Melbourne’s Jewish population is being asked to contribute their experiences of COVID-19 to a new digital archive capturing life during the pandemic.
Led by Monash University’s , researchers are aiming to collect a range of materials from individuals, families and community organisations that reflect the ways Melbourne Jews adapted to life in lockdown.
Participants are asked to contribute digital artefacts and reflections on how their life has changed, particularly focusing on their Jewishness and Jewish practice to the archive, entitled Journal of the Plague Year.
Project lead Associate Professor said she and her collaborators, Associate Professor and Dr Jordy Silverstein, were interested in the ways that lives of individuals and families were affected.
“Jewish people have, of course, been affected by the pandemic the same way as everyone else,” Associate Professor Forgasz said. “However, there have been additional impacts on their sense of identity and wellbeing, due to the disruption to Jewish religious and cultural life, so much of which is lived communally.
“We want to know how the disruptions and adaptations to the daily and weekly cycles affected you, your schools, community organisations, educational and cultural programming. Not to mention the celebration of holidays and memorial days including Pesach, Yom Hashoah, Yom Ha’atzmaut and Shavuot.
“We want to hear about the moments of sadness and loss as well as unexpected joy and triumphs.”
Associate Professor Forgasz said her interest in the journal arose after many years working in museums, finding material culture and visual imagery able to speak so eloquently and often strikingly to memories – both positive and negative.
“I have two young kids, and for them, so much of their connection to Jewishness – and my own – comes from the joy of family gatherings, whether for weekly Shabbat (Sabbath) meals or celebrations of Jewish festivals,” she said.
“In my family, we have tried to replicate our weekly Shabbat dinners with the grandparents via Zoom, which hasn’t been particularly satisfying; the kids just get a bit silly looking at themselves on screen, and it’s hard to engage in any real conversation.”
Associate Professor Forgasz said, on the other hand, technology had enabled a more immersive experience for their Passover celebration, using video, sound and costume to retell the story and engage her children more than in previous years.
Researchers are seeking materials including photographs and videos of family celebrations, social media posts, memes, advertisements, recordings of community events, newspaper articles, cartoons and more.
Written reflections on Jewish life in lockdown are also being sought.
The materials will form part of a global undertaking initiated by academics at Arizona State University.
