Wahroonga Friends Bulletin - 17 December 2025
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Dec 17, 2025, 11:46:03 PM12/17/25
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Wahroonga Friends Bulletin - 17 December 2025
Quakers Express Shock,
Condemnation and Deep Grief
at Antisemitic Violence in Sydney
Quakers hold all those affected by the horrifying antisemitic attack in Sydney in the Light.
"Quakers Australia join our voice to the many expressing our shock, condemnation and deepest grief at the mass shooting of Jewish people at a Hanukkah gathering in Sydney, a terrible act of antisemitic violence.
Quakers invite us all to consider how we respond to violence in ways that reflect love and courage. Only love can carry us through this time of grief. Only courage can take us beyond violence.
Quakers invite us all to show solidarity with Jewish people in this time of deep pain and fear. This can be done through reaching out to Jewish friends and local groups. There are public Hanukkah events, solidarity vigils, memorials. We must continue to speak out against antisemitism whenever we see it.
Quakers invite us all to also be alert to scapegoating of any part of the Australian community and to speak against it.
Quakers Australia strongly support moves by Australian Governments to strengthen gun control laws." Quakers express shock, condemnation and deep grief at antisemitic violence in Sydney
Overcoming Antisemitism Message
to be Taken into Kinders,
Schools and Universities
The Albanese government will take its attempts to combat antisemitism into the nation’s kindergartens and childcare centres as well as schools and universities. A new antisemitism education taskforce, led by eminent expert David Gonski, was announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday as part of the wide-ranging response to the massacre of Jewish Australians at Bondi Beach on Sunday.
Gonski, best known for helming two separate reports into school funding for the Gillard and Turnbull governments, has been given 12 months to bring together state education ministries, universities, tertiary education authorities, private and religious schools and the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority, the agency with oversight of the pre-school sector, to develop a response.
Jillian Segal, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, will also work on the reform after calling for a nationally consistent approach to teaching students about the ancient hatred in her plan to combat antisemitism.
In her report, which was handed to the government in July, Segal wanted an understanding of Nazi Germany’s campaign of genocide against European Jews in the 1930s and 1940s taught in all Australian schools, “including an understanding of the Holocaust as a major case study of where unchecked antisemitism can lead”. Educators and public servants must have access to training to recognise and address antisemitism in classrooms and public settings,” the special envoy wrote.
Segal did not include pre-school, kindergartens or childcare centres in her call for action in July, and it is not yet clear what the federal government envisages for the sector. Gonski has been contacted for comment. Thursday’s announcement also promised more money for not-for-profit group Together for Humanity, which has been working with schools in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia to combat prejudice and “advance belonging and inclusion.” The task force will also oversee a review of the Australian curriculum, and provide teachers with free resources to strengthen social cohesion and combat antisemitism in the classroom. Bondi shooting fallout: Australia antisemitism taskforce led by David Gonski to target kinders, schools and universities
10.30 am Sunday 21 DecemberWahroonga Christmas Gathering@ Wahroonga Meeting HouseThe Wahroonga Christmas gathering is on Sunday 21 December, after morning tea. We will sing several carols and you are invited to present a poem or short reading that you have written yourself or that speaks to you. Rae will present again another take on the Christmas story. We will then have a shared lunch. Can you bring a plate to share? Wies
Items for the House of Welcome Wahroonga Meeting are collecting items again for the House of Welcome. We have an ant problem so any food items need to be well sealed. (No baked beans or canned spaghetti) Toiletries and laundry products may be safer this year. See - A Jewish Quaker Speaks on PacifismI am a Jewish Quaker. I am a Quaker Jew. I am a Pacifist, a Poet, a Jewish Grandmother, A Bubbe, and this is my message. And this is my Message!!! I became a member of the Religious Society of Friends in 2006, when the Israeli Hezbollah War began. I couldn’t sit back and watch the carnage of that war and do nothing, my heart was broken… I had witnessed “pacifism” in awe, among Quakers, I saw them walking the talk. I worked among Quakers, and learned first-hand of the work of Conscientious Objectors who put their lives on the line during WWII in threatening ways, but through humanitarian efforts. They were unable to pick up arms and kill, they were pacifists. The Quakers served the oppressed and I was impressed. AFSC received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 for their humanitarian efforts during the war. I wanted to be part of a place that honored pacifism. I did not, do not, have the conscience for war, it is not the answer. See the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ6C8GrHdvM December QBC - Jesus of the EastThe December QBC (Quaker Book Club) selection is Jesus of the East: Reclaiming the Gospel for the Wounded
Much of Western Christianity has subdued the narrative of Jesus as a Palestinian Jewish healer and liberator who served the sick and oppressed. But the Jesus of the Gospels is a revolutionary who stands with the sinned against, the wounded, and the marginalized. In Jesus of the East, author Phuc Luu re-narrates the life of Jesus to show how he made it his work to topple systems that privileged the few and disregarded the many, especially the poor and lowest.
