inspiring Jews today

Boris Gurman z"l (69) and his wife Sofia Gurman z"l (61) showed a form of heroism that is immediate, instinctive, and deeply human.   When the attack began at Bondi, they did not run. Dashcam footage shows Boris stepping toward the gunman, attempting to tackle him and wrestle the weapon away. Sofia moved forward to help him, trying to pull the attacker off her husband. In those critical moments, their actions saved lives by slowing the attacker and drawing his attention away

Josh Frydenberg has become one of the most important public advocates for Australian Jews in recent years. Over the last two years, he has worked relentlessly to confront rising antisemitism and support a community facing fear and uncertainty.   A former Treasurer and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Frydenberg is one of the highest-ranking Jewish politicians in Australia’s history. He carries that identity with confidence and pride. Since October 7, through speaking clear

Yotam Ottolenghi has done more than make Middle Eastern food famous. He has shown that cooking can build bridges. Born in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and a German Jewish mother, he grew up with many voices and tastes, and learned early that the table is where differences can meet.   After moving to London, he kept that spirit alive. Through his books and restaurants, he introduced a wide audience to food that is colourful, generous, and meant to be shared. Every dish plays

Deborah Conway is one of Australia’s most respected and successful singer songwriters. For more than forty years she has been a central figure in Australian music, first with the band Do Re Mi and later through a long solo career that earned her awards, acclaim, and a loyal following.   After October 7, Conway spoke openly as a proud Jew and a Zionist. That decision changed everything. She was doxxed, abused online, and blacklisted by most of the Australian music industry. Pe

Jonathan Conricus is an Israeli former army officer and communicator who has spent much of his career explaining Israel to the world with clarity and professionalism. He served in the IDF for 24 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. From 2017 to 2021, he was the international spokesperson for the IDF, responsible for public diplomacy, media engagement and global outreach. In the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, he returned to duty as a reservist and again

Chaya Mushka Dadon is 14 years old. When gunfire erupted at the Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration, she saw two young children exposed in the open. She ran toward them, pulled them close, and shielded their bodies with hers. She was shot in the thigh while protecting them.   In interviews afterward, Chaya said she did not hesitate, she felt she had to act. She said she trusted in God, recited the Shema, and focused only on keeping the children safe. She described feeling a clea

During the current war, another response has spread across Israeli social media: humour. Not just from professional comedians, but from ordinary Israelis. Short clips appear across TikTok, Instagram and WhatsApp groups. Some are silly. Some are clever satire. Many are simply people finding a way to breathe in the middle of uncertainty. Humour has long been one of the Jewish ways of surviving difficult times. Today’s Israeli content creators are continuing that tradition in re

In recent months, some of the Israeli women who were held hostage in Gaza have spoken publicly about the sexual assault and abuse they experienced in captivity. Arbel Yehud described being assaulted daily. Romi Gonen has also spoken about abuse and captivity conditions. They did not have to speak. They could have chosen privacy. Instead, they chose to make sure the world would know their stories. Others have chosen not to speak publicly. That too is strength. No survivor owes

Rabbi Sacks is widely regarded as one of the great Jewish scholars of our generation. He combined deep Torah learning with philosophical rigour and an ability to speak to the modern world.   As Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013, he led the English Jewish community through significant change, strengthened Jewish education and became a respected voice in British public life.   Appointed to the House of Lords in 2009, he spoke regularly on ethics, faith and socie

Matisyahu was born Matthew Paul Miller in 1979 and raised in a non-Orthodox Jewish family in the United States.   In his early twenties, after a period of searching, he became religious and affiliated with Chabad. He performed as a visibly Hasidic Jew, blending reggae rhythms with Jewish themes.   His 2005 live album 'Live at Stubb’s' brought international attention. His song 'One Day' became a global hit about hope.   In 2011, he stepped away from strict Orthodoxy. His look

Einat Wilf is an Israeli political thinker, writer, and former member of the Knesset who has become one of the clearest voices on Jewish self-determination and modern antisemitism.   She is not a slogan-maker and she is not interested in easy applause. Einat’s work is about ideas, language, and precision. She traces how concepts like nationhood, colonialism, and “progress” have been repurposed in ways that leave Jews uniquely excluded from rights that are taken for granted el

Hillel Neuer is a human rights lawyer who insists that principles only matter if they are applied honestly. Since becoming executive director of UN Watch in 2004, Neuer has spent more than two decades documenting how international institutions, particularly the United Nations, single out Israel while ignoring or excusing far more serious abuses elsewhere. He does not reject the language of human rights. He uses it. Neuer quotes resolutions, cites voting records, and relies on

Dr Debra Gershov‑West was born in Melbourne and made aliyah after completing her medical studies, choosing to build her life and career in Israel.She is an emergency medicine physician and an expert in trauma care. As someone who receives the wounded in her emergency department, she understands exactly what determines whether a patient survives those first critical minutes.On October 7, she was in charge of the emergency department at Assuta Hospital in Ashdod, where she and

The actor Sacha Baron Cohen built his career by creating characters that exposed prejudice by letting people reveal themselves. He did this without speeches, explanations, or reassurance.   In the movie Borat , antisemitism was not debated or corrected. It was allowed to surface. The joke was not Borat’s ignorance, but how easily others accepted, repeated, or escalated it. It was funny, and because it was funny, people didn’t notice what was being exposed until it was already

Ruth Gottesman is a geneticist, educator, and long-time leader in medical education. She spent decades at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, helping shape how doctors are trained and how genetic medicine is practiced.   After her husband, investor David Gottesman, died in 2022, she inherited his fortune. In 2024, she donated around one billion dollars so that tuition would now be free for all students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, permanently.   She wanted

The Jewish Fitness Coach, Yoel Levy, started as a regular fitness creator sharing running videos and training advice. After October 7 he chose to use his platform in a new way. He stepped forward as a proud Jew and dedicated his running to the Bibas boys, Ariel and Kfir, whose red hair became a symbol of Jewish heartbreak and hope.   He now runs marathons around the world dressed as Batman in their memory, as Ariel Bibas was particularly fond of the superhero. Levy has run in

Dr Naya Lekht is a leading educator on antisemitism, antizionism and Jewish identity. Born in the former Soviet Union and raised in the United States, she speaks openly about growing up without the freedom to live as a Jew, and how that experience shaped her commitment to Jewish learning and public education.   Naya is known for her groundbreaking work on antizionism. She explains how antizionism developed as a modern form of antisemitism, how it challenges Jewish nationhood,

Mayim Bialik is an actress, author and neuroscientist whose career spans science, television and Jewish education. She began as a child actor, first gaining attention for her role as the young Cecilia in the 1988 film Beaches, and then becoming a household name as the lead in the 1990s sitcom Blossom. After stepping away from acting to focus on academics, she earned a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA and later returned to television in The Big Bang Theory , where her scientific

Adam Louis Klein is a writer, musician and anthropologist whose work focuses on Jewish identity, antisemitism and the meaning of belonging. He studied at Yale and the University of Chicago and is completing his PhD at McGill University, where he has become a leading voice on Jewish history and the modern challenges facing our community.   He is also a founding member of the Movement Against Antizionism, a group dedicated to exposing and challenging the assumptions that allow

Tal Becker is one of Israel’s most respected legal minds and a quiet force behind its diplomacy. Born in Paris and raised in Melbourne, he attended Leibler Yavneh College before moving to Israel in the 1990s to begin a career dedicated to law, ethics, and national service.   As a senior legal adviser in Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Becker was one of the principal architects of the Abraham Accords, helping draft the agreements that normalised Israel’s relations with several Arab