Mitzvah House commemorates lives lost at Bondi

To mark the six-month Hebrew anniversary this week of the Bondi terror attack, the Jewish community gathered in strength and unity at the Menorah memorial on Bondi beach in an initiative led by Mitzvah House.

Around 50 Jewish community members from across the state gathered to wrap tefillin at sunrise, a moment to remember those who lost their lives and to pray for those affected.

Calling the site where 15 souls lost their lives “hallowed ground”, Rabbi Koncepolski reflected on the remarkable ways in which people have come together in unity and kindness over the past six months.

“We’ve seen strangers helping each other, we’ve seen Torah learning, mitzvahs, prayer, and more concern for one another. Just like Joshua and Caleb, we refuse to allow darkness to define the future… As we stand here at sunrise, we are reminded that darkness never lasts forever,” he said.

Mitzvah House, a project founded by Rabbi Noach Koncepolski in the weeks following the Bondi terror attack, has been operating daily as a centrepoint for connection, kindness and collective care for any and all passers-by. The Chabad initiative called Ohel Eli and Yaakov, was created in memory of the two Chabad emissaries, Rabbi Eli Schlanger and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, who were tragically amongst the 15 killed in the December 14 attack. In the first week alone after the attack, Rabbi Koncepolski and his team put tefillin on over 1,500 people each day.