There will be no more waltzing Matilda

There will be no more waltzing with Matilda.

There will be no more praying with Rabbi Eli Schlanger or smiling with R’Yaakov Levitan.

As the day progresses, we will hear more names. And to every name, there is a story. Stories of bravery and heroism and stories of sorrow.

I don’t know Australia. I have never been there. Never visited the land of the kangaroo or hunter spider. But I know the melody that I had once believed to be the national anthem of Australia.

And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me

A simple but powerful folk song associated with Australian identity and pride. I have no ideas what many of the words in the song mean. And isn’t that just it?

Words matter.

When you cry Globalize the intifada or Gas the Jews… Words have meaning. And words matter.

While I, a South African Jewess sit listening to the rain filter through my large Oak tree, reflect on how the language used towards foreign national in South Africa resulted in Xenophobic attacks on those very people. How this echoed the language of the Rwandan genocide with their primary tools of the ‘radio and the machete’. And we can never forget Joseph Goebbel’s golden tongue which ultimately was painted with the blood of 6 million.

Yes, words matter.

When someone shares their intent of murder on the steps of the Sydney Opera house, we should believe them. We should have believed them. Because if we had, we would still be Waltzing with Matilda.

May G-d hold these families in His warm embrace. May G-d provide healing to those injured in both body and soul. May G-d protect the Jewish communities of Australia and the World.

May we always remember G-d’s words in Genesis: “I will curse those who curse you”.

Words matter.