From the ASPJ New South Wales Desk

Dear Members and Friends,

The past six months, following the tragic events of Bondi, have been a time of grief and reflection. While many of us have been following the Royal Commission with trepidation, special mention should be made of the NSW government-supported community initiative, One Mitzvah for Bondi, which emerged in the aftermath of the Bondi attack.

The initiative grew from an emergency meeting of the New South Wales Faith Affairs Council, convened by Steve Kamper (NSW Minister for Multiculturalism) on the day following   the tragedy. Among those present were Rabbi Nochum Schapiro and Rabbi Benjamin Elton. When asked how Australians could support the Jewish community, Rabbi Schapiro suggested two responses: that Australians stand unequivocally with the Jewish community and that each person undertake one mitzvah – an act of kindness, charity or compassion that brings light into the world.

It is moving and significant that the NSW Government embraced this profound Jewish concept and transformed it into a broad civic invitation, encouraging the wider Australian community to respond to these hateful acts with kindness, empathy and meaningful action. www.nsw.gov.au/community-services/onemitzvah-for-bondi

In other news, board member, Rita Nash, produced two informative and engaging webinars. The first, with Dr Jacek Konik titled “Voices of a Murdered City: Archaeology of the Warsaw Ghtto”, examined objects discovered during the archaeological excavation beneath the ghetto’s Miła 18 site. The second was a vignette into the beautifully transcribed poems and remembrances shared in the Polish Poesy Books, with Marta Kubiszyn and Janina Holc. If you have missed these presentations, they are all available, to view at your convenience, on this website. From the main menu above, simply click on the ACTIVITIES tab and the on ONLINE ASPJ EVENTS. They’re all there!

For those of you in Melbourne, Sydney composer Anna Hirst Friedman, will be presenting a talk on her composition, Amidah, at the “Negotiating Belonging: Leadership, Resistance and Culture in an Age of Exclusion” conference on the 22nd September 2026, at Glen Eira Town Hall (please see this editon of HAYNT for further information).

Meanwhile the Sydney Board is slowly reviving, with plans underway for a range of engaging, in-person workshops, talks and contemporary webinars for 2027.

Shana Tova Umetukah. May you all enjoy a New Year full of sweetness and light.

Wishing you all well over the fast,

Estelle Rozinski, 
ASPJ Co-Vice President N.S.W.