In 1964 I left my Jewish school and my kippah entered the world. My kippah was the first to appear on a university campus. My kippah spoke to the world. My kippah said, I sit on top of a person who is Jewish. I’m a symbolic expression of that person’s belief in a higher Being.
My kippah asked a question of Australia: Can you accept me, can you like me, can you see the person beneath the kippah?
An answer came from the man on the train. As the red rattler rattled its way to Oakleigh, Howard Goldenberg nodded off. His sleep was disturbed by a light percussion on his head, a tap, tapping of a newspaper rolled into a cylinder. Howard woke up, he looked up and saw a man standing over him. The man held a furled newspaper above him. The man spoke. He said, Good on you son. You keep wearing that – another tap with the newspaper – you keep wearing that; it’ll never let you down. With that the man turned and exited the train at Hughesdale Station.
On campus came a similar response. Here too, my kippah spoke. It said, Beneath me you see a proud Jew. He ventures to hope that the country he loves will love him.People on campus, students and staff alike, were united in their rejection of racism. They knew of the Holocaust. Antisemitism was dead. Never again,said the campus. The campus was yet to learn the mantra, Zionism is racism. The campus embraced the kippah and its wearer.
Emboldened, my kippah travelled all over Australia, meeting occasional puzzled looks and many more smiles. My kippah said to Australia, what it had always said, beneath me you see a proud Jew, a happy Australian.
Around the turn of this century, my kippah started to hide beneath secular headgear. No longer sure of itself, my kippah often took shelter, whispering to itself, Never Again has become Once Again. Jewish schools hired armed guards; outside synagogues, men in kippoth with walkie-talkies patrolled the streets.
Windows were broken, swastikas appeared, Jewish graves were defaced. A Neo Nazi group showed its face. In 2022 they numbered one hundred thousand. Social media became antisocial media. My kippah remembered Darkest Europe. It decided to go underground. It sat atop a proud Jew, now intimidated. It peeped out and saw a community polarising, fragmenting. It saw and it cried the beloved country.
Until October 7, 2023. Following those acts of depravity my kippah came out of hiding and found its voice. It exclaimed, beneath me you see a proud Jew. Beneath me you see one whose family has been proudly Australian and proudly Jewish since the 1840’s.
My kippah showed itself and asked every Australian it encountered, Can you love me? I’m a Jew. I’m a Zionist. I’m Pro-Palestinian. Can you weep with me for what’s happening to community here?
Well said
All the best
John Rogers
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thank you John
the events in Australia leave me stunned
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Yes Howard, I weep with you. Love always Janette
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janette, dear friend, dear loyal friend
such kindness as yours sustains and comforts me
affectionately
howard
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Yes Howard, I weep with you. Love always Janette.
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Beautiful Howard. Full of grace. Sending loving thoughts to you and yours at this disturbing time.
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bless you, old friend
your kindness and understanding mean the world, in fact they mend the world
xx
howard
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Gentle, wistful, nostalgic …”so sad, so strange the days that are no more…”
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young harry
such an apt, poetic response!
the words are perfect
the times are unspeakable
with affection both ancient and young
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Respect.
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mutual
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Dear Howard… I hear your voice in your typed words and I am made to stand taller now- as I did all those dark nights in central Australia when I would ring for the DMO. Your wise counsel is life giving now- as it was then… you are so very loved and we are blessed for the light you are
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hello Eve
i am sorry my response has been tardy
my own dear beloved mother could not compose kinder words than yours
you are literally too kind, but you warm my heart
with thanks
howard
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Dr Howard, what a moving piece. Thinking of you, family and the community. You are amazing.
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actually, Carol, it is YOU! who is amazing
thank you for writing
warmly
howard
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Peace, Strength and Gratitude to you, Dr Howard. I have never forgotten, and will never forget, all those years under your wonderful care in DC. Stay well, with God’s Blessings.
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Rudi, old faithful friend
thank you for your support
may your festive season be blessed!
howard
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Good job Howard. Be careful. Hate has no bounds.
Remember what happened to my mothers family in Hebron 1929.
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good day brian
i thank you for your words of caution
i regret i’m unaware of the fate of your mother’s family in Hebron, but i’m afraid i can guess
howard
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Always keen to hear your voice, Howard – invariably a distinctive and valuable contribution to debates.
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thank you Louis
dark days
a new epoch?
appalling events – both there and here
howard
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You pulled your punches here.
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