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The ACT Jewish Community and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry have hosted the National Jewish Australian ANZAC Day Service.

Rabbi Alon Meltzer officiated at the service, opening with words from the Yom Kippur Neilah service, ‘The day will pass; the sun will set and pass; and we will come before Your gates.’ Fitting words as we close out 101 years of the ANZACs, and the call upon the memory of the many Jewish Australian and New Zealanders who gave the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of freedom and safety.

Those gathered were addressed by Mike Ketchen, Counselor of the New Zealand High Commission and Gai Brodtmann, Federal Member of Parliament for Canberra. Members of the community, and Jewish members of the Australian Defence Forces and Royal Australian Air force shared prayers, poems, and raised the Australian Flag.

Rabbi Meltzer recounted that for him as the great-grandson of an ANZAC, and the Rabbi of a community whose sacred mission is the memorial of our Jewish fallen men and women, this day is extremely personal. It is a day that we must ensure must continue, highlighting the sacrifice of that generation and all since during times of war. Gai Brodtmann shared words from Dr Brendan Nelson, the director of the Australian War Memorial, that ANZAC Day is a time of love – a time to remember the love of country, the love of mateship, of family, and of community.