Shana Tova: a year of challenge, a year of hope

As we reflect on the year that was 5785, it is fair to say we hope for better days to come in 5786.

In one year alone, our small Australian Jewish community has faced a storm of antisemitism that has left us distressed and perplexed. For some of us, the hatred has even led us to question our future in this great country that we have helped build.

From the rabid antisemitism our students were – and still are – confronted with on university campuses, to the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue, the months of December and January were nothing short of a summer of terror.

Sydney’s Jewish community woke to regular overnight antisemitic graffiti and arson attacks on cars, synagogues, a childcare centre, a Jewish day school and residential streets. The former home of Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-CEO Alex Ryvchin was set alight and doused with red paint in what we now know was a targeted attack.

The social media video of two Bankstown nurses who threatened the lives of Israeli patients sent shockwaves through the community, and the hatred reached such disturbing levels that Sky News and ECAJ convened a national summit on antisemitism.