I have to confess to being in a state of unreality about the Bondi attack.
I have been heartened by the many individual messages from members of the interfaith network and many others in the community.
As you all probably know I am a British born Jew, which meant growing up with anti Semitism at a high level, although it seemed normal to me.
My grandparents were refugees to England from the pogroms in Eastern Europe.
My zeida and booba participated in the Battle of Cable Street against the forces of the British Union of Fascists.
We were persecuted at all school levels and could not live equally in the country of my birth.
I was offered a scholarship to be a rabbi, which was withdrawn when my parents got divorced.
Being called names, generally “dirty jew”, was normal.
We migrated to Australia, which looked pretty good to us in terms of freedom of religion.
And joined Greater Dandenong Interfaith, which became the love of my life.
Working to educate migrant communities, working and learning of other religions and living in the most multicultural city in Australia.
I had the privilege of working as a councillor with a magnificent cohort.
On 7 October 2023, the temperature chilled dramatically in terms of Judaism. And the job became more difficult.
And now 14 December.
Lets continue to be and do what is right. We will survive such evil.
