A night of reflection six months since Bondi

Exactly six months since the Bondi Beach Chanukah by the Sea terror attack, Cremorne Synagogue hosted RE:CONNECT – a sold-out evening for Jewish residents of the lower north shore and surrounds, focusing on healing, resilience and community.

Organiser, Cremorne Synagogue board member Kevin Jochelson, said it was designed as a calm and structured space “to come back into community, reflect on what we have carried, and begin reconnecting together”, adding the large turnout “showed the need for more spaces like this” north of the harbour.

“Bondi affected Jews across Sydney, and this event in Cremorne was about reminding people they do not have to carry it alone.”

Supported by the NSW government, the evening opened with Jochelson reading the names of the 15 victims of the Bondi terror attack, before introducing Rabbi Mendel Slavin of Cremorne Synagogue, who framed the evening through the lens of Rosh Chodesh, healing, and renewal, and emphasised how “healing comes in stages”.

He said the pain and trauma post-Bondi had not only broken the community down, but had also “broken us open … to open our hearts”.