In this provocative book, Luu offers a counter-narrative to Western Christianity, which for centuries has legitimized colonization and violence to prop up the powerful at the expense of the masses. Pulling from the tradition of the early Eastern church, the present work of theologians of the oppressed, and Luu’s own experiences as a Vietnamese immigrant, Jesus of the East offers a transformative vision of healing for the world. Obtain a copy here Jesus of the East
e - Wahroonga Send news of f/Friends and newsletter items to quiver...@yahoo.com.au Agenda items for Business Meeting should be emailed at wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info or handed to a co-clerk. Visit us at "Our Home" First days (Sunday), 9.30 am Meeting for Worship - Wahroonga Friends Meeting, your local peace church. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 59 Boundary Road Wahroonga NSW 2076 Email:wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info Web: Wahroonga Local Meeting | Australia Yearly Meeting A Zoom meeting occurs 9.30 am Sundays Meeting link Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting 918 558 7747 Passcode: 554662 Phone: 02 8015 6011 Please contact Paul Carter if you have any problems connecting 0433 886 093
Quakers Express Shock,
Condemnation and Deep Grief
at Antisemitic Violence in Sydney
Quakers hold all those affected by the horrifying antisemitic attack in Sydney in the Light.
"Quakers Australia join our voice to the many expressing our shock, condemnation and deepest grief at the mass shooting of Jewish people at a Hanukkah gathering in Sydney, a terrible act of antisemitic violence.
Quakers invite us all to consider how we respond to violence in ways that reflect love and courage. Only love can carry us through this time of grief. Only courage can take us beyond violence.
Quakers invite us all to show solidarity with Jewish people in this time of deep pain and fear. This can be done through reaching out to Jewish friends and local groups. There are public Hanukkah events, solidarity vigils, memorials. We must continue to speak out against antisemitism whenever we see it.
Quakers invite us all to also be alert to scapegoating of any part of the Australian community and to speak against it.
Quakers Australia strongly support moves by Australian Governments to strengthen gun control laws." Quakers express shock, condemnation and deep grief at antisemitic violence in Sydney
Overcoming Antisemitism Message
to be Taken into Kinders,
Schools and Universities
The Albanese government will take its attempts to combat antisemitism into the nation’s kindergartens and childcare centres as well as schools and universities. A new antisemitism education taskforce, led by eminent expert David Gonski, was announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday as part of the wide-ranging response to the massacre of Jewish Australians at Bondi Beach on Sunday.
Gonski, best known for helming two separate reports into school funding for the Gillard and Turnbull governments, has been given 12 months to bring together state education ministries, universities, tertiary education authorities, private and religious schools and the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority, the agency with oversight of the pre-school sector, to develop a response.
Jillian Segal, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, will also work on the reform after calling for a nationally consistent approach to teaching students about the ancient hatred in her plan to combat antisemitism.
