Statements About the Hanukkah Shooting at Bondi Beach, Australia

At least 15 people were killed and dozens more were wounded at a Chabad Hanukkah celebration on Sunday evening at Bondi Beach. Among the people killed were a Chabad rabbi, a 10-year-old girl, and a Holocaust survivor.

Click on the name below to navigate to a statement from Jewish organizations. More will be added as they are received.

JCRC 

Once again, on a day meant to be filled with light, we awoke to news of deadly anti-Jewish violence, this time involving a pair of gunmen targeting a Hanukkah celebration of over 1,000 people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.  

In solidarity with the Jewish community of Australia and all of Am Yisrael (the Jewish people), we mourn the loss of at least 15 people who were murdered and pray for the refua shleima (complete recovery) of dozens more wounded.  

As we wait to learn more about those stolen from us, JTA reports that the dead included Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a Chabad emissary and father of five who served the Bondi community for 18 years; a Holocaust survivor; an immigrant from France; and a 12-year-old girl. May their memories be a blessing.  

One ray of light was the heroic bravery of Ahmed al-Ahmed, an unarmed civilian who tackled one of the shooters from behind and wrestled the gun from his hands. He was shot twice but thankfully survived.  

— 

“I’m horrified and devastated that this happened, but not shocked,” Lynda Ben-Menashe, president of the National Council of Jewish Women Australia, told The Times of Israel. “Over the past two years, antisemitism has been rising by the month, and the government has not listened to our pleas. When there is no visible consequence to incitement, violence always ensues.”

To confront this wave of anti-Jewish hostility, we must be grounded in self-respect, clarity, and audacity.  

These are the three guiding principles of the Movement Against Antizionism (MAAZ), a “non-partisan, emergency-response initiative confronting a rapidly escalating antizionist hate movement that is actively endangering Jewish communities worldwide.” 

In that spirit, we must all be clear: this attack emanates from the primary ideological driver of contemporary anti-Jewish hostility – antizionism.  

Antizionism is a hate movement built on defamation and denial that follows the 2,500-year-old pattern of libeling Jews as enemies of whatever society values most. It represents “Act III” in a lineage of anti-Jewish hate that dates back to the biblical period.  

Act I, anti-Judaism, reached its pinnacle with the charge of deicide, which held Jews collectively responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Subsequently, both Christian and Muslims cemented Jews into a subservient status as a living testament to the supremacy of first Christianity and later Islam. 

In Act II, antisemitism built upon previous eras’ lies to re-brand Jews as “racial polluters,” a fashionable hatred that took advantage of the 19th and 20th centuries’ pseudoscientific theories of racial hierarchy.   

Building upon Acts I and II, as Western societies seek redemption for past sins of racism, apartheid, and colonialism, antizionism takes center stage in Act III. Like in previous eras, antizionism projects contemporary society’s own anxieties and unresolved guilt onto Jews and Israel through a patterned cycle of accusation, stigmatization, violence, and denial.  

To be clear, antizionism is not “criticism of Israel.” It is not about borders, political disagreements, or about how to build a better future for Palestinians or Israelis. 

As MAAZ outlines, antizionism is built on a system of anti-Jewish libels: “a web of obsessively repeated accusations designed to activate a 2,000-year-old civilizational reflex to purge Jews from society and ultimately eliminate them.” 

The colonialism libel, the genocide libel, the apartheid libel, and other popular antizionist libels don’t operate independently of the anti-Jewish thought patterns developed during Acts I and II – they are the foundation upon which they stand.  

As with previous anti-Jewish libels, well-meaning people, including some Jews themselves, continue to internalize these potent lies without intending to cause harm. 

Today’s attack in Sydney – like the murder of a young couple leaving an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum, the firebombing of a protest calling for Israeli hostages’ freedom, or the arson of the Pennsylvania Governor’s residence hours after Gov. Josh Shapiro held a Passover seder – is the logical result of such antizionist libels.  

 
“Antizionism does not merely allow violence; it produces it. If the narrative is that “Zionists” embody evil, then violence becomes not just permitted but celebrated. And when Israel itself cannot be struck, Jews abroad become the substitute target.” (MAAZ) 

At JCRC, we are always learning and reassessing the words we choose to effectively educate and advocate on behalf of Am Yisrael.  

Regarding anti-Jewish hostility, Jewish institutions and communities must forge a moral and linguistic shift from the broad construction of “antisemitism” toward confronting antizionism with precision as a distinct political and ideological system with its own genealogy and trail of destruction.

This shift liberates us from endlessly debating whether any given anti-Israel incident “crosses a line into antisemitism.” Instead, it reveals a hate movement, with its own libels, following the patterns of a larger story.

