I got back from Sabbatical Leave on Sunday from four weeks in Israel and 10 days in Italy. It was just a fantastic experience. Exploring Israel and Jerusalem and Galilee, walking the paths that Jesus walked, was a profound and powerful experience. Israel today, as it was in the time of Jesus, is a land torn apart by discord and a lack of tolerance. The ‘Western Wall’ or the ‘Wailing Wall’ is all that is left of the second Temple which was destroyed by the Romans in 73 AD after the Jews rebelled – again. The reverence that Jewish people have for that remnant of their faith is just palpable. It was such a privilege to pray there. I visited Masada where those Jews not killed in the uprising in Jerusalem fled and held out against the Romans for 18 months before all dying. I visited Yad Vashem, the museum dedicated to the Holocaust victims of the Nazis. Absorbing some of that history gives anyone some insight into why the Jewish people have a collective commitment to ‘Never Again’. ‘Never Again’ will they permit themselves to be subjugated by others. It defines their reality to a large extent. Sadly though, the victims of that commitment are the Arab population, Muslim and Christian, of Palestine. They are seen as the enemy and the state of Israel has built a nasty 700km wall that separates the Palestinian people who live in the West Bank from the rest of Israel. It was 200 meters from where I stayed, and it has a powerful impact. Not surprisingly, the Palestinian people have very strong feelings about the wall and the absolute control of Israel over every aspect of their lives. The military presence in Jerusalem is impossible to miss. Given compulsory military service, young people with guns were very obvious. Walls don’t solve problems. Walls divide and separate and they certainly don’t resolve underlying problems. I left Israel knowing more about the issues on both sides of the Wall but less confident about the future. It is a shame that the appalling treatment the Jewish people received at the hands of Nazis and other Europeans has not made them more compassionate to the downtrodden but, ‘hurt people, hurt people’. The last three days of my sabbatical were spent in the town of Assisi in Italy – the home of St Francis. He is absolutely one of my ‘top 10 favourite Saints’. Francis called the Church of his time, and ours, back to the simplicity of Jesus and the Gospel. He pointed people to a Jesus who committed to those who were left out, worn down and excluded. He loved the Church but he was called to repair a Church that was in ruins – in so many ways. Francis is remembered for a lot but, given my time in Israel, I kept going back to the ‘Simple Prayer’ attributed to him. A prayer we say often at Shalom and one that can be prayed or shared or hoped by those who have faith, any faith, or even no faith. It is ‘hope’. It is a prayer that I hope my new Palestinian and my Jewish friends could all pray. At the risk of doing my version of my ‘holiday slide show’, I have attached a couple of photos. At the very least, thank God, every day, that we live in Australia! Shalom.

1. View to the wall around Bethlehem from where I was staying.
2. Before crossing at the check point. What looks like a prison usually is!
3. Just one of the hundreds of the stories on the wall panels – but only on the Palestinian side.
4. My colleague from Emmaus in Rocky and I after praying at the ‘Wailing Wall’.
5. Very young Israeli soldiers seriously armed.
6. A very obvious military presence in Jerusalem at all times.
7. The ‘simple prayer’ of St Francis that could and should be prayed by people of all faiths and none.

Huge thank you to Mrs Austin-Campbell and the College Leadership team for filling in so very capably for me while I was away. I am privileged to work with these people, and we are enormously lucky to have them at Shalom.

Bullying is as certain as ‘death & taxes’. Whenever people are put together, inevitably, some will try and exert undue power over others. We work hard at Shalom to reduce incidents of bullying and respond quickly when this occurs. On Thursday of this week, former World Boxing Champion, Mr Jeff Horn will speak to all students on Assembly and particularly to the Year 7 and 8 students, as we launch the Bullyproof Australia initiative at Shalom. Jeff will speak to all parents on the topic at 7pm in the Performing Arts Precinct. This is a great opportunity for parents to listen to a great speaker and to learn some skills to help your own child navigate this issue.

Enrolment Interviews for Year 7 2024 will get underway very soon. Mrs O’Mara tells me that we have more interviews to do than in previous years. I truly hope that we won’t, again this year, have current parents who neglect to put in an enrolment application for their Year 6 child and just expect to secure a place over those who have put their applications in on time!

Empowering Women Breakfast is sold out for this Friday morning. We are really looking forward to welcoming to Bundaberg and the Shalom community, Gretel Bueta (Tibbet) and Ali Brigginshaw. Both outstanding National athletes in Netball and Rugby League. The breakfast, which is a week before Mothers’ Day, is an encouragement and a reminder to our girls that no boundary that is beyond them. Huge thank you to our sponsors and the organising committee led by Ms Nikki Sommerfield in making this happen.