A memorial service will be held at the Jewish Synagogue in Newcastle on Monday night to mark the anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.
The Jewish community had been affected in contrasting ways by Israel's expanding war on Hamas and Hezbollah in Gaza and Lebanon.
"There's a lot of people feeling afraid to tell people they're Jewish, whereas before they would have," Newcastle Rabbi Yossi Rodal said.
"A lot of people have embraced Judaism, even people who weren't so involved before.
"A lot have been feeling quite lonely and vulnerable and therefore reached out for support."
Rabbi Rodal, of Newcastle Hebrew Congregation, said "some people have removed Star of David necklaces".
"We've also seen people who have never been prouder to be Jewish and exhibit Jewish symbols."
Nonetheless, he said the Jewish community had unified.
"It's probably stronger than it ever was - in the last 65 years anyway," he said.
While Pro-Palestinian rallies had received a lot of attention, many people had also shown compassion for the Jewish people.
Since the attacks a year ago, Rabbi Rodal had received hundreds of calls from "people voicing solidarity and support".
"That's everyday Australians in Newcastle who are not Jewish, but felt like they had to reach out," he said.
Rabbi Rodal, who will speak at Monday night's memorial service, said his message was "that a lot of people have very strong feelings about this issue".
"We should always channel it into action to do something good and bring more light into the world - just being kinder to other people and doing more good deeds," he said.
"That will honour the memories of the people who were killed."
Israel says more than 1200 people, mostly civilians, were killed when Hamas terrorists attacked on October 7.
More than 250 hostages were taken into Gaza. About 100 remained there, while about 40 had died.
In the war that followed, more than 40,000 people had been killed and more than 92,000 injured in Gaza, the health ministry says.
Dr Abdulrazak Mohamad, of Newcastle Muslims Association, said an expanded regional conflict would have unpredictable outcomes.
"The apocalyptic destruction and killing is frightening," Dr Mohamad said.
He said the association was "extremely saddened" by the war and urged "peace-loving people to stand against it".
"We pray that peace prevails."
Rabbi Rodal hoped for an end to terrorism, so "civilians can get back to enjoying life".
He said there had been "a slight uptick" in antisemitism in Newcastle in the past year.
"Being openly Jewish, I've had a number of Islamic youths scream terrible things at me," he said.
Vehicles had driven past him, with people "screaming antisemitic slogans at me".
"Eight to nine months back, we had graffiti on my house. Other than that, it's been pretty good in comparison to other places," he said.
"We're very lucky being in Newcastle, where in general we don't have that much antisemitism."
Nonetheless, he said "we always know it's out there".
"To see it live, it's always bad. Social media is pretty horrible. I could post something about lighting a candle for Shabbat and there will be terrible antisemitic comments like 'die Jews', things like that.
"We try to advise community members not to get combative on social media.
"We've had people put up a post defending Israel and they were sent pictures of their kids with their necks slit, stuff like that."
