He was my rock and my love and my friend. My partner for life, we thought.” Five months after IDF Master-Sergeant Naftali Yonah Gordon, 32, died in combat in Gaza, his widow Pesi Gordon-Roth is still coming to terms with the gut-wrenching news she and her family received on December 7 last year. The IDF sergeant’s life was taken in a direct hit in northern Gaza that day. He and another soldier of the 188th Armoured Brigade’s 53rd Battalion were killed and another two were severely wounded. All the tank crew were reservists. Naftali was one of 263 soldiers who have laid down their lives for Isr ..read more

Heffron Park’s 32 netball courts were a hive of activity for round one of the 2024 Randwick Netball Association season last Saturday. Despite some showers in the morning, Maccabi Netball Club’s Net Set Go (U8 and U9) teams enjoyed playing in their first ever matches, and had an absolute ball. Emma Uria takes a sharp catch for Maccabi in U13 division 1 versus Mascot. Photos: Shane Desiatnik The weather cleared and warmed up considerably from mid-morning, when Maccabi’s 15 junior teams – from U10s to U14s, and intermediate grade – took to the courts. The aim for round one was to have fun and s ..read more

In a perfect preparation for the Oceania Championships, Jewish Melburnian Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva achieved PB scores and an outstanding top 10 placing, in the inaugural Rhythmic Gymnastics European Cup, in her training base of Baku, Azerbaijan, last weekend. Israel also shone, winning five medals in this innovative new event, which after a qualifying round in all four apparatuses, shifted into one-on-one ‘cross battles’ between athletes making the top 16, top, 8, top 4 and top 2. Israel won golds in the group all-around and group ‘5 hoops’ competitions, while individual bronze medals were e ..read more

It was an extra special day of VAFA men’s Premier C footy at Princes Park last Saturday for AJAX, with big wins posted over the visitors, Glen Eira, in seniors and reserves, and also milestone 200th and 150th games for Richie Simon and Justin Berkowitz respectively. In the seniors, Simon’s teammates made a guard of honour before the first bounce and he ran through a special banner. Uplifted, he kicked the first two goals of the game and finished with six, in his side’s 18.6 (124) to 6.5 (41) victory and was named second Best on Ground, just behind Kane Nissenbaum, while Toby Sheezel kicked fou ..read more

This year, in a somewhat unusual turn of events, Yom Ha’Atzmaut is on the same date on both the commonand Hebrew calendars – 14 May. It is only the third time since the State of Israel’s founding that this will bethe case. Why? Because the Hebrew calendar runs on a 19 year cycle, and this year, being 76 years since the original day of Israel’s independence, is a multiple of 19 when the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars coincide. I’ve always enjoyed coincidences and stories like that, and in the last few weeks, after I discovered this and shared it with people, it has always brought a smile to the ..read more

More than 1000 people gathered at Robert Blackwood Hall for the JCCV Yom Hashoah Commemoration on Sunday. JCCV vice-president Hayley Southwick, a descendant of survivors, addressed the current unprecedented resurgence in antisemitism. She turned to the survivors in the audience and pledged, “We will continue to do all that we can to protect a Jewish way of life for all of us here in Victoria. We are here because of you.” Host Annette Charak, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, beautifully guided the audience through the theme of the evening “We Are Here”. Youth movement representatives read o ..read more

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) has written to Foreign Minister Penny Wong urging Australia to vote against admitting Palestine as a full United Nations member at the General Assembly. The General Assembly could hold a vote as soon as Friday, and while it would be symbolic, it would likely place pressure on the Security Council, where a bid for Palestinian statehood was vetoed by the United States last month. In their letter to Wong, ECAJ president Daniel Aghion and co-CEOs Peter Wertheim and Alex Ryvchin argued that “the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians can only b ..read more

Mother’s Day use to be one of my favourite days of the year. I looked forward to the colourful hand-made cards and creative crafts from kindergarten, the five-dollar knick-knacks bought at the Mother’s Day pop-up shop at school, and the breakfast in bed that I declared “delicious” no matter how it tasted. It is a wonderful day to celebrate mums. While parenting can be hard, being a mum has been my greatest blessing. But since my mother, Sandra Mittelman, passed away over a year ago from cancer at 70, I now approach Mother’s Day with heartache. My mum showered her children with unconditional lo ..read more

UIA NSW has announced a new initiative aimed at further strengthening our community and connecting it with the people of Israel. Gesher by UIA will provide opportunities to engage with Israeli people, families and organisations, drawing on their resilience and optimism. Gesher will also provide people in Israel with the support they need to rebuild the Jewish homeland. Its goal is to build on the momentum of the community’s activism since October 7 and to connect and leverage the talent and resources of our people and community. The core of Gesher is a network of ambassadors who will connect w ..read more

The former commander of British forces in Afghanistan and head of the international terrorism team at the British Joint Intelligence Committee has praised the performance of the IDF in Gaza. Colonel Richard Kemp is touring Australia at the moment at the invitation of the right leaning Australian Jewish Association. He’ll be speaking at several screenings of the documentary “Whose Land”, alongside the producer High Kitson, which examines the various claims to the land of Israel. Col Kemp says he hopes to combat the disinformation and misinformation about the way Israel is conducting the conflic ..read more