Dear Liri

You do not know me, but I know you.
Your faith is now my faith.
Saturday, October 7.
My Instagram filled with pictures of you.
Captions – Bring Liri Home.
I made a connection.
You had been an Israeli camper at the Jewish Summer Camp I worked at two years prior.
Our paths never crossed.
While you were held hostage, there was never a time when I did not think of you.

Every breath of fresh air I inhaled, you inhaled with me.
A closeness was felt from me to you.
I created a story in my head.
We were friends.
My friend was taken by Hamas.
Knowing there was another girl my age, who loved Summer Camp.
Her freedom taken away.
I needed to stay strong for the both of us.

Your strength got me through the saddest and the hardest times.
An anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist Australia.
Jewish sites were firebombed.
Walls were vandalised.
Swastikas were the norm.
Explosives were found.
Jews were assaulted.
I was not okay.
Nobody was okay.
I am not okay.
Nobody is okay.

But I moved forward.
The Shabbat prior to Rosh Hashanah last year.
A very special one.
An evening of prayer, connection and hope.
Shabbat candles were lit.
Blessings were made.
I talked about you
About our friendship.
Your photo stood next to my candles lit in your honour.
You were with us on that Shabbat.
We prayed for your immediate release.

I feel most connected to you when I am alone.
Eyes closed. Shema recited.
You have taught me what it really means to live.
To be present. To take nothing for granted.
Saturday, January 25.
I cried. Happy tears.
Again my Instagram filled with pictures of you.
No longer Bring Liri Home.
My friend was home.
Images showing your determination.
Your smile. Your strength.
I knew you had felt our prayers that Shabbat.

Every Friday evening at our Summer Camp, we sang Shabbat melodies.
Arms around each other.
One song I have never forgotten. Le Dor Va Dor.
From generation to generation.
This song reminds me of you.
Your strength will not just stay with me, but for generations to come.
People will know your name, my friend.
Little girl, close your eyes and take my hand.
Sing Le Dor Va Dor Va Dor.
Le Dor Va Dor Va Dor.
If all the world could just learn to understand.
Sing Le Dor Va Dor Va Dor.
Le Dor Va Dor Va Dor.

You do not know me, but I know you.
Never forget to hold onto faith.
Until our paths cross.
I will be okay.
Everyone will be okay.
All my love.
Am Yisrael Chai.

An initiative of NSW JBD and Shalom Collective.

The Rosalind Sharbanee Meyer Award for Young Jewish Storytellers was created in 2025 to recognise unpublished short fiction, nonfiction or poetry by people aged 18-35 that captures their Jewish experience in Sydney. It was generously donated by Rosalind Sharbanee Meyer.

The topic of the submission had to engage with the writer’s Jewish experience in Sydney in some way. Submissions that reflected stories from all backgrounds and branches of Judaism were encouraged. The aim of this new award was to encourage aspiring writers to share their unique perspective, highlighting the positive, empowering, and enriching aspects of being young and Jewish in today’s world.

Mimi Baron was awarded the prize for her poem, which responded to her experience of witnessing rising antisemitism in Sydney.

The judge, Dr Anna Jacobson, winner of the 2024 Jewish Independent Young Jewish Writer Award, wrote: “Finding moments of hope in the ceremonies and songs of her Jewish culture, this is a powerful epistolary poem from Mimi Baron to Liri, that gives goosebumps and stays with the reader. Braiding timelines like challah, the poet shares her experiences and thoughts, including during one Shabbat prior to Rosh Hashanah in Sydney.

Dear Liri explores what it means to live with courage and hold faith, honouring Liri and what she represents to the poet: strength.

As the poet experiences and witnesses rising antisemitism in Australia and her city of Sydney, she finds solace by connecting with Liri’s strength. This is generous and intimate storytelling through poetry.”