Rabbi Ulman urges more Jewish pride

Chabad of Bondi spiritual leader Rabbi Yehoram Ulman has urged Jews not to retreat in the face of hostility, telling an international conference in Jerusalem that the response to hatred must be more Jewish life, pride and visibility.

Speaking at the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism on Tuesday, Rabbi Ulman, whose son-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger was killed in the Bondi Beach massacre, described the community’s deliberate decision to respond with strength rather than fear.

“In the hours after the attack, Sydney was wrapped in shock and grief, and within that fog, a question surfaced, and it’s the same question that has followed the Jewish people for thousands of years. What now?,” Ulman said.

“The instinct when hunted is to hide, lower your profile, blend in, be less visible. Well-meaning voices told us be careful, don’t provoke. Stay quiet for a while. But we made a conscious decision. For every Jewish life taken, we would add Jewish life.

“If they targeted us because we are Jews, then the answer was not less Judaism. The answer is more. More light, more mitzvahs, more presence, more pride. And that decision changed everything.”