Ferryman

 Ferryman

Reviewed By  Nan van Dissel       June 30, 2025

 

Author  Katia Ariel

Distributor:      Wild Dingo Press
ISBN:                 9781925893861
Publisher:         Wild Dingo Press
Release Date:   June 2025  

Website:    https://www.wilddingopress.com.au/shop/p/9781925893861 

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The life and deathwork of Ephraim Finch

Award winning author Katia Ariel’s book Ferryman is not only a biography of the remarkable Ephraim Finch, who worked in Melbourne’s Cheva Kadisha for 30 years (25 years as its director), but also a cultural history of the Jewish community in that city. She has crafted a touching and warm evaluation of this modest ferryman, while at the same time highlighting his love of learning, his extraordinary humanity and his ability to give of himself unconditionally. 

Ephraim Finch started out life as Geoff, son of a working-class Anglo-Australian butcher in Sydney and then started working on construction sites; he and his beloved wife Cas in their late 20s discovered Judaism and converted to Orthodox Judaism.  In his role as ferryman, this empathetic community figure buried over ten thousand individuals with unbelievable dignity and respect; he not only took care of their bodies so beautifully, but he also preserved their legacy. He worked hard to ensure that people were woven into their history and buried alongside their own.

It is very evident that the author has written this heartfelt account of a most beloved man with passion and dedication; fact checking against his detailed journals and with families where possible. She has successfully used stories and anecdotes to not only illustrate Ephraim Finch’s character but also to give the reader insight into the rituals around Jewish burials.

Although the detailed ‘List of Sources’ will allow readers to further their understanding of this wonderful ageing Orthodox Jew, who is little known outside the Jewish community, a glossary of the Hebrew terms used would be useful to non-Jewish readers.

Biographies, Non Fiction