Forthcoming book features conversations with Rabbi Eli Schlanger
'I knew that Eli's legacy, his mission to bring light and love to the world, would not die with him,' author Nikki Goldstein says
HarperCollins Australia will publish Conversations with My Rabbi: Timeless Teachings for a Fractured World, based on conversations between Rabbi Eli Schlanger and author Nikki Goldstein recorded before Schlanger was killed in the Bondi Beach terror attack.
The book will be published simultaneously on May 26 in the US, UK and Australia.
Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi for 18 years, was killed on December 14, 2025 along with 14 others as terrorists attacked the annual Chanukah by the Sea celebration at Bondi Beach.
Goldstein first met Schlanger in September 2022 when she was gravely ill with pneumonia in a Sydney ICU. Her daughter spotted Schlanger in the hallway and asked him to come pray for her.
“Standing beside her bed, he blew the shofar and whispered ancient prayers over Nikki’s comatose body,” the publisher said. “One day later, Nikki began recovering from the life-threatening infection. The doctors called it a miracle.”
As Goldstein regained her health, she and Schlanger grew closer. Coming from profoundly different worlds — one grounded in religious tradition, the other in temporal modernity — they discovered they were seeking answers to the same essential questions.
In January 2025, they began recording their conversations for a book. Weeks before they finished the final chapter, Schlanger was killed.
“I was devastated, shocked, and grieving. But I knew that Eli’s legacy, his mission to bring light and love to the world, would not die with him,” Goldstein said.
“Eli saved my life those years ago, and it’s my honour and privilege to ensure that his voice, memory, and mission are not silenced by terror and continue to work miracles.”
HarperCollins Australia publisher Sophie Ambrose said meaningful, respectful dialogue mattered now more than ever.
“The profoundly moving conversations between a secular Jewish woman and her rabbi, shared in this book, feels all the more relevant and important — and an unexpected gift in the aftermath of a devastating tragedy,” Ambrose said.
Lisa Sharkey, senior vice president and publisher at Harper Influence, said she had never been so instantly affected by an inspirational story.
“Two humans on a spiritual and secular journey that’s continuing beyond the death of one of the authors. But the message lives on through their alternating chapters and the light that will forever illuminate the ancient wisdom translated for a modern audience,” Sharkey said.
Schlanger was also a chaplain for NSW Corrections and St Vincent’s Hospital Darlinghurst, and rabbi for Community Engagement at Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe for 18 years. He founded Project Noah, an educational initiative bringing the Seven Noahide Laws to young people.
He is survived by his wife Chaya and their five children.