‘Nobody will take this beach, or festival, from us’: International names to commemorate Bondi, one year on
When Chanukah falls in early December, the Sydney’s eastern suburbs Jewish community will do as it has done for three decades. It will light a menorah by the sand of one of Australia’s most iconic beaches.
Only this year, the 35-year-old Bondi Beach celebration will be the biggest Jewish event ever held in Australia as the country marks the first anniversary of the attack that killed 15 people.
Peak Jewish groups have revealed that a community-wide Chanukah celebration called We Are One will be held at Bondi Beach on December 6 – the third night of the Jewish festival – to commemorate one year on from the worst terror attack in Australia’s history.
Thousands are expected to attend.
On December 14 last year, 15 people were killed when two gunmen opened fire at the Jewish event on Bondi Beach. Dozens more were injured and the only surviving gunman, Naveed Akram, is facing 59 charges over the shootings.
The festival at Bondi is always held on the Sunday evening of Chanukah, which this December falls on the third night, but this year’s event will be supersized and feature a mass menorah lighting led by survivors, first responders and the families of those who died.
A community choir drawn from synagogues, schools and youth movements across Sydney will lead the crowd in one song and while organisers remain tight-lipped, high-profile international Jewish performers and figures will also feature.
Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, the spiritual leader of Chabad of Bondi which hosts the annual festival, said the community had lit the menorah on Bondi Beach for 35 years and would not be stopped by the events of December 14.
Ulman’s son-in-law and fellow rabbi Eli Schlanger was one of those killed that evening.
“Twelve months ago, we saw the darkest of moments on that same sand. On December 6, we’ll show the world how Australians respond to darkness. We bring more light,” Ulman said.
“We’ll gather, we’ll sing and we’ll light one more candle. Nobody is going to take this beach, or this festival, from us.”
Greg Joffe, the president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said all Australians were invited to the community celebration, which would be ticketed because of the expected demand.
“Our country has provided a safe haven to Jews and many, many others from war and strife,” he said.
“Until now we have celebrated and drawn strength from the diversity of our backgrounds. The best response to last year’s terror attack is to stand together, as a nation, and not allow our social bonds to crack.”
The We Are One festival is supported by the federal and state governments.
Virginia Bell’s report on the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, sparked by the Bondi Beach attacks, was due to be handed to the federal government on December 14 but the former High Court judge asked to hand over her work on December 18 out of respect for those grieving.
The royal commission heard from 340 witnesses across 62 days, with more than 130 of those personal accounts from Jews. The commission received 20,000 written submissions.
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