Well done, Joshua. Thank you for all you're doing.
Your name-drop of Elsternwick Coles reminds me... we used to shop there when I lived in Elwood as a teenager, in the late 1990s. So often, the checkout operator we got (no self checkouts then!) was an elderly Jewish man. He was always so gentle and courteous with every customer, saying "For you, my friend!" as he handed us our bags of groceries. I never knew his name, but my dad called him "The Greeter", and perhaps that's how everyone knew him. It was one of many regular reminders to me of how lovely the Melbourne Jewish community was. I always felt blessed to live among them.
That dear man was old enough that he was most likely a Holocaust survivor, or definitely must have lost family in the Shoah even if he himself escaped it. He's almost certainly passed away by now, nearly 30 years later, but his memory is a blessing even to a gentile like me who barely knew him.
Times have changed hugely and horribly since then, but even from the other side of the world now, I am still standing with Jews in Australia and everywhere, against this senseless hatred and evil that CANNOT have the final word.
Well done, Joshua. Thank you for all you're doing.
Your name-drop of Elsternwick Coles reminds me... we used to shop there when I lived in Elwood as a teenager, in the late 1990s. So often, the checkout operator we got (no self checkouts then!) was an elderly Jewish man. He was always so gentle and courteous with every customer, saying "For you, my friend!" as he handed us our bags of groceries. I never knew his name, but my dad called him "The Greeter", and perhaps that's how everyone knew him. It was one of many regular reminders to me of how lovely the Melbourne Jewish community was. I always felt blessed to live among them.
That dear man was old enough that he was most likely a Holocaust survivor, or definitely must have lost family in the Shoah even if he himself escaped it. He's almost certainly passed away by now, nearly 30 years later, but his memory is a blessing even to a gentile like me who barely knew him.
Times have changed hugely and horribly since then, but even from the other side of the world now, I am still standing with Jews in Australia and everywhere, against this senseless hatred and evil that CANNOT have the final word.
So beautiful.
Thank you Michele
Beautifully written Josh. As usual.
Beautiful written . Thank you