Have we lost Jewish joy?

Have we lost Jewish joy? Have we lost the ability to come together joyfully?

When I first became President of JCCV, it was during COVID. As we came out of it, the pre-eminent question was how to get people back into shules and to attend community events and public gatherings.

In 2023, my final year as JCCV President, I worked towards a social planning office. We would look at the community demographics, analyse need, and act as a focal point for community discussion – should we combat ageing, or assimilation, or youth outreach? Should our institutions follow the Melbourne community as it moves South towards Moorabbin and Aspendale, and east towards Murrumbeena and Oakleigh?

That was the plan. An eager incoming executive was ready to go. I thought that, as national President, I would be doing similar work at the federal level – encouraging and co-ordinating similar efforts across the country.

Then 7 October happened. My national role as ECAJ President commenced less than two months later, in late November 2023. The consequences of 7 October, and its impact upon Jewish life in Australia, have continued unabated since. In November 2023 when my presidency commenced, the ECAJ had six staff. Now it has 16 and, by the end of the calendar year, 18. That growth has solely been driven by the continuing impact of 7 October and its aftermath upon Australian Jews.