Through deeply personal essays, Ruptured: Jewish Women in Australia Reflect on Life Post-October 7, edited by Lee Kofman and Tamar Paluch, describes the earth-shattering impact of October 7 on Australia’s largely successful and integrated Jewish community through the eyes of its women.
The island continent has fewer than 120,000 Jews, mainly split between Melbourne and Sydney. Smaller Jewish communities exist in Perth, Canberra, and some other localities. Australia also has a substantial community of Holocaust survivors, Paluch told The Jerusalem Post. The country has historically had a strong relationship with Israel, and the Jewish community has always been fervently Zionist
“Within Australia, we felt like we were growing up in the safest place possible – that’s what our grandparents wanted for us,” Paluch stressed, describing pre-October 7 Australia. “And so we never had a reason to think that our fate was uncertain because we contributed so much to Australia. We built up our homes, our lives, some people built true empires.
“October 7 unraveled a lot of that. While there was always an underbelly of antisemitism in Australia as there is in all societies, October 7 really unseated that feeling of safety in Australian society,” she stated.
Paluch said that after October 7, many people felt a sense of betrayal, particularly from the “silent majority,” who remained supportive of Israel. Those demonstrating against Israel, shutting out Jews, and carrying out antisemitic attacks are a loud minority, Paluch said, adding that many Australians believe they [those people] are conducting themselves in ways that are viewed as “un-Australian.”
How October 7 led Australian Jews to feeling isolated
Despite this, Paluch said that many Jewish Australians have expressed feeling isolated from the rest of Australian society.
“[They] speak about it like a glass window came down between them and the rest of the population,” she said
She described a reality of unchecked hate, particularly online. There’s a sizable sense of betrayal and disappointment in the government, in particular for not fighting it effectively.
Since October 7, 2023, several synagogues in Australia have been targets of firebombing, arson attacks, and pro-Nazi vandalism.
A Sydney kindergarten was set on fire and graffitied with an antisemitic slogan. Additionally, there have been mass reoccurring demonstrations with participants chanting “Globalize the Intifada” and “Gas the Jews.” In early 2024, an Australia-based New York Times journalist shared a 600-person list of Jewish academics and creators in a WhatsApp group with pro-Palestinian activists, triggering subsequent harassment, intimidation, and threats against the group members.
The essays in Ruptured serve as historical testimonies, preserving how Diaspora Jewry – especially women – were affected after October 7. While news reports capture facts and dates, it is the personal stories that bring history to life, giving events meaning and emotional depth. These voices leave a lasting imprint on our collective memory – not just as Jews but as human beings.
The 36 essays in the book are organized in such a way that they follow an emotional arc. Several essays revolve around common themes. While this leads to a sense of repetition, it also underscores the pervasive nature of the challenges faced by Jewish women, revealing how widely shared these experiences are.
How does a mother explain to her children that there are people in the world who not only hate them but would make great efforts at their own expense to destroy their entire peoplehood?
Several third-generation Holocaust survivors reflect on the parallels between the antisemitism their families faced in the past and the resurgence of similar sentiments following October 7.
Many of the writers discuss how they lost friends during the period.
Another common theme is the response many of the essayists faced when attempting to hold conversations with those in their lives who began to support the Palestinian cause.
In her essay “We Are Still Here,” Mindy Sotiri writes: “Everyone who has never thought about antisemitism knows how to say ‘stop weaponizing antisemitism.’ Everyone is talking about how many friends they have who are Jews (“Look at this great bunch of Jews at the protest!”) and how much they love the Jews who hate the idea of Jews having their own homeland.
“Hey listen when you say ‘From the river to the sea,’ I know that you see it as a call to Palestinian liberation, but to lots of Jews it is hard to disconnect this phrase from the call to murder Jews - 'SHUT UP BABYKILLER,'” Sotiri wrote, sharing the response she receives.
