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Jan 8, 2025 | 
australianjewishnews.com | Alex Ryvchin
In 2023, not long before October 7, I had a book published called The 7 Deadly Myths which exposes the conspiracy theories that underpin antisemitism. This time, I want to talk to you about seven truths. Seven guiding principles that I have observed in my life, and particularly over the past 14 months. 1. Don’t be afraid. That doesn’t mean that there is nothing to fear. The things we are facing are very real. But fear only corrupts our response and weakens us for the fight.
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Dec 18, 2024 | 
foxnews.com | Alex Ryvchin
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Australia’s soaring levels of anti-Jewish violence and vandalism have revealed how a country’s foreign policy impacts its internal affairs and how quickly an issue can become a crisis if the response of government is inadequate or ineffective. A member of the Jewish community recovers an item from the Adass Israel Synagogue on December 06, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia.
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Nov 20, 2024 | 
australianjewishnews.com | Alex Ryvchin
My family were part of a faceless, nameless mass of people living behind an iron curtain. We arrived in Australia as refugees in the late 1980s. And through the years, I often used to wonder, were we worth it? This community prayed for us. Raised money for us. You held candlelight vigils for us as we now do for the hostages. Set an extra place for us at your seders. Protested outside the Soviet consulate and chanted: “Let my people go.” Were we deserving of all that?
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Apr 7, 2024 | 
afr.com | Alex Ryvchin
The leaders of civilised countries must never accept such incidents as inevitable. They require investigation and accountability. They require lessons to be learnt and applied, and the families of the victims to be made whole, as far as such tragedies allow. The US knows well the difference between a horrific accident and the wilful, intentional murder of a civilian. All Western armies do.
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Mar 27, 2024 | 
australianjewishnews.com | Alex Ryvchin
Being gay is a lot like being Jewish. This was a thought that came to me about a month ago. I had received a call from a journalist seeking comment on a story about the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras. The CEO of the Mardi Gras had penned an open letter to the Prime Minister urging him to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
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Feb 7, 2024 | 
jwire.com.au | Alex Ryvchin |Jeffrey Jerome Cohen
Browse > Home / Books, Featured Articles / The 7 Deadly Myths: Antisemitism from the Time of Christ to Kanye West – J-Wire
Read on for article A book review by Rabbi Jeffrey CohenAuthor: Alex RyvchinPublished by Cherry Orchard Books, Boston. This book was published almost six months before the horrors of October 7 impacted all of us. In reading this excellent book, the reader would wonder if October 7 would have made any difference to the content- perhaps marginally.
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Dec 13, 2023 | 
australianjewishnews.com | Alex Ryvchin
The story of Chanukah is one of a victory of a rebel fighting force engaged in a just and necessary war. It shows us that sometimes in order to preserve life and one’s way of life, you have to fight. This Chanukah, the brave men and women of the IDF are engaged in a great battle. Another just and necessary war. The outcome of this war will determine whether a Jewish state, capable of preserving Jewish life and contributions to humanity, can long endure.
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Oct 22, 2023 | 
afr.com | Alex Ryvchin
The rape of young women beside the warm corpses of their friends was not possible. The discovery of 40 infants and babies slaughtered in their cots, some beheaded, was not possible. Parents covering the mouths of whimpering children as uniformed killers searched for Jews door to door was not possible. Parents burnt alive in front of children, children in front of parents, the survivors dragged into a savage captivity, was not possible.
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Oct 11, 2023 | 
spectator.com.au | Alex Ryvchin
Writing is the process by which we make sense of things; convert our disparate, chaotic thoughts and unrefined theories into clarity. This is why every Jewish writer will at one time turn their mind to the question of ‘why the Jews?’Philip Roth believed it all began with The Merchant of Venice and the very first words that Shakespeare put on the lips of Shylock – ‘3,000 ducats’, referring to the currency of Venice.
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Jun 30, 2023 | 
fairfieldsuntimes.com | Alex Ryvchin
The trial of Robert Bowers for the murder of eleven worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in October 2018 has brought into focus the nature of racial hatred and the power of conspiracy theories. Bowers entered a synagogue with an arsenal of advanced weapons and proceeded to murder eleven mostly elderly people quietly gathered for Saturday morning prayers. The youngest victim, David Rosenthal, was 54 years old. He had learning difficulties and was shot beside his older brother.
