“It’s a day that I think we all dreaded in the Jewish community. It was the day that we had, I guess, in many ways, warned the government and higher authorities of the possibility and the risk. And it’s almost like we’re not being heard, almost invisible.” “It was a massacre, a pogrom here in our city, here in one of our most cherished landmarks, Bondi Beach. Lives shattered irrevocably in a single moment. Young children, who from that moment on, will never have a father again. Parents who lost their beloved 10-year-old daughter. This is the moment we have arrived at. This is not something we should ever have seen in Australia.” “I think everyone knew this was going to happen sooner or later, given the trajectory we were on as a society, but for it to actually happen here at our Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, which every year is just the most beautiful family event with kids running around and – it’s a celebration.” “Eli was a truly wonderful guy, warm, caring, lively, energetic and outgoing, who loved people, loved to do good, loved to take care of others. The instant reaction, like so many other human beings, is to point the finger at anyone who might be pointed with anxiety. Why doesn’t the media raise the concerns of the Jewish community? Why don’t governments understand how we feel and the threats we face? We feel alone. And then my brain says, no, stop. I’m a rabbi, I’m not a politician. My job is to spread kindness. I know that’s what Eli would say.
