Courage today or calamity tomorrow

Are we now so frightened that we hesitate to attend community events, gather publicly, or stand beside Jewish friends and neighbours? If so, we must ask a harder question: will it be any better for our children and grandchildren if we retreat?

I do not believe so. I believe things will worsen unless enough decent Australians decide that fear cannot be our organising principle.

Over the Anzac Day weekend, I reflected deeply on those who came before us. Many gave much. Some gave all. They did not pass the baton to us so we could avert our eyes, lower our voices, or stay home when courage was required. They passed it to us so we might carry it.

Recently, I heard a Jewish friend say, almost in passing, that Jews are not good fighters. With respect, that is baloney. Jewish history is one long testimony to endurance, courage, adaptation and the refusal to disappear. L’chaim – to life – is not merely a toast. It is a declaration. And what greater cause is there to fight for than life?

That thought returned to me while reflecting on my friend Ben Adler and the extraordinary people of SHIR, the Australian Jewish Music Festival. The SHIR community’s concerts are preserving memory, identity, joy and culture in the face of doxxing, gaslighting, cancellation, quiet exclusion, rabid Jew hatred, bigotry, and the complicity of those who should know better.