{"id":448270,"date":"2025-12-15T08:37:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T08:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/448270\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T08:37:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T08:37:03","slug":"nyc-jewish-community-responds-at-manhattan-synagogue-to-deadly-bondi-beach-terror-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/448270\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Jewish community responds at Manhattan synagogue to deadly Bondi Beach terror attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Members of New York City\u2019s Jewish community lit candles during a vigil in Manhattan<\/a> Sunday evening in remembrance of the 15 people killed in a mass shooting<\/a> at a menorah-lighting ceremony on Australia\u2019s Bondi Beach, with some attendees recounting that they had relatives caught in the attack half a world away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all reeling. Our hearts are shattered. It\u2019s an attack on all of us. We take this very personally,\u201d said Rabbi Ben Krasniaski, director of the Chabad of the Upper East Side.<\/p>\n

About 100 people gathered at the Carl Schurz Park Promenade at E. 86th St. and East End Ave. just after sunset for the remembrance.<\/p>\n

Police in New South Wales said 42 people were injured in addition to the 15 killed in the attack at the iconic Sydney beach, where Jews in Australia gathered to light the menorah and celebrate the first night of Chanukah. The dead victims included a rabbi with ties to Crown Heights, a holocaust survivor and a 12-year-old girl, Australian officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were attacked because they were Jewish and cut down in the prime of their life [at] the first Chanukah gathering in the world,\u201d Krasniaski said at the Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Krasniaski and others at the gathering struck a defiant tone in line with the holiday, which celebrates Jewish victory over oppression.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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,\u201d Krasniaski said. \u201cThey have no idea what the Jewish people are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will only create an avalanche of light and wholesomeness and kindness and goodness that will overwhelm the darkness,\u201d he added. \u201cIt hits home very strongly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krasniaski\u2019s son-in-law is from Sydney, and his family was at the beach attending the celebration when they were attacked, he related, acknowledging, \u201cSo it\u2019s very personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Donuts and latkes \u2014 traditional Chanukah treats fried in oil \u2014 were passed around to attendees at the vigil.<\/p>\n

Anthony Bennett, 55, an Upper East Side resident and marketing consultant stood in the crowd, eating a latkah with his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came because of what happened in Australia. The rabbi sent out an email saying, \u2018You know, you can hide under your covers, or you can show you\u2019re proud in being Jewish,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWe wanted to come out. It wasn\u2019t for the latkes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NYPD<\/p>\n

Julian Roberts-Grmela \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

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)<\/p>\n

UJA<\/a> Rabbi Menachem Creditor, 50, whose organization co-hosted the vigil, said his brother-in-law, Arsen Ostrovsky, was injured in the attack in Sydney.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe 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,\u201d Creditor said.<\/p>\n

\u201dSo 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,\u201d said Creditor, who said he spoke to Ostrovsky on the phone earlier Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe 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\u2019s in the hospital recovering, but thank God he\u2019s recovering,\u201d Creditor said.<\/p>\n

Shmuel Kramer, 32, called on New York politicians, including Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, to make sure a similar attack doesn\u2019t happen in New York, which has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs 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,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cWe will stand openly and proud and without fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like other attendees, Kramer spoke of the resilience of the Jewish people.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory has already tested us,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cHitler didn\u2019t erase us. Stalin didn\u2019t silence us, and Hamas won\u2019t break us. This is the real story of Chanukah we\u2019re living now: a people who refuse to disappear or hide.\u201d<\/p>\n

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