Ensure ‘Everything They Worked for … Continues Stronger and Stronger,’ Urges Father-in-Law of Murdered Sydney Rabbi

Rabbi Eli Schlanger was among at least 15 people killed in the shooting at the Chanukah celebration at Bondi Beach.

By Shula Rosen

Rabbi Yehoram Ulman fought back tears early Monday as he addressed worshippers during morning prayers in Sydney, urging the Jewish community to move forward after a deadly terrorist attack shattered a Chanukah gathering at Bondi Beach the night before.

Speaking inside the Chabad of Bondi synagogue, which helped organize the outdoor celebration that was targeted, Ulman framed the loss as a test of communal resolve rather than an endpoint. His son-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was among at least 15 people killed in the shooting.

“For whatever reason, they died al kiddush hashem,” Ulman said, using the Hebrew phrase for sanctifying God’s name.

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Incredibly moving

Rabbi Yehoram Ulman – Head of the Sydney Beth Din and Chabad Bondi -the community which was attacked speaks at Shacharit morning prayers, the day after the massacre.

Rabbi Ulman's son-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger and many of his congregants were killed. pic.twitter.com/LpnY6Vhi1t

— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) December 14, 2025

He told congregants that the victims’ lives and work now place a responsibility on those left behind. “And now, they’re looking to us to continue, to make sure that everything they worked for, everything that they’ve done, continues stronger and stronger.”

Ulman warned against allowing fear to define the response to the attack, describing the objective of terrorism as the destruction of Jewish life and spirit. “We cannot allow terrorists — all they want to do is stifle our life as Jews, all they want to do is… bring us down, destroy us, make us despondent, lose hope,” he said.

Acknowledging the shock still gripping the community, Ulman described the emotional struggle of confronting such violence. “At the moment, it seems, how can we go forward? How can we continue?” he said, before rejecting paralysis as an option. “But that’s not what any of the kedoshim [martyrs] would have ever agreed to. They never would have reacted in such a way, and we have to step up and do the same. We have no choice.”

As he spoke, Ulman broke down while reciting “Baruch Dayan Emes,” the traditional declaration of faith said upon receiving news of a death.

He closed by calling for solidarity in the face of grief, telling the congregation that unity must guide the days ahead. “We have to remember that now is the time to be as much [in] achdus as possible, united,” he said.

The remarks came as the Sydney Jewish community mourned the victims of one of the deadliest antisemitic attacks in Australia’s history, with synagogues and community institutions reinforcing both security and public expressions of resilience following the shooting.