Beloved Rabbi Eli Schlanger Killed in Bondi Shooting, Newborn Son Left Fatherless

Rabbi Eli Schlanger, one of the 16 victims of the terrorist attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, had written an impassioned letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese just weeks before his death, pleading with the leader to stand against rising antisemitism.

The 41-year-old father of five, who served as the assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi, was gunned down during the 'Chanukah by the Sea' event, a tragedy made all the more poignant by his prescient, and ultimately unheeded, warning.

A Prescient Plea to Government

The content of the letter, as reported by the Australian outlet Channel 12, now reads as a desperate, prophetic warning in the face of the violence that was to come. Rabbi Eli Schlanger begged the Prime Minister, writing: 'As a rabbi in Sydney, I beg you not to betray the Jewish people and not God himself.'

He used the weight of history to convey the profound human consequence of perceived abandonment, noting: 'Jews have been torn from their land again and again by leaders who are now remembered with contempt in the pages of history. You have an opportunity to stand on the side of justice.'

The letter concluded with a defiant hope, attempting to pre-emptively affirm the leader's moral courage: 'I congratulate you in advance for the courage to do what is right and stand firm against this act of heresy.'

A New Father's Life Stolen In The Bondi Massacre

The personal dimension of the tragedy for the Schlanger family is devastating. Rabbi Eli Schlanger and his wife had recently welcomed a new son, announcing the happy news in an October post on Facebook.

He was a popular and well-known figure, serving for 18 years as a shliach (emissary) of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Bondi Beach. As an emissary, his role was not merely clerical; he was a central organiser of Jewish life in the area, responsible for outreach, education, and community-building. His loss is therefore a devastating blow to the heart of Sydney's Jewish life.

The 'Chanukah by the Sea' Massacre

The attack, which occurred at the 'Chanukah by the Sea' event, was orchestrated to shatter the peace of a community gathering intended to be the 'perfect family event to celebrate light, warmth, and community'.

Witnesses described the terrifying scene of a peaceful summer evening being abruptly shattered by gunfire. People in bathing suits were seen running from the water as the shots rang out, with one lawyer, Arsen Ostrovsky, who was grazed by a bullet, describing what he saw as 'pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere.'

The violence, the deadliest in Australia since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, has been swiftly condemned by world leaders, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who called it an 'act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation'.

However, for the family of Rabbi Eli Schlanger and the other victims, those words come too late, the devastating price having already been paid in blood at a place that should have offered sanctuary, not sorrow.