I have been prompted to become involved in local politics

In May of last year I was in Israel at the end of a very moving March of the Living trip. It was a time of great joy in Israel around the time of Yom Ha’Atzmaut, and the mood was festive. It is impossible to imagine how just six months later everything changed, and caused ripple effects that are still being felt here in our communities in Australia. What has also become crystal clear is that although Israel is at war, the Jews of the diaspora have seemingly become a legitimate target for scorn and demonisation, or worse.

As a Jew in the diaspora, I can’t affect what is going on half way around the world, as much as I would sometimes want to. What I can change is what we do about it locally. My way is always to be more open and inviting, to not shy away from being openly Jewish. I continue to engage with people who are indifferent or disagree, and I continue to do what I can to bring people together.

It is partly for these reasons that I an now a candidate for the upcoming local government elections in Balaclava ward in the City of Port Phillip. The current council has no Jewish councillors. It is time to change that for the sake of our community but also because as Jillian Segal AO recently said, now is not the time to retreat, it is the time to “commit to participating in the life of the general community.” I have been doing that for many years in various capacities, and I hope to be able to do it even more on behalf of the people of the City of Port Phillip, and October 7 has been the catalyst that has pushed me to do so.