Australian Jewish women roar

Ruptured: Jewish Women Reflect on Life Post-October 7, published by the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia, was launched on August 10 at the Glen Eira Town Hall to an audience of over 500.

The anthology emerged from a call for submissions to Australian Jewish women for A Year Like No Other, resulting in 150 powerful personal essays about life post-October 7 that will be archived at both the Lamm Jewish Library and the National Library of Israel. From these essays, 36 were selected to form Ruptured, edited by Tamar Paluch and Lee Kofman, and with editorial advice from Romy Moshinsky.

The collection includes essays from prominent Jewish Australians including musician Deborah Conway, academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert and artist Nina Sanadze.

“Ruptured was born from late night messages early morning Zooms, shared heartbreak and shared hope and support from our community,” said essayist and Jewish advocate Simonne Whine, opening the evening.

“Our team spent over a year reading, debating and shaping this project into the book you now hold. This all began with an idea from my dear friend, Tamar [Paluch]. She may not want full credit, but I believe in honouring those whose ideas sparked something extraordinary. Tamar, this is all because of you. This is how we leave a legacy for our children to show that when the world turned against us, mothers, sisters, daughters spoke, and did we speak.”