Message from the Headmaster

‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’

Galatians 3:28

Dear Students, Parents and Carers

Many of us have been shocked by recent signs of the extent of antisemitism in Australia in the form of attacks on synagogues and graffiti in areas with large Jewish populations. It has been shocking because so many of us expected that Australia had moved past these prejudices. It seems not, at least for those inflamed through social media, wherein they may become radicalised.

Triggers for these outbursts appear to relate to the awful scenes through the media of the current and ongoing crisis in Palestine. It appears that hostility towards Jewish people has been generalised from opposition to the way in which the Israeli Government is prosecuting its war against Hamas. Yet, Jewish Australians are in no way responsible for the activities of a foreign Government, whatever one may think of its policies.

One of the ingredients of the desecration of Jewish sites seems to be myopia about history. Many of our Australian population, according to surveys, appear unaware of the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany during World War II, where an estimated six million of Europe’s nine million Jewish people met their deaths in concentration camps. This notion of racial purity, driven by Nazi ideology, was perhaps the most obvious instance of so-called ethnic cleansing. In fact, antisemitism has an ugly history over many centuries, across multiple nations and different societies. It is based on caricatures, stereotypes, scapegoating and demonisation of “the other”.

While on long service leave in 1983, my wife and I visited Dachau, one of the Nazi German concentration camps where hundreds of thousands of Jewish people were murdered, many in gas ovens. The site was a memorial to them. The pictures, of emaciated adults and children brutalised by guards, were very confronting. As people moved around, no one spoke. Everyone was literally speechless before the horror. The motto or insignia on the memorials proclaimed “Never Again”. As so many have lost touch with the history, including the sordid aspects of our civilisation, we are at real risk it seems of repeating the horrors of the past. Indeed, the growing number of “holocaust deniers”, those who maintain the extermination of Jewish people during World War II is “fake news”, is a worrying trend.

The response of Governments has been, quite rightly, condemnation of these acts. Members of the community are now calling for schools to address issues of antisemitism, other forms of racism and an understanding of civic engagement within a democracy.

At Shore, we wish to contribute to the national good. We also wish to honour and protect our Jewish students and staff, as we wish to do with our Islamic students and staff and those of any and all religions and ethnicities. This is in fact a key Christian principle:

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. Galatians 3:28

Christian faith sought to break down the barriers and hostilities between ethnic groups, classes of society and genders. In its first instance, the division of humanity into Jews and non-Jews (Gentiles) was no longer relevant. We need to apply the Christian stance of love for all, irrespective of categories. Our curriculum at Shore already includes, within the study of History, a unit on the Holocaust in Europe, including a visit to the Sydney Jewish Museum. Such a visit is sobering. Furthermore, in History and Commerce, we teach units which relate to citizenship and an understanding and valuing of the mechanisms of Australian parliamentary democracy.

We want our students to emerge as engaged and culturally literate adults who are able to play an informed role as citizens. This includes a desire to actively promote the good of the Commonwealth, that is, literally the common good of the nation, comprised of multiple ethnicities, religions and worldviews.

Shore will do its bit in terms of graduating boys to ensure they leave us with a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of those who, while in some respects different from themselves, are no less valuable and important as human beings.

Dr John Collier
Headmaster