Biography Of Sir John Monash (Essay Sample)

📌Category: Biographies, Literature, War, World War I
📌Words: 997
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 03 June 2022

John Monash was one of the greatest living Australians. He was a profound engineer and intellect, and a famous WW1 general. Despite the prejudice faced by John Monash, he has been able to make a better Australia through his motivation to open schools in order to educate struggling children. He did this to live out his faith, being influenced by the Jewish pillar Lishma.  

John Monash was born in West Melbourne in 1865 to Prussian Jewish parents (Hartley R, 2013). However, at a young age, John’s family moved to Jerilderie New South Wales, where he spent most of his childhood. John, to reach his full potential moved back to Melbourne attending Scotch College. John was extremely bright and proficient in Mathematics, Physics, History and German. Attending a Presbyterian school, John was known to experience some form of prejudice being Jewish however he loved the school and was awarded Dux of college (Cenergin Australia, N.D). John became an engineer and was credited for being one of the best of his time. However, in 1914 WW1 broke out. John joined the 4th battalion, Victorian Riffle man. John proved to be a valiant fighter and hero, giving all that he had against his parent’s homeland (Monash University, 2021).  John became a general in Gallipoli in which he was noted as a brilliant commander. He was very cautious and wanted to save as many of his men’s lives. Because of this, he won major victories that are credited with having shortened the course of the Great War and saving thousands of men (John Monash Foundation, 2022). In 1918 Sir John became in charge of the entire Australian army corps and was knighted by King George V, for his courage in the battle of Hamel Hill (Monash University, 2021).

Monash was very connected and guided by his religion of Judaism. Judaism is a monotheistic religion characterized by a belief in one tranced God who relevant himself to Abraham, Moses and the Prophets (Greenburg M, 2021). Jews live out religious life in accordance with scripture and rabbinic traditions. God’s goal for people in Judaism is to be just and compassionate (BBC, 2022).  Key moral principles of Judaism include justice, healing of the world, and kindness (AQA, 2021). Jewish principles influenced other religions such as Islam and Christianity. Many scriptures and important texts in Judaism include the Torah, Tanakh, dead sea scrolls, Misrah, and Lishma (University of Calgary, 2022). Sir John was driven by a passion for justice. The book in the hand of Monash’s sculpture mentions one of his favourite Fundamental pillars of Judaism: The love for learning “Lishma”. Monash was quoted as being very “proud of his Jewish faith and ancestry” (Australian Jew, 2022). He lived out his religion by practising all rituals but most importantly he was president of the Zionist federation Australia. This was Monash strengthening the Jewish community and assisting Jews in settling Australia and Israel. This is key evidence of Monash living out his religion, he is helping people less fortunate than himself. Monash lived out his religion every day, during the war he would read the Torah and was guided by key Jewish principles of kindness and compassion. Pikuach Nefesh is the principle of Jewish law for preservation of human life. Pikuach Nefesh is what guided Monash the most at war.

John Monash the man labelled as the “Greatest Living Australian” has done so much service to the community and this country. He revolutionary construction in Australia by introducing reinforced concrete technologies and tactics. (Jewish Library, 2008). However, his greatest achievements are at war and in the community. He was considered by many to have been the greatest commander of the Great War, whose tactics and careful thinking lead to thousands of Australian lives saved. This is Monash living out Pikuach Nefesh, he tried his hardest to save as many lives as possible. He also revolutionised the Australian military having great impacts on our defence and safety. He served his life for Australia having great impacts on protecting our freedoms. His actions in the community are matched by his level in war. Sir John’s famous quote was “Equip yourself for life, not solely for your own benefit but for the benefit of the whole community” (Monash University, 2021). In the community he went to deprived communities including Jewish and Non-Jewish to educate and lecture people, he even went as far as teaching in the streets of the slums in Melbourne. This is evidence of Monash living out the key Jewish principle Lishma. It could also be said that Monash was guided by Jewish by scripture, in this case he is living out the Talmud which teaches to help others less than you. After WW1 he became a spokesperson for returned soldiers playing a massive role in the RSL movement. Monash also led Anzac Day parades, he got all people to come together as a community that had been devastated by war. He started many schools and universities; his Monash University is the most famous in Australia. He had deep passion for learning and was extremely guided by Lishma to set up these schools. Because of John Monash people of poor backgrounds got an education and a fair chance at life. His impacts are felt today, he is a model for all Australians. All his actions and morals can be connected to his love of Judaism, he used key scripture like the Tanakh and key pillars such as Lishma and Pikuach Nefesh. His religion tells him to be kind and compassionate to others, through Monash’s actions we can see this.  As Catholics, we have a role like Monash to do whatever we can to help the poor or people in need, and we can live out our religion by the key Catholic social teaching Dignity of the Human Person.

John Monash, a true Australian, a man who used his religion of Judaism to guide his morals and ethics in the community and as a war general. He provided comfort and moral support for his men during the worst battles of war and was a passionate activist for the Jewish community, especially in settling Jewish people into Australian society. John Monash lived out his life to have significant benefits on others. He used Pikuach Nefesh as a life guide to help others less fortunate than him. As Australians, we must look up to Sir John and be guided by his actions to commit good in our community as he did.

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