Precious lives tragically cut short

I have been to Chabad of Bondi’s beautiful new shule and community centre twice in my life.

The first time was shortly before it opened last year, when an enthusiastic Rabbi Eli Schlanger beamed as he gave me a personal tour of the home that his community had finally built after years of setbacks and disappointment. I can clearly remember his excitement as he showed me around the building, the beautiful shule area, the welcoming lobby, the kids’ area and more, explaining how each area would help the community celebrate, grow and thrive.

The second time I visited the centre was on Monday night, at a service to mourn the loss of Eli and so many others in a senseless act of calculated malevolence at Bondi Beach on Sunday.

As I type this I am still in shock. It doesn’t seem real. Fifteen dead including a Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old schoolgirl. Others gravely wounded and fighting for their lives.

Every one a precious soul who brought light to this earth. Every one representing a family that has been torn apart. Collectively, a community that has been torn apart.

Eli was a true mensch. Nobody had a bad word to say about him. He was deeply dedicated to his community, to his heritage and to his Judaism. He was one of the purest, good people you would ever meet, always wanting to help others and share a little bit of light. It was always a pleasure to speak to him.

Shortly after October 7 he travelled to Israel to show our Israeli brethren that they were not alone in their grief. I interviewed him about it and we ran a story. More recently I spoke to him about his family connections to Manchester after the horrific attack there on Yom Kippur.

The last time I saw him in person we spoke about doing a feature story in the new year about his mitzvah of visiting Jewish prisoners in jail. I also reminded him to please send the details of the Chanukah event he was planning so that we could list it in The AJN‘s Chanukah liftout.

It was at that very event that his life was cut short. He leaves behind a wife and five children, including a newborn who had his bris just six weeks ago.

I wish I could say that his death, and the deaths of the others, were not in vain. That good will come of this tragedy. But that is very hard to fathom right now.

Australia has well and truly lost its innocence. Everyone I spoke to down at Bondi on Monday was saying the same thing. They couldn’t believe what had happened. But at the same time, they absolutely could.

The writing has been on the wall since on October 9, 2023. When hate-filled thugs chanted “F**k the Jews”, “Where’s the Jews” and possibly “Gas the Jews” on the Sydney Opera House steps, our political leadership – with the exception of NSW Premier Chris Minns – was sorely lacking. There is no doubt that that failure to nip the fledgling explosion of Jew hatred in the bud set Australia on the path to what happened on Sunday.

We got used to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declaring after each incident – as they escalated in seriousness – that “there is no place for antisemitism in Australia” as if merely saying so would wish it away. The government appointed Jillian Segal as Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism only for her report and recommendations to gather dust on the Prime Minister’s desk for five months.

Our communal leaders warned time and time again that drastic action was needed lest the day come that the rising tide of Jew hatred claimed a fatality. They were ignored.

Anti-Israel protesters were allowed to march on our streets and fill our university quadrangles chanting “Globalise the intifada”. Nothing was done. We were doxxed, othered and cancelled. Nothing was done.

In the meantime, the federal government helped to fuel the fire with its rhetoric and policy regarding Israel’s existential war against Hamas in Gaza, while its decision to recognise the State of Palestine showed that terrorism works.

We got lucky when no one died in the Adass firebombing. We got lucky when the East Melbourne arson didn’t result in casualties.

On Sunday, our luck ran out. We experienced firsthand the meaning of “Globalise the intifada”.

Perhaps true action will now be taken. Maybe the government will realise that hedging its bets in the name of votes wasn’t just a losing strategy, but a tragic one. But it won’t bring the 15 souls who were murdered back to their families.

We are in the middle of Chanukah, the festival of light, but it is very hard right now to see a path out of the darkness that has descended upon us. And yet look for shards of light we must. And there are some to be found. Hero shopkeeper Ahmed El-Ahmed, who put his life on the line to stop one of the shooters, is one. The many non-Jewish Sydneysiders and Australians more generally who have rallied to our side in these last few days is another.

I cannot say everything is going to be alright. But what I can say is I know this amazing community of ours. We will look after each other. We will hold each other up. We will remember and celebrate those we lost.

And we will refuse to let hatred have the final word.

Gareth Narunsky is editor-in-chief of The AJN.