“Wherever antizionism takes root, Jewish life withers: suppressed in the Soviet Union, erased across much of the Middle East and North Africa, and now increasingly constrained within Western culture and institutions.” (MAAZ) 

The antizionist species of Jew-hatred has also brought catastrophe to others – including Palestinians and Arabs across the region who have suffered under regimes and movements that instrumentalize hatred of Israel as a distraction from their own corruption as they deny dignity, freedom, and self-determination to their own people. 

This week, as Jews around the world light the Hanukkiah, we remember that Hanukkah itself commemorates a miraculous victory not only against physical annihilation, but against a more subtle and seductive threat: forced assimilation – the demand that Jews abandon their peoplehood in the name of a supposedly enlightened culture. 

Like the three guiding principles we began with, Hanukkah reflects Jewish self-respect, clarity, and audacity. In their rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem following its desecration during the war for Jewish national liberation, the Maccabees made a commitment to celebrate their Judaism with pride, honor, and joy.  

We are obligated to bring that same self-respect, clarity, and audacity to the threats against us today. 

We call on elected officials, civic leaders, educators, universities, and all institutions entrusted with shaping public life to recognize antizionism for what it is: the latest manifestation of Jew-hatred and a disastrous ideology squarely at odds with an open, pluralistic society that must be confronted immediately.

We invite our community and our partners to join us for our annual Hanukkah Party on Thursday, December 18 from 6-8 p.m., to light the menorah together – in grief, in resolve, and in shared commitment to Jewish life.  

Chag Urim Sameach (Wishing you a joyous festival of lights)

Chabad Young Jewish Professionals

I have just received the heartbreaking news that my dear colleague, Rabbi Eli Schlanger from the Chabad of Bondi was murdered alongside others during the Chanukah event at Bondi Beach in Australia.

I can not believe the words I am reading… and now writing.

Of course we are working with the local law enforcement and additional private armed security to ensure that all of our events are safe and secure.

But NO! No, no, no! We are not canceling any of the planned Chanukah events. On the contrary. This Chanukah needs to be, and please G-d will be, safer, more secure, and most importantly, bigger, better and brighter than ever before!

While they try to fire AR-15s, WE FIRE BACK with the unstoppable strength of a people that have withstood the tests of time and enemies who seek our destruction, and who time and again only succeed in securing their own demise.

WE FIGHT THEIR FIRE OF DARKNESS WITH THE FIRE OF THE MENORAH FILLING THE WORLD WITH ACTS OF GOODNESS AND KINDNESS, inspired by the Maccabees of then, and the Maccabees of today – like our beloved Rabbi Eli of righteous memory.

Please, please think of anyone you know who doesn’t have a Menorah and let’s make sure that in memory of our brothers and sisters in Sydney who can’t light Menorah this year, one more Jewish person will.

I look forward to seeing you and celebrating with you, in public and with pride, a beautiful Chanukah, for the next eight nights together. 

Our flagship event is on Saturday evening the 20th with YJP and on Wednesday evening at Jewish Beginnings Chanukah Family party. For the rest of the nights, we are excited to be joining with other communities across Minneapolis to help spread the joy. 

Hashem, we are doing our best, and beyond, to fight darkness with light, and fill the world with your presence and the peace that brings.

But we need more of your help.

We need you to finally end this exile, so that we never have a day like today again, and so that we can light the real Menorah, the Menorah of the Beis Hamikdash rebuilt in Jerusalem, the city of peace, in a world of peace, safety, and security, with the coming of Moshiach, reunited with our loved ones, today!!

Temple Israel

I woke up this morning looking forward to celebrating Chanukah with our JEWL learners, and to lighting the menorah this evening on this first night of the holiday. I was devastated to see news of yet another antisemitic attack—the shooting at Bondi Beach has so far left at least 11 dead and 29 injured in Australia. Our hearts are with the Australian Jewish community, and we pray for a world in which each of us can practice our faith and observe our traditions without fear of violence.

At this time of year, we light Chanukah menorahs—symbols of hope and resilience. As Jews around the world sing the familiar songs and blessings, placing these menorahs in our windows for the world to see, we bring needed light to a world that has seen far too much darkness and pain, especially in recent times.

Attacks like this one naturally raise concerns about our own safety and security, and I would like to remind you that Temple Israel has invested in significant seen and unseen security measures. We are grateful to you, our community, for supporting this expense.

This Wednesday, we will host a Chanukah gathering together with our Uptown neighbors as part of Holidays on Hennepin from 3-6 p.m. at Temple. We will light the menorah at 6 p.m. Together, we will publicly and proudly celebrate our Judaism. What is one thing you can do in response to antisemitism? Join us. Bring more light into our world. Light your menorahs at home and your Shabbat candles each Friday. Allow Judaism to be a source of strength in your life. Hold close to the wisdom and hopeful vision of our tradition and know that you are part of a caring and resilient Temple community.

