The formal apology came 39 days after the massacre, delivered from the stage of the Sydney Opera House in front of thousands gathered for Australia’s National Day of Mourning.
“I am deeply and profoundly sorry that we could not protect your loved ones from this evil,” declared Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia. “You came to celebrate a festival of light and freedom and you were met with the violence of hatred.”
In the front rows sat Rabbi Eli Schlanger’s widow Chaya; a six-year-old who watched her father die; the parents of 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest victim on that terrible day. Sitting among them as well was the man whose vision had shaped this extraordinary moment: Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, senior rabbi of Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi.
On the first night of Chanukah, two Muslim terrorists murdered 15 people at the Chanukah celebration his community hosted. Among the murdered was Chabad of Bondi’s Schlanger, Ulman’s son-in-law and closest confidant of 18 years. His daughter, Schlanger’s wife, Chaya, had also been shot. His two-month-old grandson took shrapnel. Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, a crucial member of the Chabad of Bondi team, had also been killed.
Yet from that crucible of grief, Ulman became the spiritual architect of Australia’s unprecedented Jewish response to its worst terror attack in history.
An Unprecedented Planning
National Days of Mourning are exceptionally rare in Australia. The nation has observed only a handful since its federation in 1901: for the Bali bombings in 2002; for the victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, shot down over Ukraine in 2014; and most recently for Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022.
Unlike state memorial services or moments of silence, a National Day of Mourning involves the entire apparatus of government: flags at half-mast on all Commonwealth buildings, Parliament recalled or proceedings suspended, and a coordinated national commemoration.
What also made this National Day of Mourning unprecedented was that it wasn’t shaped by government protocol officers in the nation’s capital, but by the Jewish community in Sydney, who were asked to guide the commemoration in order that it align with Jewish mourning practices.
“The date for this national day of mourning was chosen after speaking with the Chabad community,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns explained at the Opera House, “who asked that this evening coincide with the shloshim, the one month mark following the death and burial of a loved one.”
The theme itself—“Light Will Win: A Gathering of Unity and Remembrance”—came directly from Ulman, who since the terror attack has worked, despite the pain, to emulate the Chassidic approach to tragedy: by illuminating the darkness of evil with the light of real, tangible good.
Parliament was reconvened on January 19, a month early, in order to bring the National Day of Mourning into being.
The evening commemoration at the Sydney Opera House opened with greetings from Rabbi Pinchas Feldman, regional director of Chabad-Lubavitch in Sydney, and a message from the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, about the enduring message of Chanukah: the need to keep spreading light, publicly and proudly. King Charles’ representative in Australia, Governor-General Sam Mostyn, read Psalm 23, sharing that the King had chosen this particular chapter to be read at the commemoration. Several Chabad emissaries and local rabbis read additional Psalms and Mishnayot in memory of the victims.
In a particularly emotional moment, five sons of victims of the massacre, including the teenage sons of Rabbi Schlanger and Rabbi Levitan, recited the Mourner’s Kaddish. This was followed by Cantor Shimon Farkas’s rendition of the traditional Kel Ma’aleh Rachamim prayer.
‘I Will Not Speak in Platitudes’
When Ulman took the Opera House stage, the weight of the last many weeks was visible.
“My dear friends, I will not speak tonight in platitudes. I will share what is on my heart,” he began. “The last 30 days or more have been the most painful days of my life. I have looked in the eyes of widows and orphans and parents who have lost a young child. We have felt an emptiness so heavy it could crush us.”
Then his voice lifted.
“But in that void, something miraculous appeared. These 30 days have witnessed an awakening in a country like I have never seen before. I have seen an Australia that did not just watch the news, but stood up to change the story.”
Ulman then shared the Talmudic story of Rabbi Chanina Ben Teradyon, who was executed by the Romans. They wrapped him in a Torah scroll and set it aflame. As the flames rose, his students cried out: “Rabbi, what do you see?”