In her report, which was handed to the government in July, Segal wanted an understanding of Nazi Germany’s campaign of genocide against European Jews in the 1930s and 1940s taught in all Australian schools, “including an understanding of the Holocaust as a major case study of where unchecked antisemitism can lead”. Educators and public servants must have access to training to recognise and address antisemitism in classrooms and public settings,” the special envoy wrote.
Segal did not include pre-school, kindergartens or childcare centres in her call for action in July, and it is not yet clear what the federal government envisages for the sector. Gonski has been contacted for comment. Thursday’s announcement also promised more money for not-for-profit group Together for Humanity, which has been working with schools in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia to combat prejudice and “advance belonging and inclusion.” The task force will also oversee a review of the Australian curriculum, and provide teachers with free resources to strengthen social cohesion and combat antisemitism in the classroom. Bondi shooting fallout: Australia antisemitism taskforce led by David Gonski to target kinders, schools and universities
10.30 am Sunday 21 DecemberWahroonga Christmas Gathering@ Wahroonga Meeting HouseThe Wahroonga Christmas gathering is on Sunday 21 December, after morning tea. We will sing several carols and you are invited to present a poem or short reading that you have written yourself or that speaks to you. Rae will present again another take on the Christmas story. We will then have a shared lunch. Can you bring a plate to share? Wies
Items for the House of Welcome Wahroonga Meeting are collecting items again for the House of Welcome. We have an ant problem so any food items need to be well sealed. (No baked beans or canned spaghetti) Toiletries and laundry products may be safer this year. See - A Jewish Quaker Speaks on PacifismI am a Jewish Quaker. I am a Quaker Jew. I am a Pacifist, a Poet, a Jewish Grandmother, A Bubbe, and this is my message. And this is my Message!!! I became a member of the Religious Society of Friends in 2006, when the Israeli Hezbollah War began. I couldn’t sit back and watch the carnage of that war and do nothing, my heart was broken… I had witnessed “pacifism” in awe, among Quakers, I saw them walking the talk. I worked among Quakers, and learned first-hand of the work of Conscientious Objectors who put their lives on the line during WWII in threatening ways, but through humanitarian efforts. They were unable to pick up arms and kill, they were pacifists. The Quakers served the oppressed and I was impressed. AFSC received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 for their humanitarian efforts during the war. I wanted to be part of a place that honored pacifism. I did not, do not, have the conscience for war, it is not the answer. See the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ6C8GrHdvM December QBC - Jesus of the EastThe December QBC (Quaker Book Club) selection is Jesus of the East: Reclaiming the Gospel for the Wounded
Much of Western Christianity has subdued the narrative of Jesus as a Palestinian Jewish healer and liberator who served the sick and oppressed. But the Jesus of the Gospels is a revolutionary who stands with the sinned against, the wounded, and the marginalized. In Jesus of the East, author Phuc Luu re-narrates the life of Jesus to show how he made it his work to topple systems that privileged the few and disregarded the many, especially the poor and lowest.
In this provocative book, Luu offers a counter-narrative to Western Christianity, which for centuries has legitimized colonization and violence to prop up the powerful at the expense of the masses. Pulling from the tradition of the early Eastern church, the present work of theologians of the oppressed, and Luu’s own experiences as a Vietnamese immigrant, Jesus of the East offers a transformative vision of healing for the world. Obtain a copy here Jesus of the East
e - Wahroonga Send news of f/Friends and newsletter items to quiver...@yahoo.com.au Agenda items for Business Meeting should be emailed at wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info or handed to a co-clerk. Visit us at "Our Home" First days (Sunday), 9.30 am Meeting for Worship - Wahroonga Friends Meeting, your local peace church. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 59 Boundary Road Wahroonga NSW 2076 Email:wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info Web: Wahroonga Local Meeting | Australia Yearly Meeting A Zoom meeting occurs 9.30 am Sundays Meeting link Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting 918 558 7747 Passcode: 554662 Phone: 02 8015 6011 Please contact Paul Carter if you have any problems connecting 0433 886 093
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