Helen Wolfers

Growing Up Jewish in Australia: A Search For Identity Helen Wolfers

The decision to publish this book was partly inspired by a letter from Sigmund Freud, in which he stated: "There were other considerations (apart from anti-Semitism), which made the attractiveness of Judaism and Jews, irresistible - many obscure forces of emotions, all the more powerful the less they were to be defined in words." Elsewhere Freud went on to say that although he was unable to define these 'obscure inner forces' he was sure that the day would come when they would be identified.'Growing Up Jewish' attempts to delineate and explain at least some of these obscure inner forces. The book begins, in Sydney, Australia with the authors earliest experiences relevant to the development of Jewish identity. It then proceeds to trace this development from her experiences in 3 other countries while working for the United Nations in the field of population control. After retiring in Jerusalem, Israel, the author focuses on the consequences for Jewish identity of the re-establishment of a Jewish national homeland. In conclusion, drawing on the experiences described in the book she proposes a theoretical explanation of this Jewishness which, defying all odds, has survived millennia of homelessness, centuries outside the ghetto walls, and now still persists even outside its own religion.