From Australia to Indiana: Rabbi Kaminsky’s New Chapter

It’s my pleasure to be serving this wonderful, warm Jewish community here in the South Bend area. I may look just a little bit like a deer in the headlights; it’s only been a few short weeks since I flew from my home in South Australia and returned to the U.S. after eighteen years away. It’s been a bit of an adjustment! The consolation is that, as you’ll know, Hoosiers are incredibly kind people, and I’ve felt very welcomed.

Coming from the driest state in the driest continent in the world, I’ve found this region to be a revelation. One of my hobbies is swimming, and I’ve already swum in three lakes, including majestic Lake Michigan. On my first visit there, I stumbled upon Gordon Beach near New Buffalo, which I learned was purchased by a Jewish couple in the 1920s so that Jewish vacationers would have a safe place together. I’ve been getting to know the St. Joseph River a little bit at a time, and I’m struck by the contrasts between the natural beauty in some parts as well as the spectacular Mishawaka Riverwalk area. There are other simple pleasures, such as living in a city with a Trader Joe’s. And I’ve already visited the wonderful South Bend Farmers’ Market and enjoyed zucchini, peaches, and tomatoes.

A little more about me: I earned my bachelor’s degree in Chinese studies from Oberlin College and graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1994—thirty years ago! For ten years before my move to Australia, I served a small-merged congregation about forty minutes northwest of the famous Pittsburgh Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill.

In 2006, I made the big move around the world and discovered a Jewish community which was similar but also different in many ways. 50% of Australian Jews have a direct connection to the Shoah, and this has an enormous impact on what Jewish identity looks like. South Australia also had a significant Jewish migration from Egypt in 1956, and so I’ve spent much time with Sephardic Jews who have French as their first language and whose foods look and taste entirely different. Most of all, the Australian Jewish community is tiny: only 100,000 in total, of which close to 90% live in the Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan areas. It’s very exciting to be back in the U.S. in a community with multiple synagogues and a beautiful Jewish Federation facility. I look forward to the journey ahead.

Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky
Temple Beth-El