Anthony Perl
This is a personal reflection on the emotional weight of recent events and the profound impact they have had on my community and my family heritage. I want to share about the challenges of staying strong and finding hope while facing hostility and heartache in daily life. By sharing my own journey of faith and leadership, I hope to provide a glimpse into the strength found in unity and the importance of standing firm in one’s values.
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The time to shine is now. Do not wait. Please indulge me because I’ll bring you to why now matters. This has been one of the most difficult weeks of my life and for all my non-Jewish connections. I wanna give you a sense of what’s been happening. Let me give you a snapshot of my history so you may get a glimpse into what heartbreak I like.
All my community have felt I’m the grandchild of Holocaust survivors who came to Australia to get away and as far away as possible from the evil that destroyed their family and friends. I was very close to my grandfather in particular, and I carry his spirit with me always. I grew up proud to be Jewish and live a life that is centered around my beliefs.
Personally, I’ve been on a journey always learning more about my Judaism so I can be a better person and lead my family and let it guide the way I operate my business. A few years back that led me to be part of an Israel program that moved me in ways I never thought possible, truly life changing.
Meanwhile, my children who are in their twenties attended Jewish schools, and even when they were young, it was normalized to expect armed security to be present at all times for fear of an attack. I’ve worked with many Jewish organizations, helping them in whatever capacity I was able. But the rise of antisemitism has been there for a while.
Like the day I woke up to the for sale sign outside of my house, covered in anti-Semitic graffiti. Just prior to October 7th, 2023, I returned from an amazing holiday with my family that took us to Israel, where this tiny country just delivers so much. Being Jewish and being in Israel is hard to explain except to say you are on a spiritual high.
Then October seven came just days after we returned, and the world only seemed to care for a brief moment about the horrific attack on innocent Jewish lives. That moment in Australia was just over 24 hours before the Opera House became a no-go zone for Jews as mobs spewed hatred onto the streets.
These past two years have seen antisemitic slurs fill the streets quite literally. Do you know what it’s like to have to wake up each day to make sure your family and friends are all okay and there’s not been another attack? Protestors outside our places of worship, chanting death to Jews in university, students could not escape it and reprehensible bias in parts of the media.
The A BC to this day continues to quote an organization that they have been told countless times does not only not represent the Jewish community, it goes against everything 99% of us believe. If you found yourself in pro-Palestinian marches. You fell for the false narratives being fed to the media by a terrorist group.
I’ll not rant further about this except to ask if you know how it feels to have the world turn against you when you know you are the innocent party. Well, that’s how we all felt. I will hold back on the politics. But needless to say, I’ve never felt more betrayed by this Prime Minister than any other before.
And the foreign minister appalling, ignoring the warning sides, recognizing a state that is still run by terrorists and dismissing my community far too quickly. In November, I became president of Maruba Synagogue, a community that was the center of antisemitic attacks earlier this year. It’s not easy to switch off the news and get on with business when you are not only the news, but the emotional strain is at times overwhelming.
I’ve sat in on meetings about security that would feel out of place to the rest of Australia, but have proven necessary. The Jewish community has been on alert of a likely attack, but the authorities chose not to act. While I was not at Bondi when the events unfolded so many of my community were. I’ve heard stories of bravery, support, and survival.
From those too young to fully comprehend what’s going on, but now too scared to be around balloons that might pop to those comforting friends who lay dying next to them. I’ve heard stories of those running into harm’s way to save lives. Friends have lost friends and family. I, along with many of my friends, have shed many tears privately and in public.
Okay. The Jewish community has not just survived centuries and so many attempts to destroy us, but each time we come back stronger. What I witnessed at Bondi a week on from the massacre that forever change the Jewish community in Australia was inspiring, peaceful. Coming together, inviting the broader community and using the memories of those we have lost to drive forward with positivity.
It’s been a draining week and a couple of years, and every person impacted is dealing with it in a different way. I’m prouder than ever to be Jewish, to do what I can to be a light unto others. I encourage you to reach out to anyone you know who is Jewish. Show your support and ask if they’re okay. My business is built on the idea that the best way to change the world is to do it one person at a time by showcasing other people’s brilliance through the act of pos of podcasting, and it’s never been more important.
Make a difference. Be a voice of brilliance because the world needs more light. Don’t wait. Not even another day.
