Sydney rabbis mourn Manchester synagogue attack

Australian rabbis have outlined their personal connections to the Manchester synagogue that was the target of a terror attack last week.

Two people were killed and four injured on Yom Kippur in a car-ramming and stabbing attack at the Heaton Park Synagogue that sent shockwaves through the Jewish world. Suspect Jihad al-Shamie was shot dead by officers at the scene.

The Great Synagogue Chief Minister Rabbi Dr Benjamin Elton, who is from Manchester and attended cheder at the synagogue before his Bar Mitzvah, said he was “very distressed, very anxious” when he first heard the news.

“I was going in and out of that shule twice a week for a year. And also I had friends who, it was their shule,” he said. “So Heaton Park Shule was very much a part of my life growing up in Manchester.”

Rabbi Elton told The AJN how he saw the shule’s rabbi, Rabbi Daniel Walker, at a conference just a few weeks ago.

“We happened to sit together at lunch, and we were having this very nice chat about his plans for yom tov and my plans for yom tov, and we were both looking forward to it,” he said.

He said the attack “reminds us just how high the stakes are”, noting recent incidents that have occurred in Australia.

“The fact that we got away with it here, at least in terms of fatalities, shouldn’t make us complacent about the level of the threat,” he said.

“I said at the time, and I still think, it was a miracle no one was killed during those attacks. But they weren’t so lucky in Manchester.”

Rabbi Eli Schlanger of Chabad of Bondi revealed his great uncle, Leslie, was the rabbi of the Manchester synagogue for over 35 years. With his mother’s entire family from Manchester, and a cousin who lives across the street from the synagogue, Schlanger said the attack hit particularly close to home.

Asked whether he worried about a similar attack in Australia, Schlanger said he put his “full trust in Hashem that nothing will happen”, but criticised political leaders in Britain and Australia for giving legitimacy to potential attackers.

“Every single time there’s even a talk of a peace deal with the terrorists, they strike. It’s clear as day,” Schlanger said. “These are not my words – the Lubavitcher Rebbe spoke about this.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sent condolences to the people of Manchester last Thursday.

“There is no place for terrorism in our streets and all Australians stand with the UK at this dreadful time,” he said.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley said her thoughts are with the families of those who have been killed and injured “in this cowardly, evil attack.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) president Daniel Aghion said it was “an attack on religious freedom”.

“Whatever sick reason might have motivated the perpetrator to murder two people at random and seriously injure four others, it points to a collapse of basic moral values,” he said.

As a result of the attack, the Community Security Group (CSG) announced it would be significantly increasing protection and patrols around shules across Australia.