Not already planning to be in Melbourne next month? Perhaps you should

We're delighted to share details of an upcoming charity event arranged by Australian Friends of Keren Malki.

This photo originally appeared in a 2013 Wall Street
Journal article "A Taste of Whiskey—at the Synagogue"

Under the title "Keren Malki 12 Tribes Kiddush", it leverages off the well-established Jewish tradition of having a Kiddush in synagogue at the conclusion of Sabbath morning prayers as a public expression of what Jews down through the ages have done in their homes on Saturdays - sanctifying the Sabbath day.

This special day is our sign. We are advertising that G-d created the world, and just as He stopped creating for one day, we stop creating for one day. To be like G-d, to emulate the Alm-ghty, is to come close to His essence and to experience the ultimate in transcendence. That is the sign between us and G-d. [Aish.com]

The 12 Tribes event is set for July 18, 2015 at Caulfield Hebrew Congregation Hall, 572 Inkerman Road, Caulfield, a Melbourne suburb (for those not so familiar with Australia). It features twelve whiskies and twelve kinds of herring. Enough said.

If you are intending to take part, note that bookings need to be made (click here) and paid by July 12.

The organizers describe the cause in these words:

Click the poster to view it in
larger format

Keren Malki’s work is based around the idea that no place is better for a child with special needs than that child’s own home. Helping to enable that to happen is what drives our activities, day after day. The challenges facing a family with a seriously disabled child are not simple. Neurological disorders, severe illness and developmental problems in childhood change the lives of all concerned: the child, the parents, the siblings and - in some ways - the society around them. Experience shows that such families are rarely in a position to stand up to these challenges without sustained, targeted help. 

That is where our role starts. The Malki Foundation (Keren Malki in Hebrew) was founded in 2001 as a living memorial to a girl who dedicated herself to caring for people with disabilities, among them her own severely disabled sister. The life of Malka Chana Roth, who was fifteen when her life was violently ended by Arab terrorists, is the inspiration for the foundation’s work. Her murder is the reason it was created.