Sydney rabbis recognised for leadership tackling anti-Semitism

After a year of hatred, prominent Sydney rabbis have been congregational champions, leading and navigating through rampant anti-Semitism to ensure the safety of their community and move the national dial.

Rabbi Benjamin Elton at the Great Synagogue in Sydney in November. Picture: Nikki Short

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After a year of hatred at their doorstep, prominent Sydney rabbis have been congregational champions, leading and navigating through rampant anti-Semitism to ensure the safety of their community and move the national dial.

In a year in which Sydney suffered anti-Semitic attacks, rising hate speech, protests targeting synagogues, “f..k Israel” vandalism across prominent Jewish suburbs, and young Jews targeted for their faith or fearful to show it at universities – Jewish leaders have stood up.

It is why rabbis Benjamin Elton and Levi Wolff – chief ministers of The Great and Central synagogues respectively – and Rabbi Mendel Kastel, the chief executive of Jewish House, have each been nominated for The Australian’s Australian of the Year award.

The award began in 1971 to recognise leaders who inspired, led, helped or triumphed, and readers can nominate a prominent Australian before the winner is announced on January 25.

Each nominated in their own right, the trio’s leadership has comforted Jewish Australians, responded in crises, ensured anti-Semitism was flagged and fought, and made transcendent national calls to the political leadership about what needed to be done.

Their fight against anti-Semitism is alongside that of the ever-present voice and leadership from the community’s non-congregational leaders, including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, as well as NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip and the Zionist Federation of Australia.

Rabbi Elton has led The Great Synagogue through weekly pro-Palestine protests at its doorstep, recent anti-Israel activists targeting it specifically, and anti-Semitic vandalism.

Rabbi Levi Wolff, left, with Peter Dutton at Sydney’s Central Synagogue in May. Picture: Britta Campion

In November, after the first of two anti-Semitic vandalism attacks in Woollahra, Rabbi Elton made a vital intervention, calling on Anthony Albanese to abandon his “very mild” approach to anti-Semitism and rise to meet the ­severity of the hatred.

“(NSW Premier Chris Minns) strikes the right message (on anti-Semitism), and that sends a message across the entirety of NSW society,” Rabbi Elton said. “He (Mr Albanese) is doing the right thing but without enough force … we’ve gone beyond the stage where a slap on the wrist from the Prime Minister is going to calm things down or bring people into line.”

Rabbi Elton’s warning and plea took on more significance in the following weeks, coming before Melbourne’s Adass Synagogue was firebombed and a second anti-Semitic vandalism attack in Sydney, when the Prime Minister emotionally fronted the city’s Jewish museum to launch a full-frontal assault on anti-Semitism.

At Central Synagogue, Rabbi Wolff’s leadership at the helm of the southern hemisphere’s largest synagogue has again shown the power of leading from not just the pulpit but on issues plaguing the nation.

The rabbi has routinely highlighted and called out anti-Semitism, led high-level discussions with state and federal leaders, including hosting a meeting with the Prime Minister and Australia’s Rabbinical councils in May.

That same month, the synagogue hosted Peter Dutton, who lamented to Central’s congregation how anti-Semitism had been allowed to “reach a level and an intensity unlike we’ve ever seen before”.

Rabbi Kastel’s Jewish House is a crisis centre, providing refuge and support for victims of violence, impoverishment and hatred, and after April’s mass stabbing attack at Bondi Junction’s Westfield, the centre helped those impacted by the tragedy.

Jewish House chief executive Rabbi Mendel Kastel. Picture: Jane Dempster

In December, Rabbi Kastel launched an online portal to combat anti-Semitism to help those further afield than Sydney.

The crisis centre’s “navigating anti-Semitism” online platform connects victims with legal support, emergency accommodation, counselling or help addressing safety risks.

“Jewish House is a crisis organisation and we recognise that at the moment anti-Semitism is a crisis here in Australia,” Rabbi Kastel said in December.

“At the moment, anti-Semitism is a crisis. It’s a crisis for the Jewish community, it’s a crisis for the Australian community, and we need to step up.

“That’s why this platform is important, that’s our little bit, and hopefully others will step up and we’ll see a reduction in anti-Semitism.”

He is also a NSW Police chaplain and joined Mr Minns and Police Commissioner Karen Webb after December’s anti-­Semitic Woollahra attack, fronting a press conference to issue a rallying cry for his community and social cohesion.

To nominate the 2024 Australian of the Year, email [e-mail]. Please include your name and contact details (this information is collected solely for this award and will not be used for any other purpose). The winner will be announced on Saturday, January 25, 2025.