This week we witnessed something remarkable. Two women, Judy Wilkenfeld and Sharri Markson, exposed Mike Carlton's anti-Semitism to an extent that the editor-in-chief of the Sydney Morning Herald had no choice but to stand him down. See here

It often appears that it's somewhat of a Jewish trait to bemoan amongst ourselves how terrible things are. Yet here are two women who didn't just talk. They did! And they were successful!

What an inspiration - and what a demonstration - of what is possible for an individual to achieve once he/she commits fully to a task.

True, the world often appears to be a very dark place, but as the Lubavitcher Rebbe said to PM Netanyahu, even one candle of truth can drive away the greatest darkness.

Let's all rise to the challenge of confronting darkness whenever we encounter it.

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On a more somber note, this week also saw young children confronted with vile ant-Semitism as they were returning from school. Although the young and foolish culprits must be disciplined and educated, it seems abundantly clear that they were influenced by the shocking anti-Israel and anti-Semitic bias in the media over the past several weeks. 

And although Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is certainly a friend of the Jewish Community, it is my belief that her unfair and hypocritical criticism of Israel's treatment of civilians in an impossibly difficult war situation (in view of Australia's own poor record in killing civilians in Afghanistan) also plays a role. It is simply not OK for politicians to be "even-handed" when confronted in a war between good and evil, no matter what the political fallout. Moral equivalence is simply immoral!

Rabbi Benzion Milecki OAM