Just last Monday night, I experienced one of the pinnacles of my professional life: interviewing Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin. That evening, Rachel, who herself has endured unimaginable suffering, reminded us that hope is a commandment. Not a passive wish, but an active pursuit. The conversation took place at the Jewish Futures Conference, dedicated to what I called the pedagogy of hope: the idea that hope can be taught, modeled and lived.

One week later, our world was shattered.

On the first night of Hanukkah, an unthinkable tragedy unfolded at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Fifteen people were murdered. Scores more were wounded. And what will forever mark this event is not only its brutality, but the fact that it was an antisemitic attack—an attempt to murder Jews in public Jewish spaces.

I am Australian. I was born in Melbourne and lived and worked in Sydney for two years. Like so many people I love, I know Bondi Beach intimately: the fish and chips, the place you take friends and tourists, the breathtaking........

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