Hundreds of mourners streamed into the Chabad of Bondi synagogue on Wednesday morning, some wiping away tears or audibly sobbing. Guarded by dozens of police officers, they filled the synagogue to capacity; dozens more waited outside.
They had gathered to honor Eli Schlanger, one of the 15 people who were killed when two gunmen opened fire at Bondi Beach on Sunday, in a shooting that the Australian authorities described as a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community. The funeral for Rabbi Schlanger of the Chabad of Bondi, a key organizer of the beachside Hanukkah event where the attack took place, was the first to be held after the assault.
Speakers and attendees mourned a man they described as a pillar of the community who was devoted to his faith and generous with his time. They grappled with the aftershocks of the worst mass shooting in the country in nearly 30 years, which has left a tightknit community deeply shaken.
For many, grief and shock were mixed with anger at an attack that they believed could have been prevented, and at a government they saw as not having done enough to combat antisemitism.
“Our community suffered our own seventh of October,” Yehoram Ulman, Rabbi Schlanger’s father-in-law, said during his address, referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which set off the war in Gaza.
Choking back tears, Rabbi Ulman said of Rabbi Schlanger: “You’re my son, my friend and confidant. To think that your wife, your children, I, will have to go a day without you is impossible.”
“Whatever I say today will be such an understatement to what you meant to everyone,” he added.
Levi Wolff, a rabbi at Sydney’s Central Synagogue, said: “Eli was ripped away from us in the midst of doing what he did best, spreading Yiddishkeit, spreading love and joy and caring for his people.”
Rabbi Schlanger, 41, had served for 18 years as an emissary of Chabad, an organization based in Brooklyn dedicated to strengthening and enriching Jewish life by providing religious, educational, social and cultural services around the world. In addition to his role at the Chabad of Bondi, he served as chaplain to New South Wales’s Corrective Services. He is survived by his wife and their five children, according to Chabad.
Outside the service, mourners recalled memories of Rabbi Schlanger and spoke of their grief and shock. Some who did not know him personally said they had come because of a desire to be with community and to show support.
“As a community, as a Jewish community and an Australian community, it feels like we’re all in mourning. We all lost a family member,” said Lance Radus, 53, before entering the synagogue, a yarmulke covering his dreadlocked hair.
“He was a man who spread light, always,” said Mr. Radus, adding that the rabbi had been a support for him after the passing of his father. “He was a happy, caring man, full of joy.”
Some attendees expressed anger over the Australian government’s handling of rising antisemitism across the country after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“We as a community have been asking and begging for assistance, and it’s been turned down totally,” Michael Atlas, 75, said. He said he was disappointed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s response to the Bondi Beach attack, believing that Mr. Albanese was focusing too much on tightening gun laws “as an excuse as to not focus on the real issue — and the real issue is the antisemitism that’s been going on here for the last two and a half years.”
“We’ve had warning signs and what we feel is a completely inadequate response from the Australian leadership to address the root cause of this antisemitism,” said Micaela Ezra, referencing incidents such as graffiti defacing synagogues in Sydney and Melbourne.
“There was always dread that something of this nature could happen, but the reality is just jarring and unfathomable,” she said.
Leaders who attended the funeral included Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, Sussan Ley, leader of the conservative opposition party, and former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
After Rabbi Schlanger’s casket was loaded into a hearse, hundreds followed behind it as it slowly rolled down the street. They sung a Jewish prayer. Some wiped away tears, or rocked back and forth. Others wrapped their arms around each other and swayed, their voices rising and falling.
Before ending his speech, Rabbi Ulman urged the Jewish community to remain strong: “When those animals who look like humans try to destroy us, the hope is that somehow we’ll become dormant, will go down, be afraid.”
The Jewish community would not do that, he said. They would not hide their faith or avoid the site of the attack. On Sunday, the final night of Hanukkah, they would follow Jewish tradition.
“We’re going to gather in Bondi Beach, and we’re going to light the eight candles, and we’re going to show the world that the Jewish people are unbeatable,” he said.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
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