A

ndrea’s son was getting married in Melbourne, Australia. What 
a perfect excuse for a trip! And my husband, Joe, had first cous-
ins in Australia that we hardly get to see. Both retired with few 
ongoing commitments, we saw this as a wonderful travel opportunity.
Although Andrea Cooper and I had been corresponding for more than 
20 years, we had never met. Though we can’t remember exactly when it 
started, our relationship dates to the early days of the World Wide Web, 
when we both participated in an AOL newsgroup for nonprofit commu-
nicators. Somehow, we realized we were both Jewish and both involved in 
our local Jewish communities, and we started emailing privately. 
We couldn’t remember exactly when this was. Andrea thinks I men-
tioned something about taking my daughter to the airport for a trip to 
Israel, which means it could have been as early as early as 1994 or as late 
as 2003, depending on the daughter and the trip.

Our trip to Australia was rich 
with Jewish experience.
Doing 
Jewish 
Down 
Under

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

24 | APRIL 18 • 2024 
J
N

COURTESY OF BARBARA LEWIS

Barbara and Joe 
Lewis in Sydney,
Australia

