Published: 3 June 2022
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Stand Up's Derech Eretz program is taking its first post-Covid group to volunteer in remote Indigenous communities. NEHAMA PILCER presents her reflections from her 2020 Derech Eretz experience
As a minivan of nine Jewish Australians approached the Indigenous communities of Toomelah and Boggabilla in northern NSW, I was nervous and excited. I was 27 years old and was volunteering on Stand Up’s Indigenous engagement program, Derech Eretz (literally translating to Way of the Land).
What followed was in quite a sense, life changing. I cannot attribute this impact to a singular remarkable event but rather to a collection of heartening and sobering moments that jolted and affirmed powerful reflections and learnings in me.
Growing up in Caulfield North, one of Australia’s most densely populated Jewish suburbs, did not offer many opportunities to learn firsthand about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
I spent most of my childhood and early adulthood amongst friends and family who shared a very similar background, culture and lifestyle to my own and so my cultural breadth was limited.
As I entered university and my professional career, I became increasingly interested in social justice issues and began developing my awareness and understanding of Aboriginal culture and history and the issues affecting Indigenous people.
Professionally, I was gaining public policy experience working on Native Title, corrections, youth justice, and crime prevention related issues, but my work was not frontline, and I felt I was lacking tangible connections with the communities and cohorts that I was interested in. And so, the hope to meaningfully engage and connect led me to participate in Stand Up’s Derech Eretz program.