“The parchment is burning, but the letters are flying upward.”
“The body can be destroyed, but the soul cannot,” Rabbi Ulman said. “Those 15 souls we lost live on in millions of hearts that they touched and continue to touch.”
He continued: “Before, these 15 souls were individuals. Now they are a movement.”
The applause thundered.
“Every mitzvah we do that is inspired by them—that is their presence. They are the engine of this awakening.”
He spoke of the Jews returning to synagogues, opening prayer books, choosing to live Jewishly again. “This is not a momentary response. It is the Jewish soul remembering who it is.”
Then came his declaration: “Standing here tonight, recognizing the strength of this country and the resilience of my people, I say with full conviction: I have never been a prouder Jew and I’ve never been a prouder Australian.”
The standing ovation lasted nearly a minute.
But the rabbi charged the crowd with a mission: “When we keep Shabbat, they are keeping it with us. When we put on tefillin, they are binding themselves to G‑d through us. We are writing the next chapter of history. Let it be a chapter of unity, strength, and unshakable light.”
Teaching a Prime Minister
Earlier, Albanese had delivered his own address, revealing how deeply his regular conversations with Ulman had penetrated.
“The One Mitzvah campaign where everyday Australians are taking on a single act of kindness was sparked by your example,” he said.
Then he shared what he’d learned: “As Rabbi Ulman, Rabbi Wolf, and Shaina Gutnik have reminded me in recent days, mitzvah doesn’t just mean a good deed. It also means a connection. In just two syllables, that one powerful Hebrew word tells us how good deeds can bind a society together.”
A prime minister teaching Jewish life and practice to a national audience. Crediting the Jewish leaders who taught him. “You have taught a grieving nation that the only way to defeat darkness is to add the light,” he added.
During his speech, the Prime Minister invoked concepts he’d learned at the Chabad center: “Rabbi Ulman and Rabbi Mendel [Ulman] have spoken with me about mitzvahs many times over recent weeks,” adding that the new anti-terror legislation was framed using this language as well.
Videos of all the victims were played, with family members sharing stories of their lives, unique personalities, and impact. In an unplanned moment, 14-year-old Chaya Dadon, who had been shot protecting children she did not know, was asked to come on stage.
Chaya spoke about the voice she’d heard telling her to save the children: “G‑d gave me that prophecy at that moment. That’s something every single one of you can find in yourself. I feel like you all have the potential. And even if it’s hard to find it, I promise, I promise, I promise it’s always there.”
Premier Chris Minns, who has been a pillar of support for the community since the attack, and Federal Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley then addressed the gathering.
Hours after he was discharged from the hospital, after suffering critical injuries during the attack and enduring over 10 surgeries, American yeshivah student Leibel Lazaroff also appeared on stage.
After the massacre, a video clip of Lazaroff performing a song on a piano at Chabad of Bondi went viral. The song was set to a prayer lamenting how the Jewish people have been beaten and trodden upon throughout their history, yet despite the prosecution, they have never forgotten G‑d. Now, he returned to his beloved piano to perform the same song with a whole new appreciation of its meaning, accompanied by Chaim Koncepolski and Meir Wilenckin, a brother-in-law of Rabbi Schlanger.
Brothers Ezry and Mizzi Israel, Bondi-based singers, performed a song they had composed and released in honor of the victims. Rabbi Mendy Ulman of Chabad of Bondi then introduced the launch of a global unity Torah scroll, inviting people from around the world to participate in this enduring tribute to the victims. The first letters of the Torah scroll were written on stage by Rabbi Shlomo Israel, as Zalman Simons and Sadya Liberow sang Ani Maamin, confidently asserting that the Jewish people believe in the coming of Moshiach.
The evening concluded with the entire audience rising to sing Kol HaOlam Kulo, a melody that has become something of a theme song for the Jews of Sydney, its lesson declaring that the main thing is to never be afraid.
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