Governor Hurley leads Jewish service
AN emotional and solemn Communal Anzac Day Service at the Sydney Jewish Museum on April 29 featured a reflective speech on the sacrifice and toll of war by NSW Governor David Hurley, and Paul Weingott's reading of excerpts from the diary of his grandfather's first cousin, Samuel Weingott, who died on June 5, 1915 from gunshot wounds sustained in the Gallipoli trenches.
AN emotional and solemn Communal Anzac Day Service at the Sydney Jewish Museum on April 29 featured a reflective speech on the sacrifice and toll of war by NSW Governor David Hurley, and Paul Weingott’s reading of excerpts from the diary of his grandfather’s first cousin, Samuel Weingott, who died on June 5, 1915 from gunshot wounds sustained in the Gallipoli trenches.
Jewish school captains and Scouts joined local Members of Parliament, mayors, veterans, families, emergency services personnel and Jewish organisation representatives in laying wreaths.
Memorial candles were lit, psalms sung and the Last Post was beautifully played by 12-year-old Adam Leizer.
Governor Hurley – Patron of the NSW Association of Jewish Service and Ex-Service Men and Women (NAJEX) – thanked Australian Jewry for its proud record of military service for the nation spanning 100 years.
The former Chief of the Australian Defence Force said his observations of Jewish servicemen and women were they “are competent, professional, compassionate, pragmatic and outcomes-driven”, and all of them “were very conscious of the Anzac legacy and their responsibility in upholding and protecting that legacy”.
“I think that is part of our DNA . . . and you [the Jewish community] have contributed to that.
“You have been Anzacs, you have borne loss . . . and you have heeded the exhortation to do your duty for Australia to make it the best it can be.”
Governor Hurley also shared his insights about the personal cost of war, and called for more support for ex-army, navy and air force personnel who continue to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“They come back damaged, as did those in previous generations – this is part of what we reflect on when we think of sacrifice.”
He presented NAJEX Youth Leadership Awards to Year 11 students Jade Reuveny from Emanuel School and Nemi Lobel from Kesser Torah College.
Samuel Weingott was promoted to Lance Corporal just three days before being killed in action, aged 22, and barely one month after his brother, Alexander, was evacuated to Egypt where he died from wounds also suffered at Gallipoli.
In his diary, Samuel wrote of landing at Anzac Cove amid heavy gunfire on April 25, 1915, of enduring 24-hour shifts at the firing line, of witnessing mates being shot by enemy snipers, and the smell of hundreds of dead bodies.
SHANE DESIATNIK
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