Special Guest Article

Rabbi Nicole Roberts

Senior Rabbi
North Shore Temple Emanuel
There  are so many cities and sites in Israel with the name “Tel” in them: Tel Aviv, Tel Dan, Tel Hai the list goes on.  A tel is a layered site, dating back ages “a succession of cities built on top of one another each built on the ruins of the previous one. Each city came to an end, destroyed by an invading army or abandoned because of changing climatic or political  conditions. Each city left a layer of deposit on top of which the next city was  built.”(1)

For  so many in the Jewish community, ‘Sydney before Sunday’ is now a layer in the tel.  So many are saying this is no longer “my” Sydney that they  knew and loved and, most importantly, trusted.  The images in mind of  Sydney’s iconic beach close to the hearts and embedded in the childhood  memories of so many are supplanted by images of violence, terrorists, and  people running for their lives.

There is a tel of the spirit, as well, in the wake of this  massacre.  Layers of emotion make up that tel:  fear, grief, anger, defiance, shock, disbelief, reawakened trauma, hurt, betrayal not necessarily in that order. We each have our own internal tel of the soul.

But  the “layer of deposit” atop each ruined city becomes the soil in which the next city gets built.  A new Sydney will be constructed on the memory of this devastation, as well as on the hope for a new civilisation one with zero tolerance for antisemitism, hate crime, terror, and incitement to violence; one dedicated to honest reporting and unbiased headlines; one that doubles down on a commitment to multiculturalism, religious freedom, and safety.

A professor of biblical archaeology writes that the same resources which led to the building of one city “a nearby water source, availability of rich agricultural land” and other features makes the site of a tel ripe for the building of the next city. He also points out that a tel’s steep  sided shape “results from now buried fortifications which encircled the cities. The buried walls of a destroyed city protect the slopes from erosion and serve  as a ‘girdle’ to hold the mound together.”(2)

What  are the rich resources that will gird us, as we rebuild from this ruin?   What are the features that will hold us together? Fortify us?  Help us  build a Sydney-after-Bondi?  What would be essential to a rebuilt Sydney  that would ensure 10 year old Matilda, z”l, did not die in vain?  Nor  Marika, Edith, Alexander, Boris, Peter, Dan, Reuven, Tibor, Adam, Boris and  Sofia, Rabbis Eli and Yaakov, nor one other as yet unnamed innocent, z”l?

Perhaps  the answer lies in the once shining dreams of Valentyna and Michael, Matilda’s  parents, who came to Australia as Ukrainian immigrants before Russia invaded.  At his daughter’s funeral, Michael bravely shared: “I didn’t expect to say anything, but I end up here next to the microphon. I named her Matilda because she was our firstborn in Australia. And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist.”  Valentyna continued: “I couldn’t  imagine I would lose my daughter here.”(3)

We need to build a Sydney that is truly a refuge from violence.  Truly the  gateway to a better, safer life.  Truly a place where no parent would  ever, in a million years, expect to stand at their child’s funeral following a  public Jewish festival gathering.  Together with our neighbours, our  government, our courageous Jewish community, our overseas supporters in Israel,  America, and beyond who have reached out in love and solidarity this Chanukah  week, and all good people of conscience – let us commit ourselves to the future  that Valentyna and Michael dreamt for themselves and their daughter, and that  so many other victims of this atrocity originally came here seeking. This  horrid page in history has regressed, not advanced, Australia. With courage, let us all combine to ensure that the next stage the next layer in  the tel will see our people once again joining in our nation’s joyful  strains.

(1) and (2) www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/how-to-tell-a-tell/
(3) www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/16/remember-her-name-heartbreak-in-bondi-as-huge-crowd-mourns-matilda