Choosing life in the new Jewish year

As the Jewish people around the world prepare to welcome Rosh Hashanah, we enter a season of reflection and renewal.

It is a time to take stock of the year that has passed and to look forward with hope and determination to the year ahead. In that spirit, I extend to the Jewish community of Australia my warmest wishes for a Shana Tova, a year of meaning, sweetness and peace.

This past year has tested us all in ways we could not have imagined. We have seen the ongoing torment of hostages still held in Gaza, families torn apart and lives suspended in unimaginable suffering. We have watched Iran and its terror proxies extend their violence and sow instability across the region.

And here in Australia, as in so many places across the globe, we have seen a disturbing rise in antisemitism. Synagogues have been burned, sacred texts desecrated, congregants assaulted, students targeted, and community institutions vandalised. These acts are not isolated. They are part of a coordinated attempt to instil fear and weaken our spirit.

And yet, the story of this year is not only one of hardship. It is also a story of extraordinary resilience. Time and again, the Jewish people have chosen not despair, but defiance; not silence, but song; not fear, but faith.