On Sunday evening, members of New York City’s Jewish community gathered in Manhattan for a poignant candlelight vigil, honoring the 15 victims of a tragic mass shooting at a menorah-lighting event on Bondi Beach in Australia. Among the attendees were individuals who shared that their relatives had been caught up in the horrific incident, despite it occurring half a world away.
“This is deeply personal to us. Our community is in mourning, and our hearts are broken,” expressed Rabbi Ben Krasniaski, who leads the Chabad of the Upper East Side. “This attack affects us all.”
The remembrance event drew about 100 people, who assembled at the Carl Schurz Park Promenade at East 86th Street and East End Avenue just after sunset to pay their respects.
Authorities in New South Wales reported that, in addition to the 15 fatalities, 42 individuals were injured during the attack. The tragic event unfolded at the renowned Sydney beach, where Jewish communities had come together to light the menorah in celebration of the first night of Chanukah. Among those killed were a rabbi with connections to Crown Heights, a Holocaust survivor, and a 12-year-old girl, according to Australian officials.
“They were targeted simply for being Jewish, taken from us during what should have been a joyous occasion—the first Chanukah gathering of the year,” Rabbi Krasniaski remarked during the Manhattan vigil.
Throughout the gathering, Krasniaski and others maintained a spirit of resilience, embodying the essence of the Chanukah holiday, which commemorates the Jewish triumph over oppression.
“If our enemies think that we are going to cower and we are going to cancel our public menorah lightings, they have no idea who they started up with,” Krasniaski said. “They have no idea what the Jewish people are.”
“This will only create an avalanche of light and wholesomeness and kindness and goodness that will overwhelm the darkness,” he added. “It hits home very strongly.”
Krasniaski’s son-in-law is from Sydney, and his family was at the beach attending the celebration when they were attacked, he related, acknowledging, “So it’s very personal.”
Toward the end of the vigil, a candle was lit on a large menorah. The vigil was initially planned as a first night of Chanukah celebration and menorah-lighting ceremony, but the organizers changed it to a vigil when they heard about the Bondi Beach attack.
Donuts and latkes — traditional Chanukah treats fried in oil — were passed around to attendees at the vigil.
Anthony Bennett, 55, an Upper East Side resident and marketing consultant stood in the crowd, eating a latkah with his son.
“We came because of what happened in Australia. The rabbi sent out an email saying, ‘You know, you can hide under your covers, or you can show you’re proud in being Jewish,’” he said. “We wanted to come out. It wasn’t for the latkes.”
Julian Roberts-Grmela / New York Daily News
NYPD counterterrorism officers stand guard as people gather at Carl Schurz Park in Manhattan on Sunday night for a vigil in remembrance of the 15 people murdered in the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. (Julian Roberts-Grmela / New York Daily News)
UJA Rabbi Menachem Creditor, 50, whose organization co-hosted the vigil, said his brother-in-law, Arsen Ostrovsky, was injured in the attack in Sydney.
“He is one of the leaders of Australian Jewish community. He just moved there two weeks ago with his family, my sister and their two daughters, from Tel Aviv,” Creditor said.
”So they landed, they wanted to celebrate Chanukah with this very big gathering for families at Bondi Beach. And they were there together. He took a step away from them and heard what he thought were balloons bursting,” said Creditor, who said he spoke to Ostrovsky on the phone earlier Sunday.
“He realized it was gunshots, and he stood up to look for his family and was shot in the back of his head. The bullet somehow grazed his skull, so he’s in the hospital recovering, but thank God he’s recovering,” Creditor said.
Shmuel Kramer, 32, called on New York politicians, including Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, to make sure a similar attack doesn’t happen in New York, which has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
“As a new administration takes office, Jewish Americans are watching closely, especially Jewish New Yorkers. We expect real protection, real accountability, and zero tolerance for rhetoric that fuels hate,” Kramer said. “We will stand openly and proud and without fear.”
Like other attendees, Kramer spoke of the resilience of the Jewish people.
“History has already tested us,” Kramer said. “Hitler didn’t erase us. Stalin didn’t silence us, and Hamas won’t break us. This is the real story of Chanukah we’re living now: a people who refuse to disappear or hide.”
