us all. This RU OK? Day, psychologist Ronit Joel shares tips for checking in with, and supporting, loved ones.

This year’s Child Protection week’s theme 'Putting Children First' highlights the importance of prioritising children in their lives and in their communities. But how do we really prioritise children?

Here are five things to think about and consider if you are someone who identifies as an ally to the LGBT+ community.

This blog explores strategies to balance home learning needs while taking the pressure off to ensure kids – and parents – stay happy, healthy and engaged.

With more time spent online during the pandemic, it is important to consider the steps that can be taken to help protect against technology-facilitated abuse.

Australians lose more money per person to gambling than any other country. In this blog, Team Leader of Healthy Communities, Cassandra Barrett, explores the effect of COVID on gambling in Victoria.

Our Healthy Communities team interviewed Jenny Blakey, Manager of Seniors Rights Victoria on the topic of elder abuse.

To understand elder abuse and the context in which it evolves we must look at not only its visible prevalence but its covert and transformative ability.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the face of volunteering changed immediately. Laura Marchese, Volunteer Program Coordinator, explores how many Jewish Care volunteers have eagerly embraced new opportunities in the face of the global pandemic.

Lou Paykel has been volunteering at Jewish Care since 1997. Read about his volunteer journey and involvement with the Active Living Centre.

Henri Korn, a Jewish Care volunteer of more than 15 years, shares what he has learnt from volunteering.

Errol Rink, Jewish Care volunteer since 2012, shares the unexpected reward he receives from volunteering.

5 May 2020 By Cassandra Barrett, Team Leader - Healthy Communities “I was already scared before, for my daughter and myself, but having him here in the house all the time – it’s unbearable. His moods are all over the place; he...

Many of us are experiencing an increase in stress and anxiety in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. It can be helpful to recognise and understand the range of emotions and feelings that might arise under these circumstances.

COVID-19 has changed our lives in many ways and the impact on mental health and wellbeing is one of the most significant. Here are 10 tips to support our mental wellbeing

This Australia Day, if you have not done so before, consider what the day means to you, and more importantly what it might mean to others.

A survivor of 13 concentration camps, Leon was quite negative when it came to discussions about G-d and religion. This changed one year during the first night of Chanukah.

Two Jewish Care volunteers, have been teaching a small group of Elders at Gary Smorgon House how to use digital technologies to enrich their worlds.

Freda Searle, an Elder at Gary Smorgon House, writes about her day trip to Werribee Zoo.

How do you decide whether to commit to an organisation as a board director? Perhaps you have just finished a leadership development course or maybe you expressed interest in becoming involved with a communal organisation.

A view into a day in the life of a homeless person.

Current research estimates that between 2 – 14% of older Australians are affected by elder abuse in any given year – though under-reporting means that the actual prevalence is likely to be higher.

When three teenagers gave up seeing their favourite football team play to instead volunteer for Jewish Care, they did not expect how fulfilling it would be for them.

For many of us, our main hope of getting back to work, changing jobs or starting the career that we want is through networking.

Debbi is a Jewish Care volunteer who reads and records the weekly newspaper for vision impaired residents. This is Debbi's story.

Cassie Barrett sat down with women’s advocate and Jewish Care volunteer Yael Hersham to discuss her reflections from years of work at the frontline of women-oriented services.

Treating everybody the same is exceptionally flawed and, at times, can even cause far more harm than good.

He first hit and pushed me two years into the marriage. I was totally shocked; I couldn’t understand why he did it. I don’t think he did either.

Ageism appears to be the last socially accepted "-ism."

As the cost of housing continues to rise, home ownership becomes more out of reach for the average Australian and the issue of social housing has now hit the mainstream.

The impact of sports betting advertising, particularly on young people, has garnered significant attention. This is good news given that recent research by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation revealed that between 60 and 70 percent of children have gambled, and one in 25 teenagers has a gambling problem.

We share this letter from 9 year old Mia Singer that shows making a positive impact on your community can begin at any age.

Natasha Katz, an Enrolled Nurse at the Smorgon Family Nursing Home, shares her story of working in aged care and why she chose to hold her wedding in the gardens of Montefiore Homes.

A rare and insightful interview with Mr Glick, the iconic Melbourne baker and the founder of the Glick’s Cakes & Bagels chain.