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As we approach the Yamim Noraim, our time of reflec­tion and renewal, we take stock of the year that has passed and express our hopes for the year to come.
The past year has seen an accel­er­a­tion in the polar­iz­a­tion of western demo­crat­ic societies at every level. The benefits of advance­ments in knowledge and tech­no­lo­gic­al innov­a­tion have not been equally shared. Dis­par­it­ies in wealth and incomes are becoming wider, not narrower. The economic pressures on ordinary citizens who consider them­selves to be part of the middle class have never been greater. The very concept of a middle class has begun to fracture, and the under­pin­nings of democracy are therefore under threat as never before.
With the weakening of social cohesion has come fear, political instabil­ity and a resur­gence of xeno­pho­bia, nativist populism and racism. We have seen this process unfold through­out Europe, in the UK, in the United States, in Israel and even in our own beloved country of Australia.
Where racism and bigotry in any form are resurgent, antisemitism is never far behind. The threat of antisemitism from Islamist and far left sources are ongoing, as is the recru­des­cence of racism from the far right of politics.
As a community, we cannot afford to allow our indi­vidu­al ideo­lo­gic­al pre­dilec­tions to blinker us from the ser­i­ous­ness of antisemitism from any source. Our own community is not immune from the pressures of polar­isa­tion, as increas­ingly shrill voices from the extremes of left and right falsely purport to speak on our behalf. The challenge to our community to stand united and vigilant has never been more difficult – and the need to meet that challenge has never been more urgent.
Whether we are looking after the security of our community, defending Israel from the vile slanders of those who seek to destroy it, com­batting antisemitism and other forms of racism, pre­serving the memory of the Shoah, upholding religious freedom, or pro­tect­ing the truth and integrity of our people’s history, the Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry, as the elected rep­res­ent­at­ive body of the Aus­trali­an Jewish community, asks you to stand with us again in the coming year and support our work rep­res­ent­ing the interests of the Jewish people in this country and through­out the world.
On behalf of all of us at the ECAJ, we extend best wishes to each and every person in our vibrant community for a shana tova umetuka k’tiva v’chatima tova, a year of health, happiness, prosper­ity and peace.

Contact:
Peter Wertheim AM | Co-CEO 
ph: 02 8353 8500 | m: 0408 160 904 
e: [email protected] | www.ecaj.org.au
Alex Ryvchin | Co-CEO 
ph: 02 8353 8505 | m: 0478 297 245 
e: [email protected] | www.ecaj.org.au