A tale that spans 25 years

Twenty-five years ago this month, I walked through the doors of Trafalgar House, a grandly named but otherwise unimposing and unremarkable office building in the north-west London suburb of Edgware. That step I took inside would turn out to be the first step of a 25-year journey that led me to the other side of the world, to Melbourne, Australia, and to this very moment, right here, right now – penning this very column for The AJN.

It was a journey that saw me become editor of Jewish News UK, editor of the Australian Jewish News, executive director of Zionism Victoria and then, just as I stepped into a building a quarter of a century ago, it saw me ending the journey as I stepped out of a building – the Beth Weizmann Jewish Community Centre in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Caulfield – precisely 25 years later.

That initial step back in May 2000 was into the office of Totallyjewish.com, the first website of its kind in Europe, catering to the news and lifestyle needs of the Jewish community.

For a seasoned TV scriptwriter and radio journalist, it was quite an exciting career move. Remember, this was in an age before Facebook, Google, eBay, Amazon, YouTube and Tinder – a time when “swipe left” or “swipe right” was nothing more than what you’d expect Mr Miyagi to say in The Karate Kid.

But I’m not here to get nostalgic, or to talk about myself.