BONDI BEACH IS OUR OLD STOMPING GROUND AND PLAYGROUND FOR SO MANY AUSSIES

[Rebbetzin]

Hi everyone,

This is a great account (below) of growing up in Sydney and attending Bondi Beach as part of that growing up. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to Bondi Beach, for swimming, for outdoor concerts and for taking overseas visitors to explore, a son was married not far from there, his wedding party celebrated in Bondi, another son lived right opposite Bondi Beach for some time, and to those visiting from overseas we gave them that experience that we have loved all our lives.

This will take a long time to get over for us Aussies as we, as Jewish Believers have been wondering when and how a terrorist attack would take place. To us all, it’s been only a matter of time. The Jewish community has been crying out for more support for their communities since October 7th, 2023, but it’s been slower than slow in any response from the PTB. You know, Muslim votes in certain electorates seems to be more important than keeping Jewish people safe from terrorism in this wonderful country. This Albanese government has blood on its hands.

Have a read of what an Australian author, growing up in the area of Bondi all her life has to say about these tragic events yesterday. I hope you all can open this news report.

https://apple.news/AQIhK6R0BRvGM-4_Po18zXA

By Kathy Lette

“My beloved Bondi: why the horrific attack was deeply personal for us Aussies
The terrorist attack that targeted the Jewish community struck at the heart of all Australians in one of its most famous landmarks, says the Australian author Kathy Lette

“‘Bondi Beach! No, no, not Bondi!” When news of the horrendous terrorist attack broke on Sunday morning, my British friends were on the phone immediately. They were shocked, heartbroken, incredulous. “Please, no, not Bondi!” In the past few years, we’ve grown used to tragedy, hatred and terrorist attacks. But even for those who haven’t stretched out on the soft white sand of Sydney’s most iconic beach, Bondi symbolises freedom, sun-soaked joy and carefree happiness.

““Some places have a dark side,” Anneka Rice commiserated down the line, “but Bondi is just full of the most ridiculously healthy people in tiny swimwear being happy. Bondi just gives you a goofy smile.”
It’s true. The sweeping, white-sand crescent, curving around a sparkling, turquoise bay beams a warm welcome. As I woke to the breaking news of the vicious attacks targeting the Jewish community in Bondi, disbelief gave way to nausea followed by a shattering of all happy memories.

“My Aussie pals are equally aghast. Kylie, Adam Hills, Nicole Kidman — this is the time of year when we migrate south, like a flock of homesick kookaburras. And the first thing ex-pats do after dumping our bags, is to pull on our cossies and head for Bondi to dive head first through those foaming breakers.
Human beings have spent billions of years evolving out of the ocean, but all Aussies want to do is get back in. And who can blame us? Is there anything more life-affirming than an invigorating body surf, hurtling shoreward like a human hydrofoil to then lie supine on the warm golden sands of Bondi Beach under that big blue sky? Which makes the television footage of people scrambling away from the beach in shock and fear for their lives so difficult to square with my experiences there.

“Like most of my peers, I spent much of my youth on Bondi Beach in a wash of syrupy sunlight; and I have the sunspots to prove it. This was our playground. Growing up here in the Seventies, the most dangerous thing in a ten-mile radius was a bad prawn. The world surfing champion I dated in my teens, Cheyne Horan, lived one street back from the beach. It’s here I was awarded the only prize I’ve ever won — “Best Legs at Bondi”, circa 1979.

“All through the Eighties, my huge group of pals had a designated spot on the sand in front of the Pavilion, where we’d meet for a hangover-curing surf, some general chiacking and other shenanigans. All weekend, every weekend we just lay on that beautiful beach in our teeny weenie bikinis, nervously glancing downwards in case our G-strings had slipped.

“And these friends were made up of every nationality — Turkish, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Egyptian, Iranian, Jewish… Australia is one of the most multicultural countries on the planet — we’re a human minestrone. One in three Australians is born overseas but nobody spends much time looking in the rear-view mirror. Immigrants have always tended to assimilate quite quickly to the easy-going Aussie way of life, while simultaneously enriching our culture with their customs and cuisine.

