Towards the end of October, 2023, I met a friend for dinner. We had been friends for many years, and felt able to talk about most things, so I assumed we could talk, and listen to, and learn from each other regarding the painful events earlier in that month in Israel, and what was unfolding in Gaza too. But I was wrong. It was a painful conversation. We tried to share the stories we'd read or heard about, but it became clearer and clearer to me that she had gone deep into some dangerous...

And on the morning of the seventh day, I went to church. Today is Sunday 21 December: The penultimate day of the eight day festival of Chanukah, the winter solstice, the new Hebrew month of Tevet and the Sunday before Christmas. And on this seventh day, this year, it also marks a week of shiva (mourning) for the Jews murdered on Bondi Beach, I went to church this morning because I was invited by my friend, vicar Heston Groenewald to his church in Hyde Park, to say a prayer for peace alongside...

One of the silver linings of COVID times was the sudden abundance of events going online. For someone like myself, finding myself living in a city where the type of Judaism and Jewish practices/gatherings that I align to don't really exist, it was a joy to suddenly feel not only invited, but able to be fully present, and equal amongst all the others in the Zoom room. I attended ceremonies, prayer services, study groups from across the world (well, admittedly, mainly Israel and USA) and the...