The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) is calling for community members to submit photos for a special video presentation ahead of this year’s Yom Hashoah commemoration. “We are Here” is the theme for this year’s tribute to be held at 7.30pm on Sunday, May 5 at Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University. The video presentation aims to show the community proud, strong and here; 79 years after the end of the Shoah. Community members are invited to submit recent or historic family photos, photos of family members who survived the Holocaust, photos depicting Jewish life in Melbourne and pho ..read more

The past week, Israel has commemorated six months since the “Al-Aqsa Flood” took place. This is a good time to look at the “Next October” initiative which proposes the establishment of a new tech start-up for each fallen soldier and civilian victim of October 7. The idea is not only to commemorate the victims – but also to foster growth and progress in their memory. Start-ups participating in the Next October initiative commit to “doing good” as a core value. They pledge to honour their chosen victims in various ways, depending on their capacity: and keeping in mind the specific stories of the ..read more

Australia is on the verge, as is the UK and others, of unilaterally recognising a State of Palestine. Such recognition has been granted by 139 other states. There are arguments for and against recognition. When our Foreign Minister laid out her thinking on the issue in a speech to the ANU National Security College on April 9, there are many things people of goodwill would agree with about future prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians. Peace and security. Mutual recognition. Most importantly, that Australia recognises, as does the USA and other serious leaders of the international community ..read more

Direct from New York, Alexis Fishman is coming to Melbourne to perform her cabaret shows for Ella’s Music Club. She will perform her shows Amy Winehouse Resurrected on May 4 at 8.30pm and Boychiks of Broadway on May 5 at 3pm, both at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club. The show comes as Back to Black, the Amy Winehouse biopic, is now out in cinemas. Fishman lives in New York, but was born and raised in Sydney, and graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. She credits Moriah College’s arts programs as inspiring her desire to perform. As to what inspired her to produce a show ..read more

Almost two weeks ago, our local Jewish community came together under the Opera House sails to support JCA. We were joined by some of our state and federal politicians, all allies and strong community advocates. With formalities over, I looked around the Opera House and took a moment to consider the scene. In front of me, I saw a community united in solidarity. I saw a group of people who contribute to all aspects of society. A community that looks inward and outward – supporting fellow Jews and other communities and causes. A community that is genuinely embracing the essence of tikkun olam. An ..read more

When hosting the Maccabi Australia Sport Awards on Zoom on April 14, ABC sport reporter Daniel Garb said of the Jewish community, “I don’t know if we’ve had a better era of elite sportspeople in Australia than we do now.” The President’s Award was jointly won by 2023 AFL Rising Star recipient and North Melbourne Kangaroo Harry Sheezel, and dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist race walker Jemima Montag, who is preparing for her second Olympics and founded the ‘Girls Play On’ education project. Montag said, “The pivotal role that Maccabi has played in my development as an athlete is so special ..read more

For the first time, Iran has directly attacked Israel. Instead of using proxies to do its dirty work, the Islamic Republic over the weekend launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the Jewish state. Fortunately, almost all were intercepted, many before reaching Israeli airspace. Sadly, a seven-year-old Bedouin girl was critically injured from shrapnel. The failure of the attack shows that despite the belligerence of Tehran’s rhetoric, it not only currently lacks the means to directly assault Israel but may have also overplayed its hand in its attempt to do so. The Western ..read more

A new play, Rootless Cosmopolitans, that explores antisemitism in the arts world, written before October 7, seems prescient for current times. In the wake of figures in the arts world denying Jewish creatives ‘cultural safety’, if they support Israel, a play grappling with issues of antisemitism, identity politics and social media sounds like just what the doctor ordered. Well, the doctor did order it, as it was written by renowned playwright and Australian physician Ron Elisha, who recently received two Broadway awards for his off-Broadway play Anne Being Frank. Elisha teamed up with accompli ..read more

A document in Arabic containing a $7.7 million wish list of medicines and equipment for Gaza discovered at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) is causing concern for Jewish medical practitioners and allied health staff. Found in a secure operating theatre area off limits to the public, the document lists supplies needed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which in Gaza is run by the terror group Hamas. The Victorian branch of the Australasian Jewish Medical Federation (AJMF) expressed its deep concern in a letter to hospital CEO Bernadette McDonald. AJMF president Dr Jack Green wrot ..read more

Rabbi Mendel Kastel was one of many members of the Jewish community to visit the growing floral tribute in Bondi Junction, honouring the six people senselessly killed in Westfield shopping centre on Saturday afternoon in what many initially feared could be a terror attack. The tragic stabbing incident that claimed the lives of Ashlee Good, Dawn Singleton, Faraz Tahir, Jade Young, Pikria Darchia and Yixuan Cheng has shocked the country and the community, having taken place in the heart of Sydney’s eastern suburbs. With Westfield closed, people have been laying flowers, lighting candles and leav ..read more