“When craving Italian food we drove to Leichhardt in the inner west; to eat Greek, we headed for Newtown. It was Cleveland Street for Lebanese, Parramatta for Vietnamese and Bondi for chicken soup and matzo balls. Bondi’s big Jewish community, including many writers, directors, composers and musicians, welcomed me with open arms. Encouraging my joke-gene, I soon became so Jewish I felt guilty that I wasn’t. But I don’t recall any religious violence, ever. For Jewish people to be murdered on my home turf and for the gunmen to fire from the very bridge I regularly cross on the way to seaside frolics, is as discombobulating as it is terrifying.

“Bondi is where I first came to appreciate Australia’s laid-back, egalitarian nature with prime ministers, media pundits, captains of industry, celebrities and plebs of all ethnicity strolling nonchalantly along the shore line in their budgie smugglers and bikinis of a Sunday morning, sipping lattes. It’s where I first went whale watching. It’s where I courted my first husband after laps in the Icebergs pool; and my second, hiking the coastal trail carved into the sandstone cliffs to Coogee and back again. It’s where I competed in the annual Cole Classic 2km point-to-point swim and where I now take yoga classes. I buy my mangos in the weekend food market and nosh fish and chips with my kids in the park. Its quirky cafés, cool restaurants and beachside bars are where I meet friends or take meetings, after we’ve had our “eccers” — exercise.

“Bondi is the place I always take tourists because it epitomises what’s so great about Aussie life: inclusivity, diversity, harmony and hedonism. Plus I also get to show off my body-surfing skills. Way back in the Eighties, when the call came to entertain some up-and-coming author called Ian McEwan, presuming he’d be too uptight to shed his stuffed shirt, I mischievously took him to the topless section of the beach. To my surprise he calmly stripped off. I then invited him in for a swim, fully prepared to bridge the yawning chasm between this weedy Pom and buoyancy.
Well, I immediately got stung on the boob by a bluebottle and dumped by a massive wave called a “vomit comet”, tumbling and rumbling me like a human sock in a washing machine. In the end, Ian had to save me. Yep, the “weedy Pom” caught a wave to shore with effortless ease, collecting me under his arm, en route. Turns out Ian’s father was in the army, so he’d grown up body-surfing the big African seas. I did learn a new term that day, though — “hubris”.

“But what is the term I’ve learnt today? What word can possibly encapsulate the loss of innocence I’m feeling right now? In our happy-go-lucky, multicultural country, gun violence is extremely rare. Which is why this terrorist attack on a perfect summer’s evening, a week and a bit out from Christmas at a Chanukkah party on our iconic, beloved beach has sent a tsunami of shock through Australian society.

“My flight to Sydney arrives early Friday morning. Will I head straight for Bondi as usual? You bet. The terrorists’ aim is to spread fear, hatred and division in order to destroy our vibrant, happy democracy. After laying flowers at the sight of the repulsive attack, I’ll go boogie boarding with my daughter, three sisters and nieces. True to form, I’ll whoop with delight as I skitter down the face of each wave.
And when the sea finally spits me out onto the beach and I lie, laughing, in the foam, under that big azure sky with its curlicues of creamy clouds, I’ll say a heartfelt prayer for those lives so senselessly lost. Then I’ll take a deep breath of that familiar, salty air and reunite with friends and family, the eucalyptus scented wind as warm as an embrace.”


What we all want to know right now is how does one man have licences for SIX guns in Australia, all registered. What?! What happened to the gun laws and their heavy restrictions?!  That’ll be the million dollar question today and for some time.

Just like in the UK, the huge amount of immigrants being let into our countries not properly vetted is obviously our undoing. In the UK you get gaoled now for saying anything against this unregulated immigration. Here, we still say what we want, but for how long on the back of their eKaren’s restrictions on under 16’s accessing social media. It’s an opening now for the rest of us Aussies to be even more monitored. If it’s this way in the UK, it won’t be long before it’s happening here, too. Meanwhile, radical Islamists open fire on innocents - and don’t give me some comparison about Gaza and Israelis in bodies lined up. Sickening!

Love and Shalom,

Rebbetzin Glenys xo