Sunday's most recent antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach has left me grappling with many emotions...
I found a brief but helpful reel which explains the three most common reactions, which include:
*Empathy: due to the need to dig deep and create an emotional link to the event.
*Solidarity: to create a global sense of community since there are only 15 million Jews left in the world and what happens to one of us, happens to all of us.
*Anger:when silence abounds and we feel alone due to the silence around us.
Personally, these emotions definitely manifested themselves...
After the Bondi Beach attack, uncertainty reigned as to whether folks would attend the Jewish communities' planned Chanuka events due to safety issues. People, we have had police presence at our places of worship for years but especially since the Israeli attack on Oct 7th, 2023.
Let me tell you what happened at my synagogue Sunday. Forty-four reservations had been made and 105 people showed up. See, we needed to be together. As tradition mandates, we ate fried food, lit the menorah's candles, played dreidel and sang songs of freedom.As far as the general silence, our brazen leaders would definitely act differently if they felt their families and friends were in danger.
I received a most appreciated text from a neighbor expressing sorrow and apologizing for the actions of others. And yes, friends shared similar sentiments. We as a society need to not condone this antisemitic violence.
Let us not be silent and speak up when you hear hatred.
