The best Jewish cultural moments of 2024

Dashiel Lawrence, Executive Director: In a turbulent and otherwise challenging year for many Australian Jews, my favourite cultural moment was the gold medal success of Sydney’s Fox sisters. 

Anyone who has followed Jess Fox in recent years knows that a gold medal in the K1 had alluded the world champion slalom canoeist. Having carried the Australian flag at the opening games of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Jess sent the Australian Jewry into raptures with a flawless display in the K1 and C1 finals, taking gold in both events. Her younger sister Noemie then surprised everyone by claiming gold in the KX-1 final.

The sisters capped off the year by winning the 2024 Don Award – one of Australia's most prestigious sporting awards, recognising an athlete or team whose achievements have inspired the nation.

Deborah Stone, Editor-in-Chief:

Shahar Burla, Contributing Editor: After 25 years and 12 seasons, in 2024, we said goodbye to one of the most Jewish series in TV history – Curb Your Enthusiasm.

The final season featured some great “Jewish” moments, starting with Larry David and Leon Black planning a “roots” trip to Africa and Israel. A few episodes later, a rabbi insisted there was nothing in the Torah to prevent the placement of a defamatory brick in a new plaza at the temple that reads, “Larry David is disrespectful to women”. Later, the rabbi himself adds a brick to the plaza that reads, “Larry David is a shanda for the Goyim”.