Stephen D.Smith is Co-Founder of StoryFile and a director of Memory Workers.
What I learned most from the people who told us their stories is that the Australian Jewish community is in a state of shock but is resilient, going about its day-to-day life in the way Jews have practiced for generations in the face of hatred.
On Yom HaShoah, we speak of six million who were murdered. But I also remember the nine million who lived. Nine million Jews who got up every morning, took their children to school, and strove every day to survive, because they believed in life.
This Rosh Hashanah, as the shofar calls us back to ourselves, we need to remember that we are more than our reactions to antisemitism.
A Jewish woman burned to death on American soil. The violence wasn’t random. It was ideological, premeditated, and still, almost no one says her name.
Survival is measured by what we’re willing to stand for — and stay for — when the stakes are high.
Jewish American heritage isn’t about persecution and punchlines, it is about a people, about how we live, what we value, what we carry. And what we hope to pass on.
Lately, I’ve grown concerned about how casually the word genocide is being used in public discourse.
Words matter—not just within narrative wars shaping public opinion, but for diplomatic, jurisprudential, and historical reasons. Using the wrong words deepens the crisis; finding the right words could end it sooner.
We must recognize that maintaining our Jewish identity while building bridges with our neighbors creates a strong and necessary foundation for survival and hope.
