We are very blessed to spend an afternoon with Michael in central Queensland this week.
Stemming from one of the first Jewish families in Australia back in the early 1800s, Michael is well aware of his rich family history and proudly looks to continue that legacy.
Michael was very happy to present the visiting rabbis with his full charity box, which he is sure to put a coin into every day (except for on Shabbat).
Every coin placed into a charity box may seem small on its own, but over time those individual acts of generosity build something much greater than the sum of their parts.
Michael's family's story, too, has been built over generations.
His lineage traces back to the very first recorded Jewish marriage in Australia, between John Moses and Rebecca Conolly in 1831. Incidentally, Rebecca is also the first recorded convert to Judaism in Australia.
In the almost two centuries that have elapsed since then, each generation, and indeed each individual, has added its own "coin" with their many contributions that have built up this great country.
Today, Michael represents the latest link in that remarkable chain. Just as a charity box is filled one coin at a time, Australia's Jewish story has been built one family, one mitzvah, and one generation at a time.
