Jewish school leaders gather in Sydney

At a memorial walk over the Bondi site, Rabbi Menachem Dadon told Australian Council of Jewish Schools (ACJS) conference delegates that despite the Bondi Beach terror attack on Chanukah by the Sea on December 14, he looks at Archer Park as a holy site, and a place of simcha and bringing people together, and he hopes the Jewish community does too.

On the second day of the ACJS annual Presidents and Principals conference, interstate delegates met at the site of the attack, where Dadon, who was with Rabbi Eli Schlanger when he was killed, shared his experiences of what happened.

Being Israeli, Dadon explained that he immediately knew the sounds were gunshots, recalling the bullets whipping by him as he huddled behind a car for safety. He described the moment he moved right when Rabbi Eli went left, how he helped Rabbi Leibel Lazaroff and Constable Scott Dyson, the phone call from his daughter saying she had been shot and the final conversation he had with Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, who he described as “happy” during those moments.

The ACJS, which represents 15 Australian Jewish day schools that enrol 9,700 students from ELC to Year 12 across Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane, holds an annual conference to promote collaboration among Jewish day schools, providing an opportunity to share experiences and learnings across the network.

The conference was held in Sydney this year to show support for the community following the terrorist attack, specifically the Kesser Torah College community.

ACJS co-chair Hon Justice Stephen Rothman said the college “was especially chosen this year as the conference venue to show solidarity with the Kesser Torah community which has recently suffered greatly from the Bondi terrorist attack.”

“The conference allowed the Jewish day schools to physically express their sympathy for the loss of life and for the trauma experienced by the Chabad Bondi community, many of whom are staff members and students at Kesser Torah,” Alan Goldstone, Victorian-based co-chair of ACJS, added.

The conference opened with a session titled ‘Reflections on Bondi’, led by KTC college principal Rabbi Chaiton.

Four additional sessions were held across the two days, covering antisemitism, security, middle income affordability, and enrolment retention and attraction.

The Antisemitism session included a panel discussion with panellists Michele Goldman CEO of NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Tahli Blicblau CEO Dor Foundation, Simone Abel Head of Legal at ECAJ and Rabbi Zalman Kastel, Dean of Together for Humanity. The security session included a discussion with representatives from the ECAJ and the CSG.

Additional presentations were made by school presidents and principals on initiatives at their respective schools.

Sydney’s Moriah College principal Mira Hasofer said the conference is an incredibly valuable opportunity for Jewish school leaders from across Australia to learn from one another.

“While every school and community is unique, many of the challenges and opportunities are common across the country. There was enormous value in the collaboration, networking and exchange of ideas, but also in the reassurance that comes from knowing we are not facing these complexities alone,” she said.

The conference dinner keynote address was delivered by the Hon Justice Michael Lee, and video messages were received from Julian Lesser, Opposition Education Spokesman, and Hillel Newman, Israel’s Ambassador to Australia. Federal education minister Jason Clare also sent a message of goodwill.

For delegates, the opportunity to learn from each other was gratefully received.

Marc Light, principal of King David School in Melbourne described the two days as “uplifting and inspiring” saying, “it is clear that the future of Jewish schools education in Australia is in safe hands”.

The sentiments were echoed by Chris Hall, principal of Carmel School in Perth who said, “As a relatively new Principal, from Carmel School Western Australia, I enjoyed the opportunity to engage with Principal colleagues, alongside Board representatives and the ACJS Team … I am grateful for the hospitality and fellowship amongst the group”.

In Bondi, Rabbi Dadon recalled the final conversation he had with Rabbi Eli Schlanger, explaining that right until the very end, the late Rabbi was trying to help people despite coming under fire himself. Dadon said it took a while for Rabbi Eli’s words to really sink in following the attack.

“You know, we sometimes underestimate the words that are coming out of our mouths,” Dadon said, explaining that the pair were discussing the effort it took to host the Chanukah by the Sea event. He said Rabbi Eli appreciated how much others had stepped up.

“He said to me ‘Menachem, it took me 18 years to train them to do the work, and now I can take a step back.” Dadon timestamped the conversation at 6:42pm.

As their conversation ended, the first shots rang out.