Premier heralds new changes to assist the homeless
July 12, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
NSW Premier Chris Minns fronted the media in the back garden of Bondi’s Jewish House care facility. Read more
Back in Oz: Mamma Mia!
May 29, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
This show is not for you if you hate ABBA’s music, great singing, great dancing, great production and a custom-built heart-warming story incorporating lyrics sung by the Swedish four. Read more
NSW says Happy 75th Anniversary, Israel
May 4, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
NSW Premier Chris Minns has announced the establishment of a helpline “to assist students and staff who experienced religious bullying in New South Wales schools. Read more
Sydney remembers its Jewish ANZACs
April 26, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
Sydney Jewish Community’s Annual Anzac Day Wreath Laying and Commemorative Service was held at the Sydney Jewish Museum with special guest Margaret Beazely, the Governor of New South Wales. Read more
Rabbi Leon Dee calls April10 Dees Day
April 11, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
His wife and two of his daughters were murdered in Israel on Friday. A family of seven was to become a family of four. He talks to the media. Read more
Meet Luke Gabbedy…and see him perform in Madama Butterfly
March 30, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
The Handa Opera’s Madama Butterfly is currently nightly on Sydney Harbour, necessitating two casts to perform on alternative evenings. Read more
$5 million NSW govt grant takes Hakoah funding to $75m
March 21, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
At Sydney’s Hakoah AGM, president Steven Lowy announced a further grant of $5m taking total funding to date $78m. Read more
The Rocky Horror Show: reviews by Henry Benjamin
February 24, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
With a massive musical intro, it was time again to see the Roxy Cinema candy seller part the curtains and send us off on to the wild ride that is The Rocky Horror Show. Read more
A chorus of regulars
February 15, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
Opera Australia is very proud of its chorus – proud enough to stage a new production of Chorus! in which each and every one of the 48 performers combines to be the stars of the show. Read more
Waverley Council moves to protect shule
February 8, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
Sydney’s Waverley Council has passed a motion to protect the Flood Street shule. Read more
Jewish graves vandalised in Maitland
February 3, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
Ten gravestones in the Jewish cemetery in the NSW town of Maitland have been daubed with swastikas and splashed with white paint. Read more
Chyrisse Heine: another OAM to add to the list
January 30, 2023 by Henry Benjamin
It looked like being the first time in ten years we did not miss an awardee in the Australia Days Honours – but then we learned about Chyrisse Heine in Victoria who is a recipient of an OAM. Read more
More criticism on the ALP reversal of west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
October 19, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admits Australia’s decision to reverse recognising West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel could have been handled better, as one government MP blasted his own party’s handling of the matter. Read more
Radar finds Jewish graves in Goulburn
October 9, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
Records show that thirty people were buried between 1844 and 1943 at the Goulburn Jewish Cemetery, but only eleven remain today as being marked by headstones and some broken masonry. Read more
Antisemitic rant gets a rap on the knuckles by cops
October 6, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
Having spent Rosh Hashanah with family in Melbourne, Adelaide-based Norman Schueler got a taste of the antisemitism being experienced in Victoria. Read more
The Dreyfus Affair Act II
September 9, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
Queensland Liberal Senator Paul Scarr has always been a good friend of the Australian Jewish community and is pained by the upset caused by the analogy of the Dreyfus Affair he used in the Senate debating the ministerial conduct alleged demonstrated by Attorney General Mark Dreyfus. Read more
The Dreyfus Affair
September 8, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
A Liberal senator has compared with Attorney-GeneralMark Dreyfus with Alfred Dreyfus, the French army officer accused of treason at the end of the 19th century. Read more
JNF NSW family back together again
September 8, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
This week’s JNF’s Gala event hosted over 600 supporters in the first in-person major event since 2019. Read more
Antisemitism and bullying rife in Sydney schools
September 4, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
The antisemitism displayed in Sydney’s elite Knox Grammar as part of social media group established by students is spreading throughout the city with bullying of Jewish students in two Eastern Suburbs schools. Read more
Meet Rivka Carmi, former president of Ben-Gurion University
September 2, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
JNF Australia has had a long association with the Negev, and so it is no surprise that one of the guest speakers at next week’s gala events shares that association. Read more
Fancy an 11 hour swim? Sam Abeshouse takes the challenge
August 26, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
For the most enthusiastic Jewish sportsperson, you can rarely go past a triathlon. Chickenfeed for Sydney’s Sam Abeshouse who has just swum the channel separating Northern Ireland and Scotland in a gruelling 11 hours and 16 mins. Read more
A paramedic in Israel
August 7, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
Aryeh Myers is a paramedic working with Magen David Adom. He previously worked as a paramedic in the UK and tells J-Wire about the major differences he has experienced in working in two very different environments. Read more
Rabbi on demand
August 1, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
Rabbi Yossi Friedman will cease to be the spiritual leader of Sydney’s Maroubra Shule and retire from his engagement at Mount Sinai College on November 1 but no particular pulpit is waiting for his considerable talent. Read more
Barry Smorgon talks Maccabiah Games
June 27, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
Next week, 570 Jewish Australians who will participate in the 21st Maccabiah will fly to Israel. Read more
SBS reporting on Al Jazeera journalist’s death breaches Code of Practice
June 23, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
A tweet by SBS News published on May 11 stated that Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqla was shot dead by a member of the Israeli Defence Forces. Read more
Queen’s Birthday Honours – the Jewish list for 2022
June 12, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
The percentage of women receiving awards today across Australia is 45%. Within the Jewish community, the percentage is 43%. Among those to receive their awards in the coming weeks is a Melbourne woman who will collect her partner’s. He died in August 2021 and she was awarded an OAM in January but did not receive it physically. This time she will be presented with her own award and her late partner’s.
Read more
At each side of the court
June 7, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
What Jubilee?
June 1, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
As technicians prepare to colour the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge purple tomorrow as part of the Jubilee celebrations marking Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne, Australia and New Zealand’s Jewish communities will be spectators only. Read more
The angel of death?
May 18, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
It started with a comment by an unnamed Liberal quoted in The Saturday Paper describing former Prime Minister John Howard as “the angel of death” as he ventured forth to rally support for Josh Frydenberg in the battle for Kooyong. Read more
The Big Debate
May 9, 2022 by Henry Benjamin
It was billed as a debate, but the meeting of Independent candidate Allegra Spender, Liberal MP Dave Sharma and Labor MP Matt Thistlewaite took the form as a forum as each speaker fielded questions from moderator Peter Wertheim. Read more