The essay “Nothing Antisemitic Here” by Nicky Stein describes the writer’s son as he navigates the rampantly anti-Israel and antisemitic campus of the University of Sydney. While encountering posters and flyers in support of Hamas and various other designated terrorist organizations, he attempts to hold a dialogue with anyone willing. As the essay progresses, her son slowly realizes a much more cynical version of the world than the one he previously thought existed, as politicians, university administrators, and professors ignored his pleas for more protection for Jewish students.
One of the most outstanding essays was “The End of Ignorance” by Noa Romberg, 15. She recalled the anger and heartbreak of realizing that Australia’s LGBTQ community was forcing her to choose between being queer and being Jewish. Her essay concludes with the story of Maj. Sagi Golan, a gay IDF soldier who was killed fighting Hamas terrorists on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7.
While all her previous LGBTQ icons and heroes turned their backs on her, she found hope in new Zionist LGBTQ icons such as Maj. Golan. “Maybe I will even find a Zionist girlfriend! I don’t have to be alone anymore. We don’t have to be alone anymore,” is one of the more evocative lines in the book.
“The Privilege of Being a Pacifist” by Joanne Fidler describes a conversation she had with a marksman with a military background. “What about those caught in the crossfire? How many innocent people will die?” He responded, “Many. This is war.” “But I’m a pacifist,” she replied. “If they came for your children, you wouldn’t be,” he said. She recalls Tyson Yunkaporta, an indigenous scholar and author, who said that since violence is part of the system, if you are a pacifist, to whom are you outsourcing your violence?
Several writers reflect deeply on the meaning of peace, expressing empathy for the suffering of Palestinians and exploring ways to build bridges between divided communities. The essays’ introspective tone offers a compelling glimpse into the corners of the minds of these individuals, revealing the nuanced thoughts and emotional depth within their community.
When asked “Why women?” Paluch explained, “We were really interested in the way that women mobilized for their families and communities in times of crisis.”
However, she said, “Even before that, this book really started in the pain, in the rupture that was created by the silence that followed October 7 and the sexual violence that in Australia triggered a very strong wave of women’s activism in the Jewish community.
There were men at rallies and vigils, Paluch stressed. However, she said there was something that happened in Australia to do with the silence of women’s organizations. A lot of hate that was targeting Jewish women in Australia came from other women in Australia, notably from many feminist women, who, according to Paluch, “couldn’t figure out if they should deny what happened, or belittle what happened, or justify what happened.
“There was something that felt really, really personal about the silence around sexual crimes, and there was something that felt really, really personal about the nature of the attacks by feminist influencers in Australia, and that just created another whirlpool within a whirlpool that we were sucked into,” she said.
“Women are like the shock absorbers of society during times of crisis. Everyone has to spring into action, but the way that women spring into action is different.
“[There were] so many pockets of activity in our community, and they were like moms just saying they want a better future for their kids, what are we going to do?”
Paluch said that they wanted to capture that activism in the book. “Even though the book was a creative response to grief – so there is a lot of sadness, and we didn’t try to sugarcoat anything – it also strives for light. There are a lot of moments of hope and resilience in there, and there’s a lot of fierce pride being awakened by what’s happened,” she said.
Many of the writers describe a strengthened Jewish identity post-October 7.
There is also a sense of defiance from several of the writers. Paluch explained that when people have such misrepresentation, they have a stronger desire to carve out who they are in their own terms. Despite the darkness in much of the book, most of the writers also describe the ways they created light within themselves and showed that they are not defined by the hate they face.
In terms of Australia’s future, “There’s a lot of uncertainty,” Paluch said, particularly regarding “how the normalization of hate will impact the future of the Jewish community in Australia.”
“The most important message for [Australian politicians] to hear and act on is that unchecked hate has consequences.”
The writer is a manager of the breaking news desk at The Jerusalem Post.
- RUPTURED: JEWISH WOMEN IN AUSTRALIA REFLECT ON LIFE POST-OCTOBER 7
- Edited by Lee Kofman and Tamar Paluch
- Lamm Jewish Library of Australia
- 252 pages; $23