This Torah was taken to the Western Front and administered to the Jewish soldiers. All Jewish people were able to celebrate their religion in a difficult time, and that is something we are very proud of.
[Margot:] The War Widows Guild commemorate Anzac Day by having a wonderful service at St Andrews Cathedral in the City of Sydney. We have these little crosses bearing our husband’s name and plant them in a little memorial garden outside the cathedral.They have similar losses in their lives, but they’ve accepted me as just a friend.
[Lewis:] Anzac Day means a lot to the Chinese community because we want to honour those who sacrificed for us, to make us a peaceful and harmonious nation. I feel very proud and very honoured to lay the wreath on behalf of the Chinese-Australian War Memorial Committee to honour those Chinese-Australians in the Defence Forces. [Margot:] The War Widows Guild commemorate the companionship, the mutual support, that the servicemen showed to one another. [Lewis:] The Anzac spirit is about mateship. Mateship is about helping your friends, helping each other regardless of who you are. Whether you are a veteran or you are an ordinary committee member, it unites everybody together. [Rabbi Lieberman:] The Anzacs were normal guys, even the greatest of all, General Monash. As a Jewish Australian, he stands above us all to show that we can be devoted Jews but still be strong and proud Australians as well. [Margot:] The message I think is stand together, unified, support your nation. [Rabbi Lieberman:] We experience such great freedoms: freedom of religion, freedom of expression. That is what they fought for on Anzac Day and that’s why it’s importance for us to honour them; otherwise, we wouldn’t have what we have today.This post is also available in: 简体中文 (Chinese Simplified) 繁體中文 (Chinese Traditional) Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese) العربية (Arabic)