Melbourne remembers Bondi
St Kilda Shule was at capacity as more than 1,000 gathered for the shloshim after the Bondi Chanukah attack.
More than 1000 people filled St Kilda Shule to capacity on Monday evening to mark the shloshim for victims of the Chanukah massacre at Bondi Beach.
The solemn event heard from family members of two of the 15 people murdered in the December 14 attack, with memorial candles lit for each victim at the service’s conclusion.
Perele Goldhirsch, sister of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, urged the community to respond to tragedy through action.
“When darkness tries to break us, the Jewish response is not to retreat. It is not silence, it is not fear, but rather, it is light and action,” she said.
She recalled her brother’s final message, which has since gone viral: “Be more Jewish. Act more Jewish. Appear more Jewish.”
“I have never in my life been prouder to be a Jew,” Goldhirsch told the gathering.
Sheina Gutnick, daughter of Reuven Morrison, described her father’s heroism in confronting the gunmen.
“He rose like a lion. He shouted at the terrorists, warned them and challenged them. ‘How dare you come here? How dare you come to our place, to our people!'” she said.
Morrison, who grew up facing antisemitism in the Soviet Union, fought the attackers for eight minutes, drawing them away from the crowd. “Eleven bullets were found in his body, a final record of the final minutes of his life, minutes filled with courage, with clarity and selflessness,” Gutnick said.
St Kilda Shule’s Rabbi Yaakov Glasman acknowledged the presence of communal, political and interfaith leaders, including representatives from the Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist communities.
“A Jewish response to tragedy is action, and a Jewish response to darkness is light,” he said.
Rabbi Moshe Kahn, head of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, reflected on the community’s anguish.
“Tonight, we scream at God, not because we don’t believe in God, but because we believe in you,” he said.
At the end of the service, attendees were emailed an invitation to join the One Mitzvah for Bondi campaign, encouraging people to take on one mitzvah in honour of the victims.
At Bondi Pavilion on Sunday night, Rabbi Yossi Friedman led a service in the presence of Governor-General Sam Mostyn, NSW Governor Margaret Beazley, Waverley mayor Will Nemesh and members of the community.
Speakers included attack survivor Jessica Kahn, Holocaust survivor Mark Spiegelman and Michael Britvan, the father of Matilda.
A poignant moment was a rendition of a rewritten Waltzing Matilda by singer Ilan Kidron, in honour of the 10-year-old.