Shocked and horrified, but not surprised: these words of Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, after Sunday’s attack on Bondi beach, were almost identical to those of chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis in response to the killings at Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur.
Both attacks targeted the community as we honoured the sacred festivals of our Jewish year. The annual gathering on Bondi Beach to celebrate “Hanukah by the Sea” is a great event in the calendar of Sydney Jewry, taking place in the heart of the community. It marks the lighting of the first candle in the eight-day festival which celebrates hope and courage. It’s a time of light and joy; there was a petting zoo, face-painting and fun activities for all the family.
Instead, this open and welcoming celebration was destroyed by fifty rounds of gunfire, leaving 16 dead, some 40 seriously injured, thousands traumatised, a country feeling shattered and Jewry round the world in grief and anguish.
The Jewish community is closely connected. It wasn’t long before I began receiving messages: “My niece was there. She had to run; she’s distraught.”
“My sister lives in Sydney, I was so worried, but for some reason she didn’t go to the beach.”
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Once again, I find myself thinking of Yehudah Amichai’s poem The Diameter of the Bomb: those killed are at the epicentre, but the shockwaves spread ever wider, reaching those who weep on distant shores at the other side of the globe.
Even if nobody we know was there, the horror reaches home: “It feels like it’s encircling us,” a congregant tells me. He means the pervasive ether of anti-semitism. Some of it poses as anti-the State of Israel.
There is indeed legitimate criticism of the Israeli government. Such criticism is shared by many Jews who passionately care about Israel and pray for the wellbeing of all its citizens. But the pervasive rhetoric of cult-like hatred directed against the whole country of Israel effectively targets all Jews. It slides all too readily from murderous words to graffiti, murderous threats and murderous acts.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry logged 1,600 antisemitic incidents in the year to September 2025.
The massacre on Bondi Beach, said Alex Ryvchin, was “the logical conclusion to what’s been simmering in this country for two years.” His own home was fire-bombed earlier this year.
As communities round the world lit their first Chanukah candle last night there was a spirit of solemnity and sorrow. At a gathering of hundreds in my synagogue we prayed for the wounded and expressed our heartfelt solidarity with the grief-stricken.
But there is also a spirit of resolute determination. Chanukah celebrates resilience and courage. As Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly wrote: “the act of bringing light into a very dark world is one of defiance, faith, and hope. We trust that, with God’s help, we will see light prevail over darkness, and righteousness overcome evil.”
We take strength from the amazing intervention by Ahmed al-Ahmad who showed unimaginable bravery in overpowering one of the gunmen, and who was himself wounded. As Imam Qari Muhammad Asim wrote in a moving message to the British Muslim Network, his courage “shows the true values of Islam”. Both Jewish and Muslim sacred writings teach that whoever saves a single life is as if they had saved the entire world. Ahmed al-Ahmad saved many lives.
Imam Qari rightly called the attack at Bondi Beach “an assault on the fundamental values of dignity, freedom of worship and coexistence that bind us together. Such acts of terror are a betrayal of our common humanity.” That common humanity needs common defence by us all.
We therefore also take strength from similar messages from many Muslim and Christian leaders. We stand together not only against antisemitism but in determined opposition to all forms of hatred and racism. It is essential that across our societies, in Australia, Britain and worldwide, we affirm our shared humanity not just in words but actively, by working together for the good of our whole society.
Above all, we find strength in the deep resilience of Judaism which sees in the human spirit an inexhaustible and unquenchable source of light. As we celebrate the next seven days of Chanukah, we kindle that light in the public domain, sharing our determination that understanding will conquer hatred, that goodness will overcome evil and that cruelty will be vanquished by compassion.
Jonathan Wittenberg is the senior rabbi of Masorti UK
Photograph by Saeed Khan/ AFP via Getty Images