A fire ripped through Adass Israel Synagogue in the early hours of Friday.Credit:Arsineh Houspian
I was stunned and horrified. As I stood there,processing what had just happened,I thought about how much Melbourne,the city where I was raised,had changed. I had never before been targeted in this way simply for being Jewish.
Since October 7,2023,when Hamas terrorists murdered 1200 Israelis,took 250 hostages,and ignited a war with Israel,antisemitism has surged in Australia. Jewish Australians are experiencing an unprecedented rise in threats and hostility. Synagogues and Jewish businesses have been attacked,security has been tightened at Jewish schools,and those of us who are visibly Jewish now live with a heightened sense of vulnerability. Frankly,many of us are terrified.
On Friday morning,I woke to the devastating news that the Adass Israel Synagogue,one of Melbourne’s largest and busiest,had apparently been attacked by arsonists. Two people studying Torah inside suffered burns,and the building was severely damaged. Thankfully,no lives were lost.
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The synagogue was founded by Holocaust survivors who fled to Australia in search of safety,and the congregation represents a community that is visibly and unmistakably Jewish. The members of Adass live a deeply religious,apolitical life,entirely focused on faith,family and acts of kindness. They have no political affiliation with Zionism or the State of Israel. Yet they were attacked simply because they are Jewish.
For months,Jewish leaders have been warning that rising antisemitism would escalate into violence. It was a warningI raised at the beginning of the year due to the number of unsettling incidents across our city. Tragically,those warnings have now become reality. Burning a synagogue is a violent attack on a community,its history and its future.
Antisemitism doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It flourishes when hatred and intolerance are allowed to fester. Since the October 7 attacks,Jewish Australians have been grappling with an increasingly hostile environment. Many feel abandoned by a society that prides itself on inclusivity but has not taken sufficient action to protect us.