Winnipeg’s Jewish community comes together to celebrate Hanukkah in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack

It’s been three days since the mass shooting in Sydney, Australia’s Bondi Beach, targeting the Jewish community, where 15 people were killed. Here in Winnipeg, the local Jewish community is still shocked and reeling from what happened. 

“It touched everyone here in Winnipeg,” said Avrohom Altein, the senior Rabbi at Chabad-Lubavitch of Winnipeg (Jewish Learning Centre.

“We are an international organization, and very much affiliated with the ones that did the event for Hanukkah in Bondi, so we know families, we know the families of the Rabbi who organized it and was murdered, and same also with some of the children, the families that are there, it’s a horrible story, it touches us very deeply.”

Altein says, despite the tragedy, in some ways, it brought the community even closer as Hanukkah continues.

“We feel devastated by what took place, but on the other hand, we feel motivated to identify more strongly, and we’ve seen that in the number of people coming out to our events,” said Altein.

The Winnipeg Police will be at Hanukkah events around the city to make sure the community feels comfortable and safe.

“In conversation in connection with members and leadership in the Jewish community, it was decided that the best approach was to have a presence at some of their Hanukkah events, which was the event that was targeted,” said Shaun Veldman, the inspector of the Winnipeg Police Service.

Local leaders say, given what’s happened, Hanukkah this year is of extra importance.

“We have a community Hanukkah lighting on Thursday, and we’ll commemorate what happened that day, but at the same time, Hanukkah is a festival of light, and amongst this darkness that is happening, we need to make sure we still celebrate, whether it’s at community events, or in people’s individual homes where they light their menorahs,” said Jeff Lieberman, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg.

Altein added, “The light that we lit the day before doesn’t disappear. Every good deed leaves a mark and has an impression on the world around us. And every individual is that flame as well, every human soul. If everyone focuses on doing good, it will build up and make a very big difference in this world.”