Herzl Camp

As we light the candles of Hanukkah, we do so this year with both gratitude and a heavy heart. Our hearts are with the victims, their families, and the Jewish community in Australia, who are grieving in the wake of unimaginable pain and loss. We hold them close in our prayers and in our resolve.

Recently, someone said to me, “We won’t let the perpetrators defeat us.” And while I understand the sentiment, I’m tired of defining ourselves in reaction to hatred. Like the Maccabees, we are proud to be Jews! We are strong in our identity, unwavering in our values, and rooted in light.

At Herzl Camp, that is exactly what we do. We raise proud Jews. We build confidence, connection, and courage. This is not new for us, it is the foundation of who we are and the heart of our mission. And we will never stop! 

May the light of Hanukkah remind us that even in dark moments, Herzl pride, Jewish pride, community, and purpose endure.

Conservative/Masorti Movement 

The Conservative/Masorti Movement stands in solidarity with the Australian Jewish community in this moment of sorrow and challenge. Our clergy, leaders, and members throughout the world come together with all Jews as “Am ehad im lev ehad – one people with one heart,” giving one another solace and strength in this moment of pain, horror, and outrage.

We send comfort to the families of those who were murdered and prayers for healing to those who were injured on Bondi Beach as they were celebrating the Hanukkah festival. We call on all those who stand for decency and freedom to fight against the forces of antisemitism, hate, and bigotry and to stand together with the global Jewish community.

In response to today’s events, Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly and USCJ, offers this teaching:

“Jewish tradition tells us to light Hanukkah candles so they can be seen by the public – a mitzvah called pirsuma d’nissa. This year, in the face of this cowardly attack, the act of bringing light into a very dark world is one of defiance, faith and hope. Over eight nights, as we add to the number of candles we kindle, the amount of light we bring into the world grows. In the spirit of the Al Hanissim prayer that we begin reciting this evening, we trust that, with God’s help, we will see light prevail over darkness, and righteousness overcome evil.”

NCJW Minnesota

Tonight, as we prepare to light the first candle of Chanukah, many of us are finding it difficult to summon the joy usually associated with this season.

We are entering the Festival of Lights during a week that has felt overwhelmingly dark.

It is impossible to light our menorahs tonight without holding space for the grief in our hearts. We mourn the horrific attack on the Jewish community at Bondi Beach and feel the pain of rising antisemitism. Closer to home, we stand with our immigrant neighbors reeling from the fear of this week’s ICE raids across our communities, and the continued devastation of gun violence in educational spaces. 

The story of Chanukah is not about an easy miracle; it is about finding the light when hope is nearly lost. At NCJW|MN, we embrace the tradition that lighting the menorah is an act of defiance and commitment. 

We light for Resilience: We refuse to let terror extinguish our spirit, remembering those lost and honoring our tradition. 

We light for Justice: We recommit to fighting for a Minnesota where all families are safe, welcome, and free from the threat of separation by ICE. 

We light for Peace: We renew our demand for a society that protects our children and communities from gun violence. 

Tonight, as you strike the match, let it be a commitment. We do not ignore the darkness; we name it, and then kindle a light against it.

May the light of this first candle bring comfort to the grieving, strength to the fearful, and resolve to us all.

Students Supporting Israel

SSI is horrified by the acts that unfolded in Australia during the first night of Hanukkah. This festive event on Bondi Beach in Sydney was meant to celebrate light, resilience, and the triumph of faith over oppression. To see such hatred surface at the very moment Jews worldwide kindle the first candle is not only painful, but extremely troubling.

This is precisely what those who call to “globalize the intifada” intend. Spreading violence, intimidation, and fear across borders, targeting Jewish communities wherever they gather camouflaged in “resistance”. Make no mistake, this is intentional.

Yet Hanukkah itself teaches us an important lesson. The Maccabees stood resilient against overwhelming odds, and the miracle of the menorah reminds us that even a small flame can endure and illuminate the darkness.

Over the past two years, SSI worked closely with Australian students across three campuses: Monash, Deakin, and UNSW. Through them, we discovered a proud, vibrant Jewish community on the other side of the world – small in number, but resilient – and facing immense challenges both politically and on the streets.

SSI stands in solidarity with the Australian Jewish community and remains steadfast in our mission. We will not be intimidated, and we will not allow hatred to extinguish our light. We will continue to stand proudly for Israel, for the Jewish people, and for the same values of resilience and hope that Hanukkah embodies.

We send our deepest condolences to the dear families of the victims and wishing a speedy recovery to those injured at the terror attack. SSI members worldwide will be thinking of you tonight as we light our Hanukkah candles, and we promise to keep standing up for the Jewish people.

