Local Jewish leaders expressed sadness, anger and grief in response to the Dec. 14 deadly shooting at a Chanukah celebration in Australia.
Australian authorities say at least 15 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded when two gunmen opened fire at around 6:40 p.m. on the crowd at Bondi Beach in Sydney. The attack targeted hundreds who had gathered to mark the first night of Chanukah with a seaside menorah lighting and party sponsored by the Chabad of Bondi.
“The slaughter of Jews in Sydney on the first night of Hanukkah is yet another reminder of the evils of antisemitism,” said the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington in a statement.
“It was shocking, terrible news to hear something like that happened [at] a Jewish gathering when people are celebrating miracles that happened to us,” Rabbi Shlomo Beitsh of the Chabad Israeli Center of Rockville told Washington Jewish Week.
“Once again, we are forced to confront violence directed at Jews, an attack that reverberates far beyond one place or one moment,” said the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. “We are reminded that we are not alone, and that we draw strength from one another and from the deep bonds that connect Jewish communities across the world.”
Guila Franklin Siegel, the COO of the JCRC of Greater Washington, expressed horror and anger about the attack, saying she was “not surprised, but devastated.”
“I wasn’t surprised because it is very clear that the antisemitic attacks that we are enduring are becoming increasingly violent, and online, the antisemitism that we’re seeing manifested is increasingly graphic,” Franklin Siegel told Washington Jewish Week. She referenced two recent attacks in the United States — the firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado, and last May’s Capital Jewish Museum shooting in Washington, D.C.
“We are heartbroken by the horrific news out of Sydney this morning,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), said in a statement. “We mourn the brutal murder of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a devoted Chabad Rabbi who dedicated his life to serving the Jewish community of Sydney, along with the others whose lives were senselessly taken.”
He said “moments like these are meant to instill fear, despair and silence,” contradicting the theme of Chanukah.
“Chanukah is the story of light pushing back against darkness, courage triumphing over fear, and faith shining precisely when the world feels dimmest,” Shemtov wrote.
Hours after the shooting, Shemtov dedicated the National Menorah Lighting in D.C. to the victims of the attack. “Each flame will stand as a declaration that Jewish life will continue to shine,” he wrote.
‘Security Is Our Priority’
D.C.-area Jewish organizations and synagogues planned to move forward with Chanukah events this week with careful attention to security.
Rabbi Shlomo Beitsh of the Chabad Israeli Center of Rockville contacted the local police department to request police presence at a menorah lighting the center hosted on Dec. 14. Members of the Montgomery County Police Department and Rockville Police Department both attended the menorah lighting at Rockville Town Square.
Police dogs surveyed the area in advance to ensure that there were no threats to attendees. Beitsh said he felt safe during the event with these measures in place.
“Many people who came, they came because of what happened,” he said, referencing the shooting in Australia. “To show that the Jewish people are alive and will continue to spread light throughout the world.”
Afraim Katzir, the founding director of Sephardic Heritage International (SHIN-DC), said he’s talking about security measures in advance of a Chanukah concert that SHIN-DC is hosting with the Embassy of Bulgaria this week. But Katzir isn’t necessarily doing anything extra, as he said SHIN-DC has kept security top of mind since Oct. 7, 2023.
“It’s the kind of thing where the dangers have been there,” Katzir said.
‘Do Another Mitzvah’
Australia historically has been seen as a safe place for the country’s approximately 115,000 Jews, but the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said it recorded more than 1,600 antisemitic incidents nationwide in the year ending in September 2025, several times the annual average seen in the years before the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We are now at a stage where anti-Jewish racism has left the fringes of society and become part of the mainstream, where it is normalized and allowed to fester and spread, gaining ground at universities, in arts and culture spaces, in the health sector, in the workplace and elsewhere,” the report said. “In such an environment, Jews have legitimate concerns for their physical safety and future.”
Franklin Siegel echoed that sentiment, adding that leaders and officials must do better at quickly denouncing antisemitic rhetoric in order to prevent resulting violence.
She also urged community members to “continue to live as proud Jews.”
“Chanukah, in particular, is the holiday that we’re commanded to celebrate publicly, to publicize the nature of the miracle,” Franklin Siegel said.
Beitsh drew upon one of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s teachings: “Whenever tragedy like that happens, the action should be to increase even more light and do another mitzvah.”
