Two Australians in contention for global award

A Melbourne rabbi and a Sydney public relations professional are the only two Australians nominated for this year’s Top 25 Young Vizionaries, the annual list of influential young Zionists compiled by The Jerusalem Post in partnership with Jewish National Fund-USA.

Rabbi Daniel Rabin, senior rabbi at Caulfield Shule, and Dionne Taylor, who has 25 years’ experience in public relations and the media, are up against nominees from Israel, the United States and elsewhere.

Now in its fourth year, the list honours Zionists under the age of 46, Jewish and non-Jewish, from anywhere in the world.

Nominations close on August 23, with the final 25 to be announced on Friday, September 11, just before Rosh Hashanah.

Rabin said he was approached by JNF-USA director of communications Stefan Oberman and put his name forward with hesitation.

“There are people on this list whose Zionist advocacy, reach and impact I deeply admire,” he said. “It was also important to me that Australia and the strength and resilience of our Jewish community was represented on a global Zionist stage.”

Since October 7, he said, he had used whatever platform he had to stand up for Israel and the Jewish people, “particularly at a time when so many in our community have felt increasingly isolated”.

“I certainly don’t see this as being about personal recognition. If anything, I hope it helps amplify the message that we should never be afraid to stand up, speak out and be proud as Jews and Zionists.”

Oberman said organisers had made a concerted effort to encourage community leaders, including rabbis, to join this year’s nomination process.

“I’m delighted to see Rabbi Daniel Rabin continue to stand up and make his voice heard for our Jewish Homeland as he is considered for this year’s Top 25 Young Zionist Vizionaries list,” he said.

Dionne Taylor said her career changed direction after October 7, when she began asking how her media experience could be used to counter misrepresentation of Israel.

“Australia has become a ‘hot’ country, all for the wrong reasons … We’ve unfortunately become a global example of what went wrong.”

She said more Australians should be nominated, and hoped the country would be recognised “for the tiny Jewish community that we have here, but for the very strong voices and actions that our communities show to support Israel”