Australia's Jewish community has always understood
that its fortunes will rise and fall with the fortunes of the nation.
And so, when Jews gather in their holy places, they
pray for the welfare of this country in a tradition that originates in 594BC,
when the Jews lived in exile in Babylon.
"Seek the welfare of the city where I have
sent you into exile," wrote the Prophet Jeremiah, "… and pray to the
Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."
These words, contained in a letter sent from
Jerusalem to the leaders of the exiled community in Babylon, came at a time
when the Jews faced a profound dilemma. Now also a people of the diaspora yet a
distinct nation with enduring ties to their homeland, the Jews would need to
reconcile their longing to return with their new reality of living as foreign
subjects in distant lands.
Jeremiah's decree became a pillar of Jewish life in
exile. It counselled the Jews to see themselves as a part of the societies in
which they lived and, most crucially, it compelled them to do good, not just
for their own community, but for all citizens of the land – for in their
welfare, they would find their own.
By AD135 the Jews would see their autonomy collapse
under the weight of Rome and the focus of Jewish life devolved from Jerusalem
to the far-flung reaches of the Empire. Adapting to their new reality of
statelessness, the Jewish sages developed further doctrines to maintain a
national identity while achieving genuine integration.
A central plank of Jewish life became the principle of
"Dina d'malchuta dina", (the law of the land is the law), by which
the Jews were compelled to respect and observe the laws of the countries in
which they now lived.
These
values nurtured a sense of agency and civic duty, and engendered a tradition of
full participation in all aspects of society.
But
there is another reason why Australian Jews pray for this country and have
served the nation with unimpugnable devotion and rigour. It is because they
love it.
Many
in the Jewish community came here to escape communism's tyranny, or from the
ashes of the Holocaust, or having witnessed the shame of apartheid. This has
given the community an acute awareness of its blessing to be called
Australians.
The
Jews trace their beginnings in Australia all the way back to the First Fleet.
At least eight Jews made that journey – convicts who evidently didn't get the
memo about respecting the laws of the land.
The
most famous of these was Esther Abrahams. She later became the wife of NSW
governor George Johnston and administered vast areas of land in her own right.
She
was described by a contemporaneous source as being "of eccentric habits,
hasty in temper, and with an abrupt mode of expressing herself"; thereby
removing any doubt she was Jewish.
In
times of great peril for the nation, Australian Jews served and sacrificed. In
the Boer War, Rose Shappere, was notable among nurses who volunteered to tend
the sick and wounded. She inspired generations of Australian women to make
immense sacrifices for the Australian war effort.
In
World War I, 13 per cent of the Australian Jewish population enlisted to serve
King and Country and fight great battles in distant lands. Three hundred of
them would make the supreme sacrifice.
And
of course from the Jewish community there came the greatest soldier that this
country has ever produced, and arguably, one of the most gifted battlefield
commanders the British Empire has produced, Sir John Monash.
And
the first Governor-General to be born in Australia, Sir Isaac Isaacs – a man
eulogised by a Melbourne newspaper as "perhaps the greatest Australian of
our time, or any previous time".
What
makes their achievements truly great is that they gave the best of themselves
to this country and did so for all Australians. They are not just icons for
Jewish Australians, they are national heroes.
Ever
conscious of their history, Australian Jews have drawn a central lesson from
the lives of Monash, Isaacs and Shappere – that as Australians we have the
power to overcome and the duty to contribute.
*Alex Ryvchin is the director
of public affairs for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
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