Aspen Hill Rabbi Mourns Rabbi Killed in Bondi Beach Attack

“If there are any issues, just let me know right away, and I’ll be sure to help you.”

That’s one of the last messages Rabbi Levi Raskin received from Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was among the 15 people killed in the Bondi Beach shootings Dec. 14 in Australia. Raskin, the director of Chabad of Aspen Hill, had asked for Schlanger’s guidance in supporting a community member in September.

Raskin recalled that Schlanger, 41, the assistant rabbi for Chabad of Bondi, stood for positivity and urged others “never, ever [to] back away in the face of evil.”

Raskin said that message remains true after his friend and colleague’s death.

“The pain is very raw. Our wounds are deep and painful,” Raskin said, adding that he looked to Schlanger as a source of strength. “But at the same time, we need to be strong and not let fear get in the way, because then, evil wins. The way I’m coping with my grief is by thinking of Eli and what he would want in this moment, and how he would react: to keep our chins up and keep going.”

“He was a force of positive energy every which way,” Raskin said of Schlanger. “If you scroll through his social media, he was full of strength.”

The one message that stands out? “He was the one inspiring others — especially post-Oct. 7 — not to back down, but to shine a light,” Raskin said, adding that Schlanger encouraged fellow Jews to proudly display their mezuzahs or wrap tefillin.

The friendship between Raskin and Schlanger began in 1980s London, when they both attended a traditional Chabad school in Stamford Hill, home to Europe’s largest Orthodox Jewish community. “Life was good … and we were just happy-go-lucky,” Raskin told Washington Jewish Week.

It was when the boys neared adulthood and roomed together at a Brooklyn yeshiva that they grew closer, Raskin said: “I have always felt an innate and natural bond with Eli, so when the opportunity for us to be together presented itself, we embraced it.”

He described Schlanger as a good student who knew early on that he wanted to become a Chabad emissary. Schlanger got married and moved to Australia, serving as the assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi for more than 18 years.

Meanwhile, in 2012, Raskin and his wife settled in Aspen Hill, a suburban neighborhood in Montgomery County, and established Chabad of Aspen Hill in 2014. Raskin and Schlanger didn’t let the thousands of miles between them get in the way of their friendship.

“We’ve always kept together even though we were separated for a bunch of years,” Raskin said. “We always stayed connected.”

Raskin said he was inspired by Schlanger’s positivity and deep community involvement as a rabbi and chaplain. Over the past several years, Schlanger had been an “instrumental force” behind a synagogue and Jewish center in Sydney that came to fruition in 2024.

“One of the saddest things is that as this beautiful center was finalized, he was taken from us and didn’t get to see the full implementation,” Raskin said. “But I am confident that the Jewish community in Sydney will carry his legacy. They’re determined to do so. That’s where his strength was — I would say he really embodied a true Chabad emissary.”

Schlanger spent years involved in the chaplaincy to support those in hospitals and correctional facilities with the goal of spreading light. The rabbi held weekly classes to engage with Jewish inmates in prisons, “the message being, ‘You’re not alone. You’re not forgotten.’ And this is who he was,” Raskin said.

At Schlanger’s funeral, his father-in-law said the rabbi was a “very loved person who always had a smile.” Raskin spoke to the importance of mourning this “pillar of the community” while also continuing to live proud Jewish lives in Schlanger’s memory.

“That same night, Sunday night, we had our menorah lighting,” Raskin said of the Chabad of Aspen Hill community. “That’s the message that I convey to my community, that we must mourn, but we also must shine a light. By showing up and lighting the menorah, that’s how we persevere and come through.”

Raskin plans to dedicate an upcoming learning series in Schlanger’s honor. “I will use his name as an inspiration to others,” he said.

In addition, Raskin and Chabad of Aspen Hill, located at Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville, plan to implement another way to remember the rabbi.

“Since Eli was all about increasing light, and he was taken from us on the first night of Chanukah as he was preparing to light the menorah, we decided to purchase a brand new beautiful menorah that will be displayed next year in a public location as a lasting tribute to Eli’s memory,” Raskin said.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that he leaves behind a legacy of the positive energy he radiated,” Raskin added.

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