As Jews around the world celebrate Hanukkah, a deadly attack in Australia has shocked Jewish communities in the Philadelphia region, leading some to increase security at services.
Authorities said two gunmen opened fire at an event on Bondi Beach in Sydney at 6:45 p.m. local time, killing at least 15 people.
Rabbi Yitzchok Kahan of the Chabad in Medford said the attack on a Chabad Hanukkah celebration in Australia was devastating.
Kahan’s son Yosef is studying in and running youth programs in Melbourne, and had communicated with one of the victims shortly before the attack. A yeshiva student who was later shot in the attack had asked Yosef Kahan to deliver menorahs to Melbourne residents, Yitzchok Kahan said.
“The fact that it comes as we Jews are beginning the holiday that conveys just the opposite of what this did — it conveys light. It conveys positivity. It conveys making a difference in a good and kind way,” Yitzchok Kahan said. “So the message we must take from it: not to capitulate to darkness, not to capitulate to hate; rather to strengthen our commitment, our dedication to who we are as Jews.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, said the story of Hanukkah is “a story of resilience and strength in the face of adversity, and one that reminds us to be proud of our faith. Those lessons are so important today.”
Shapiro was the target of an assassination attempt in April, when a man set the governor’s mansion ablaze while Shapiro and his family slept, hours after celebrating Passover. Cody Balmer, who told investigators that he harbored a “hatred” for the governor, pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the attack.
On Sunday, Shapiro urged Pennsylvanians to “pray for the loved ones of those killed and for a full recovery for those injured in Australia and continue to bring light into the world.”
The frigid weather in Cherry Hill did not dissuade some 100 people from coming out to the Barclay Farms Shopping Center for Chabad Lubavitch of Camden County’s 32nd annual Hanukkah celebration with a menorah lighting ceremony, car parade, latkes, hot chocolate, and LED sticks.
Rabbi Mendel Mangel, founder and codirector of the Chabad, addressed the crowd of bundled-up families alongside his son Laizer Mangel and his father, Nissen Mangel, a survivor of the Holocaust who lives in Brooklyn.
“I spent two years beginning my rabbinical ordination in a yeshiva in Sydney, Australia, and I know some of those friends, some of those fellows, [whose] lives were cut short today, no different than it was 2,000 years ago,” he said, referencing the origins of the holiday. “But my friends, we know we never back down in the sight of evil. While they take out the fires of AK-47 we take out the fire of light, of holiness and goodness.”
Cherry Hill Mayor David Fleisher and other local officials joined the event as well.
“Very simply, I want you to know that we will light the menorah as a celebration,” said Fleisher. “Tonight, we will light the menorah with determination, and tonight, we will light the menorah in defiance of hate and in the belief that life will prevail.”
They prayed for the recovery of those injured in Australia.
Rabbi Laizer Mangel helped organize the event, and said it was particularly painful to learn of the attack on another Chabad, which is a Jewish outreach organization with local affiliates around the world.
Mangel said Cherry Hill police planned to provide additional security for the celebration.
The Cherry Hill Chabad has increased security over time as a result of previous antisemitic attacks, Laizer Mangel said. Its security team met Sunday to discuss taking further steps as a result of the Australia attack, though hadn’t made a final decision on what they would be, he said.
For Jonathan Bloom, 57, a Cherry Hill resident who works in finance, it was an emotional evening that brought him to tears. It was his first time attending the menorah lighting ceremony.
“There’s not a lot of Jewish people in the world, so it’s important that I show strength,” Bloom said.
Danielle Margulis, 42, a financial planner in Mount Laurel, brought her 6-year old daughter Raya to participate in the car parade for a third year in a row. They had already planned to attend, but following the Sydney events, she felt it was “even more important” to show youth “that you have to persevere,” she said.
“Light in the face of darkness is a lot of what Judaism is about,” Margulis added.
Mendel Mangel founded the Chabad Lubavitch of Camden County in 1993, shortly after he studied in Sydney in the late 1980s. One of the victims in the shooting was the son-in-law of a close mentor.
“It’s very, very painful, but you know, I’m sure I hold hands with people around the entire world — Jews, non-Jews alike — who are disgusted by this kind of evil, this absolute hatred for no reason,” said Mendel Mangel. “In a day like today, when there’s so much darkness, in the last year, too, and the pain and the suffering, evil, and cruelty — the message is that light can dispel all of that.
“I would add how proud I am of our community to come out and celebrate. It’s very impressive to see that we all get together and hold hands and support each other, and generations support each other. We’ve overcome hardships in the past, and we will overcome hardships again.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement he was horrified by the attack, adding that antisemitism is a growing global problem that must be condemned forcefully and unequivocally.
Murphy said that while there were no specific threats to New Jersey at this time, “out of an abundance of caution, we are boosting security at synagogues and community Hanukkah celebrations throughout the state.”
Murphy directed state officials to meet Sunday with rabbis concerned about the safety and security of their houses of worship.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said in a statement it and other Jewish federations were “on full alert” for holiday celebrations in their communities, and working with local law enforcement.
“We will use every tool at our disposal to make sure our communities are safe and that our lights burn all the brighter,” the statement read.
In Montgomery County, Chabad of Penn Wynne planned a menorah lighting Sunday at the Penn Wynne Library.
“Darkness does not win by force — it loses when light appears,” said Rabbi Moshe Brennan.
A Philadelphia city police spokesperson said the department is actively monitoring the situation after the Australia attack, and maintaining communication with law enforcement partners.
“We will continue to be vigilant in safeguarding our local Jewish places of worship to ensure the safety of all community members,” the spokesperson said, adding that there is no known connection to Philadelphia with the attack.
Staff writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this report.
