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 a gunman 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, N.J. 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.”
Rabbi Laizer Mangel has been organizing a Hanukkah celebration for the Chabad Center in Cherry Hill on Sunday, 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.
“We are heartbroken,“ Mangel said. ”We call upon our community to stand strong together and and truly absorb the message of the menorah of one little light at a time, especially now in a time of utmost darkness and utmost sorrow and utmost evil. Now is the time to continue lighting the menorah.”
Mangel said Cherry Hill police will provide additional security for the celebration, which will begin by decorating cars with menorahs, followed by a “menorah motorcade” traveling to a giant menorah lighting at Barclay Farms Shopping Center on Route 70. Rabbi Nissen Mangel, a Holocaust survivor and Laizer Mangel’s grandfather, is scheduled to light an 18-foot-tall menorah.
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.
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 is holding a menorah lighting today 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.