Even in Australia    

“Australia,” I’d answer.

And each nurse would raise her eyebrows as if to say, why would you leave paradise for a war zone?

That’s how so much of the world views Australia: as an exotic island at the end of the earth, full of white sandy beaches to surf at, koalas to cuddle, and kangaroos to bounce alongside — as if the rivers from Gan Eden flow through there.

No matter where I go — London, New York, Yerushalayim — people look at me like a scientist might look at a species believed to be extinct, full of delight at their discovery. “Really, you’re from Australia? Sydney or Melbourne? How long does it take to get there? I love your accent. Can you talk some more? Does the water really run backward in Australia?” they ask.

Which is probably why I’ve been asked so many times over the past year how I feel about the rising anti-Semitism in Australia, why it’s made headlines in the world of the Jewish and Israeli press — somehow, Jewish schools being shot at in Montreal is insignificant compared to a shul being firebombed in Melbourne.