You’re not antisemitic? Sure?

Amid the current debate over whether a new front will open up in Israel’s war against Hamas and its regional allies, it might be observed that this is already happening. Read more

There was more to Leonard Bernstein than his sex life or his nose

It turns out the least of the sins of Bradley Cooper’s new film “Maestro” is the size of the prosthetic nose the actor wore to portray Leonard Bernstein. Read more

Unfinished tasks

As the world switches over to the year 2024 in the civil calendar, those who are still sober will be aware that major pitfalls lie ahead. Read more

Why The Bible Began?

I pick up any academic book on the Bible with trepidation. First of all, because the very term needs clarification. Are we talking about the Old Testament or the New? For Jews, there is only one Bible. Read more

Next Goal Wins

A film review by Alex First         –        and Alex’s top twelve movies for 2023…and the worst Read more

Anyone But You

A movie review by Alex First Read more

Shabbat Vayehi – Fear not

As we complete the book of Bereishit, Genesis, this week, Jacob has died, and the brothers now turn to Joseph and say, “Our father asked us to beg you to forgive us for what we did to you”( Genesis 50:15-21 ). Read more

Poor Things

A movie review by Alex First Read more

Dry Bones: Semantics 101

In Gaza, we can’t “stop” until we “finish”… Read more

South African Jews—a community under threat? 

Jews have been an integral part of the fabric of society in South Africa since the seventeenth century when some arrived with the early Dutch settlers…writes Rolene Marks. Read more

Israeli hi-tech may hold key to draining Hamas’s finances

An investigative report published earlier this month purports to show that senior Israeli and American officials had in hand financial intelligence showing the flow of tens of millions of dollars to Hamas and failed to act on it. Read more

Coup De Chance: a movie review by Alex First

Alain Aubert and Fanny Moreau went to school together. Read more

From Australia’s Jewish Past: Lena Brasch – Actor and Artists Model – Part 1

Selina Venus Brasch was born in North Melbourne on 9 November 1874. She was the youngest child of Wolfe and Esther Brasch. Read more

Doing good deeds or praying – which is more important?

Ask the rabbi. Read more

Feintooner

This week’s cartoon:  Papal Bull 1943-2023 Read more

Maestro: a film review by Alex First

American conductor, composer, pianist, teacher and author Leonard Bernstein (25^th August 1918 to 14^th October 1990) was feted the world over for his talent. Read more

UN and Biden continue to ignore Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

The passage of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 2720 on 22 December signals that the UN and President Biden will not be playing any constructive role in resolving the future of Gaza and its population after the Israel-Gaza War is ended. Read more

Iconic Jewish Women

The inspiring life stories of fifty-nine remarkable Jewish women from past and present come together to create the perfect gift for young girls on the precipice of their teenage years as well as the adults in their lives. Read more

L’Chaim to Life: Michelle Pearse – Silence no more: confronting antisemitism in Australia

Michelle Pearse, CEO of The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), calls out this rampant spread of hatred that demands our collective voice and strong, decisive leadership. Read more

On the other hand

Israel’s war against terror has unleashed an unprecedented tsunami of Jew hate not seen since the days of the 1930s. Read more

Dry Bones: Resupplying Hamas

What the “humanitarian aid” in Gaza really means. Read more

Oct 7: Not an international crime to kill soldiers, says UN’s Francesca Albanese

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for Palestinian rights, has courted controversy among Israel supporters for her one-sided faulting of Israel for its conflict with the Palestinians and comments she has made which have been widely interpreted as antisemitic. Read more

Rising from the ruins of a generation of Israeli doctrine

Two underlying assumptions guided Israel’s security establishment for the past generation. The first asserted that with the end of the Cold War, the era of conventional wars had ended. In the present age, brains, rather than brawn, would rule the roost. Read more

Biden needs to sober up about the Palestinians

It’s a debate the Israeli government neither wants nor thinks it needs to engage in right now. Read more

The revival of an ancient calumny

There’s an unmistakable drumbeat to the antisemitism that’s erupted across the West in the wake of the Oct. 7 pogrom. In response to the genocidal Jew-hatred fuelling Hamas and the Palestinian Arabs, an even older form of the oldest hatred has surfaced—Christian hostility to the Jews. Read more

Dry Bones: Whose rules?

The world failed to come to Israel’s defence after Oct. 7. Read more

If I Am Not for Me

Community Security Trust v Shtadlanut Read more

Three wise men

According to Christian tradition, it was about this time of the year that three “wise” men appeared in Bethlehem to visit a newborn Jewish baby. Read more

Podcast: L’Chaim to Life: Michael Gawenda – Journalists are thrashing their own brand

Morry Frenkel speaks with Michael Gawenda, three-time Walkley award recipient,  former editor and editor-in-chief of The Age and inaugural Director of the Centre for Advanced Journalism, at the University of Melbourne, about the current state in Australia of journalism and the way it is practiced by journalists, particularly with reference to the Israel-Gaza war. Read more

A soldier’s tale: The parakeet in the abandoned school on the Gaza border

Sderot is located less than a mile from the Gaza Strip. Some ninety per cent of the town’s 30,000 residents fled on October 7 after Hamas invaded southern Israel. Read more

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