Shir Tikvah

I reach to you in the aftermath of the tragic attack in Sydney. I grieve the deaths of at least 15 people in the attack targeting those who had gathered to celebrate Chanukah on Bondi Beach and wish comfort and care to all those who are grieving lost loved ones. I also grieve those who were killed and injured at Brown University yesterday in a horrible violation of the sanctity of that space of learning. If your heart is also heavy, please know that these feelings deserve space – and we will honor them together.

Tonight, we enter Chanukah as a community. This holy time does not ask us to pretend everything is fine. Instead, it invites us to gather in ritual and intentional presence, to meet the darkness honestly and to kindle light in response.

As we prepare to light the menorah tonight, I want to invite you to pause to honor the shamash – this candle who kindles every other candle, whose name literally means “helper.” Its role is practical: it is the candle we light first, and from its flame we ignite all the others. The eight lights represent the eight nights of the Chanukah miracle; the shamash enables that miracle to be shared each evening.

Oh, how we need the shamash this year. We must remember that the light of the miracle does not begin with the candles that fill the menorah, but with the helper flame that kindles them. The shamash reminds us that helpers are not in the background – they are indispensable change makers. Just as the shamash makes the ritual of light possible, so too do helpers make possible every act of care, protection, and love in our world.

As we prepare to light our menorah tonight, let us linger with the shamash candle a bit longer as we honor the helpers among us:

  • Those who are patrolling Twin Cities neighborhoods, working to keep our neighbors safe from ICE;
  • To those in Sydney and beyond who ran toward danger, who acted swiftly and bravely to stop harm and protect others;
  • To first responders, Shomrim, social workers, community organizers, teachers, caregivers and all those whose labor safeguards our bodies and spirits through uncertain times.

Fred Rogers, a voice of steady compassion, taught us: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” In this season of Chanukah, may we remember that helpers are not an afterthought – they are the essence of the miracle. 

As we enter this festival of rededication, may we find strength in community, may we honor our grief by naming it aloud, and may we commit to being helpers in our own ways — extending compassion wherever it is needed. 

Minnesota Hillel

As we light the Hanukkah candles this week, I want to reach out to you directly about the safety and wellbeing of our Jewish students here at Minnesota Hillel.

Like all of you, we were heartbroken to learn of the deadly terrorist attack targeting a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families, the Jewish community in Australia, and all those impacted by this senseless act of violence.

The safety of our Jewish students is our absolute highest priority. In response to this antisemitic attack and the heightened concerns it has raised:

  • We are in close communication with University of Minnesota Police, Minneapolis Police, and our Jewish community security partners
  • We are implementing enhanced security measures for all Hanukkah programs and during building hours as students use our space to study
  • Our staff are providing additional care and support resources for students processing this difficult news
  • We maintain our established security protocols that keep our building and community secure year-round

The story of Hanukkah teaches us about resilience in the face of those who would seek to harm us. This year, that lesson feels more relevant than ever. We take every precaution to ensure safety, but we will not allow fear to dim our lights or quiet our celebrations.

This week, we will gather and sing. We will celebrate with pride and joy. And our students will know they are part of something larger than themselves: a global Jewish community that stands strong together.

Our doors are always open. For any student seeking support during this time, please know that Minnesota Hillel is here. Whether they need someone to talk to, a welcoming space to process this event, or the recent tragedy at Brown, we are ready to support them.

Sholom

Our hearts are heavy as we reflect on the horrific tragedy at Bondi Beach in Australia. What should have been a moment of joy and light, marking the beginning of Hanukkah, was instead met with violence and loss.

We mourn with the families and communities impacted, and we grieve that antisemitism continues to surface in moments meant for celebration and peace. Hatred has no place in our world—nor in our communities.

At Sholom, we are guided by Jewish values, history, and tradition, which call us to uphold the dignity and worth of every human being. We remain committed to being a place of inclusivity, compassion, and belonging—where people of all backgrounds, faiths, and identities are welcomed and cared for.

As we kindle the lights of Hanukkah, may they serve as a reminder of resilience, hope, and our shared responsibility to stand against hate and for one another.

Jewish Community Outreach Organization

The DFL Jewish Community Outreach Organization (JCOO) is heartbroken and outraged by the intentional mass murder of Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Australia. This was not only an act of violence, it was an attack on Jewish life itself, carried out as Jews gathered to mark a sacred tradition. It must be named plainly and without hesitation for what it is: antisemitism.

Antisemitism cannot be tolerated, excused, or normalized—ever. When hatred of Jews is minimized or treated as acceptable, it is given space to grow, often with deadly consequences. We call on our allies who share our progressive values to speak out loudly and clearly and confront antisemitism wherever it appears.

We will not retreat. We will continue to gather, to celebrate, and to live openly as Jews. Our light will endure, and it will outshine the darkness that seeks to silence us.