Leo Baeck Centre Rabbi and Presidents
As the Leo Baeck Centre community and Australian Jews were kindling the first light of Hanukkah last night, an all too familiar darkness struck our community. By now, we’ve all seen, heard and read about the horrendous terrorist attack on Jews at Bondi Beach —Jews joyfully and peacefully celebrating the beginning of our Festival of Lights.
Our hearts are heavy for the losses of life and we wish r’fuah sh’leimah to those in hospital and impacted.
Of course, it’s natural to feel shocked, sickened, afraid, angry, disillusioned, isolated and surely in grief, as Jews and human beings. We honor the range of feelings you are experiencing and want to be there for one another. At the same time, while always putting LBC’s welfare and safety at the forefront, we will not buckle to evil. We will, defiantly, continue to kindle the Hanukkah lights, in community and as families. We will, individually and as a community continue to strive to be a light unto the nations.
In that spirit, LBC’s leadership has arranged for a virtual lighting our hanukkiyot, within our homes, tonight at 8:00 PM.
Let’s collectively kindle the second candle and recite the blessings together.
As we have, we will get through this unspeakable time for the Australian Jewish community, and for the very soul of Australia, together —Jews and the greater faith community.
Holding each of you,
UPJ Presidents
Tonight, while gathered to celebrate first night Chanukah, shooters attacked the ceremony killing many and wounding others. Rather than celebrating light, our Jewish community has been flung into darkness.
This is not just an attack on our Jewish community, but on all Australians, regardless of religion or ethnicity.
We mourn those who have lost their lives. We pray for the wounded and for the families waiting for news of loved ones.
We stand united as a community and determined to stand proud and free, despite those who would wish us gone from public life.
Am Yisrael Chai
ARZA Australia
Dear community,
It is with deep pain and profound concern that we confront events we have feared and warned about for the past several years.
Our condolences to the families of those who were murdered and praying for a speedy recovery of all injured.
Repeatedly, our community has raised alarms that insufficient action was being taken to address the growing threat of antisemitism and extremism in Australia.
Six months after the release of the Special Envoy’s report on antisemitism, and despite its clear recommendations, there has been no meaningful action by the government. During this period, unchecked demonstrations were permitted under the banner of free speech, while our community’s fundamental right to live in safety and peace was neglected. Incitement, vilification, and demonisation were allowed to proliferate—our concerns either dismissed or met with statements of condemnation that amounted to little more than empty words.
The time has come for our community to demand, without apology, the consistent enforcement of the law against incitement—whether it occurs at public demonstrations, on social media, in places of worship, or elsewhere.
It is also imperative that the broader Australian public understands that extremist ideologies do not threaten only the Jewish community. They pose a serious risk to the very fabric of Australia’s liberal democratic society. History has shown, in Europe and elsewhere, that when antisemitism is tolerated, wider societal harm inevitably follows.
We are now six months on from the antisemitism report, with no tangible government response and only repetitive, hollow statements from national leaders. This failure sends a deeply troubling message. It demands that our community re-examine outdated assumptions and recognise that the world has changed.
There must be a far more serious and coordinated effort by security and intelligence agencies to monitor and address the activities of extremist groups and terrorist organisations operating in or influencing Australia, including those that exploit democratic freedoms, embed themselves within institutions, and use social media manipulation, foreign funding, and the language of human rights to disguise agendas that undermine democratic values and fuel antisemitism.
Australians must develop a clearer understanding of the ideological frameworks and strategies used by extremist movements, and of the long-term consequences of allowing the targeting of Jews to go unchallenged. Protecting the Jewish community is inseparable from protecting Australia’s social cohesion, safety, and liberal values.
At the same time, we must acknowledge with clarity and integrity that extremism does not represent entire communities. Acts of courage and humanity—such as those shown today when a Muslim individual intervened to stop further harm—remind us that solidarity and shared values still exist. With decisive leadership, appropriate resourcing, and a willingness to rise above narrow political interests, there remains hope for Australia to uphold its promise of a fair, multicultural society that lives in genuine harmony.
We cannot remain silent, nor can we retreat from the public sphere. Confronting extremism requires strategy, collaboration, and sustained analysis. It requires moral clarity and the courage to act.
As we celebrate Hanukkah, we are reminded that light must be actively defended against darkness. We must not bury our heads in the sand. We must confront hatred wherever it appears—confident that, through resolve and unity, light will prevail.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Chair of Assembly of Rabbis & Cantors of the UPJ
I’m about to send this message to my community: As we gather with family and friends to celebrate the first night of Chanukah, we are shocked to our core to learn of the shooting at the “Chanukah by the Sea” event at Bondi Beach, NSW. Our hearts are heavy tonight as our festival meant to celebrate light has been so painfully marred by violence.
Chanukah reminds us not only of the miracle of the oil, but of the enduring miracle of the Jewish spirit – our capacity to persevere in the face of external threats, to remain resilient, and to live openly and proudly as Jews. We grieve with our extended Jewish family and with all those who have lost loved ones on this tragically tainted Festival of Lights.
We wish all of those affected – the injured and the traumatised – a refuah shleimah, a complete healing of body, mind, and spirit. Chanukah teaches that light dispels darkness, that fear must not define us, and that our response must be to support one another and to continue shining brightly.
As the prophet Zechariah reminds us:
לֹ֤ א בְ חַ֙ יִל֙ וְלֹ֣ א בְ כֹ֔ חַ כִּ֣י אִ ם־בְּ רוּחִ֔ י אָ מַ֖ ר יְהֹוָ֥הצְ בָ אֽ וֹת
“Not by might and not by power, but by My spirit, says the Eternal of Hosts” (Zechariah .)4:6
May the lights we kindle this Channukah strengthen our resolve, deepen our compassion, and help bring healing and peace in their glow.
A message from President of Israel on X
Our hearts go out to our Jewish sisters and brothers in Sydney who have been attacked by vile terrorists as they went to light the first candle of Chanukah.
I just spoke to … the President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, who was speaking at the event as the shooting attack began. I conveyed on behalf of the entire nation of Israel our condolences to the bereaved families and prayers for the wounded.
Time and again we called on the Australian government to take action and fight against the enormous wave of antisemitism that is plaguing Australian society.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Jewish community of Sydney and the entire Australian Jewish community at this horrific time.
Below is an image from a vigil in Frishman beach TA for Australian Jewish community
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