By James Sorene

It has happened again. Jewish people murdered as they celebrate a religious festival.

Fifteen Jewish people murdered at Sydney’s Bondi beach celebrating Chanukah On Yom Kippur, two Jewish men were killed in the attack on Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester.

For the Jewish community there is grief, fear and anger but also a steely resolve to do as we have for more than two thousand years when facing persecution. To celebrate Jewish life and stand together in the face of adversity. The sad truth is we know what to do because, as we say at Passover, in every generation there have been those who tried to destroy us. But we are still here.

The question to our politicians, police and wider society is are you prepared to do what it takes to stop more attacks against Jews?

On Saturday I did a security shift outside my local synagogue, something I have done since I was 18 years old. This has always been my reality, only now we wear heavy knife proof vests. For two hours I scanned every car and pedestrian assessing if they could be the next attacker and thought hard about how the current threat has evolved.

Anti-Jewish hatred has existed for millennia as the Jews were the ultimate outsiders, a minority community that stuck stubbornly to its ancient traditions and refused to become Christians or Muslims.........

© LBC