The Voice of the Children

I stand here as an Australian Citizen who is the matriarch of a Jewish family, and also a leader in Australian and Jewish Education. Today I show up with our School Community, the Moriah College Jewish Community, which holds hands with all Jewish Day Schools in Australia, as well as all schools in the Independent and Public Sector.

We stand proud and symbolic of light, in the darkest of times known in Australia. I am infinitely proud of our young students from preschool through to late Secondary who have gathered today to stand in solidarity with all those who lost their lives so tragically. Our prayers extend to those who have been hurt, they strengthen those whose spirits have been broken, and they comfort those who have lost their loved ones, may their memory be a blessing. We later read the names of the victims followed by the memorial prayer but for now, I want to stand with our children, our students, and call out the difficult time we are in.

It is beyond sad that I have had to use storytelling to explain to our young students that on Sunday night bad men, called terrorists, came with guns and antisemitic action, to hurt Jewish people. Too many people died that night while they celebrated Chanukah and petted animals in a petting zoo. 16 lives. When we lose one life it equates to a whole world. So many worlds, lost. I explained to the children that Security People and Police, and most importantly good people who are our friends, even though they aren’t born Jewish, helped to stop the bad men. This made sure that most of the people were safe at the end of the night, and our children are safe, the people are safe. Today you are safe. However, this story has not yet ended …

We teach our children to ask questions following on from the stories they are told. They have asked, “Why are the bad men here? Who let them do this and why did they do this? These questions are words children use to seek comfort, and I pray that our children find some answers and find some comfort.

Two years ago there was a different question asked by a group of people on the steps of the Opera House.

Where are the Jews? It seems like the bad men were thinking the same question on Sunday night.

Today I say, “Here are the Jews”. Here are the Jews and they stand with Australians. Together. Beautiful children grown lovingly by their parents to be good Australian citizens.

They stand here and they have shown up with the values at the core of our teachings. Love your neighbour as you would love yourself. Treat others as you would have them treat you. They have been taught the values of kindness, respect, commitment, integrity and responsibility. They have been taught to choose their words and actions carefully to be their best self and keep others well. To heal the world. They take responsibility to be good to others and make Australia a better place, a safe place and a productive place, just like their predecessors who have contributed significantly to the economy, healthcare, the arts, education, leadership and government, and so it goes on.

These are all Jewish citizens who stand here today alongside their fellow Australians, they all share the same values and build on the mateship that made Australia great, previously. They all love life and love their families: the parents we see here today love and protect their children.

Holocaust survivor Edith Eger spotlights The Choices we face in trying times, and she used this to treat victims of terror, other survivors. She encourages us to face the challenge in front of us, and to make an active choice, to live or to crumble and succumb, to manage our brain and our spirit so that it can cope with difficult times or to give in, and to make the smart choice to obliterate the hate, and to replace it with positive actions.

The light we have in front of us, in our children, chooses this pathway. They are learning to keep themselves healthy by doing their holiday routines little bit by little bit, they learn to notice their bad feelings that came on Sunday night, and deal with them by talking, breathing, crying and creating safe places for themselves. They are taking little actions to do good things and heal those around them and themselves and step forward happily and positively.

We need to help them. In education we talk about success in terms of outcomes – this was not a good outcome – but our hope, our dream, is that we witness proof of a different outcome, because of the choices made in our beloved Australia.

Students across our Jewish and Australian community, I stand with our leader of our High School, symbolic of those who are not born Jewish but serve with courage and commitment, we appreciate all our friends. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support and your moral compass. We join with you today and we stand in solidarity with the pain of these families, those injured and passed. We give you strength and comfort, and most importantly a voice, which cries out saying, please make Australia a place that is safe, and free, and lucky.

Our children are our greatest treasure and our light, just like the light of Chanukah, they are our miracle and we will kindle that light with all our might.

May those who have experienced loss be comforted among the mourners of Zion, and to our miracles, our children, I embrace you as you choose to celebrate life, l’chaim.

Lynda Fisher is Head of Moriah College Primary School. This is the speech she delivered alongside school students at the memorial at Bondi Pavilion on Friday morning.