Miami Jewish community mourns mass shooting at Hanukkah event in Australia
Though 9,300 miles separate Miami and Sydney, Sunday’s mass shooting that murdered at least 15 people during a Hanukkah celebration in Australia inflicted wounds on Miami’s Jewish community — not just through bonds of shared faith, but personal bonds.
Chabad of Miami Beach Rabbi Zev Katz and wife Chani Katz called murdered Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Chabad of Bondi Beach’s assistant rabbi and a key organizer of the event, “a dear colleague and friend” whose “life was a living menorah.”
Former Bal Harbour Mayor Gabriel Groisman reposted to X a post-shooting interview with his friend, human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, one of the more than 40 people injured in the shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Groisman said Ostrovsky, “moved back from Israel to Australia to work for the community. Today, he was shot on the beach while celebrating Hanukkah by antisemitic terrorists. Thank G-d he will be OK. Not everyone was so “lucky.” What on Earth has happened to this world?”
Josh Sayles, vice president of external affairs of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, said he was saddened to hear about the news of another mass shooting targeting the Jewish community — an event that, he said, has tragically become somewhat of “a norm these days.
“It’s frightening to be Jewish anywhere in the world, and at the same time, unfortunately, we’re used to it, “ said Sayles. “No amount of hate or violence anywhere in the world is going to stop our community from being proudly Jewish.”
In the wake of the attack, the American Jewish Committee implored leaders around the world to take a stand against antisemitism.
“This cannot be tolerated. Not in Australia or Europe or America,” said Brian Siegal, regional director of the AJC in Miami and Broward. “Antisemitism is a threat to all of society everywhere in the world. It’s not only the Jewish community that’s at risk if leaders fail to respond.”
Siegal said when Jews across the world light the first candle of Hanukkah tonight, “We will mourn the tragedy in Sydney. And we will celebrate the continuing miracle that is the Jewish people.”
Hanukkah celebrations continue despite tragedy
Jewish custom says traditional celebrations that bring joy must be continued even amid tragedy, if possible. So, Miami’s Jewish community refused to be daunted or falter in their own celebrations of Hanukkah, which began Sunday at sundown.
Many people reached out to Chabad of Coral Gables co-director Rabbi Avraham Stolik to ask if he wanted to cancel Sunday’s Menorah lighting at Ponce Circle Park. Stolik knows Bondi Beach well, having spent a year in Sydney on an internship.
“A Jew does not respond to darkness by retreating,” Stolik said to Sunday’s gathering. “A Jew responds with more light.”
And, so the annual free community event went on, featuring the lighting of a 12-foot menorah and a menorah and dreidel parachute drop from a 75-foot Coral Gables Fire Department ladder.
Similarly, in Miami Beach, the Hanukkah Festival Lincoln Road continued as scheduled for Sunday night, with a menorah lighting ceremony at 5:30 p.m.
“We are not canceling a single Hanukkah gathering,” Rabbi Zev Katz said in an email imploring people to attend. “We are not dimming a single flame.
“On the contrary, we are coming together with even greater resolve, energy, and joy,” Katz continued. “In the days ahead, we invite every member of our community to participate in the Chanukah celebrations taking place throughout our neighborhood.
“Bring your children. Bring your friends. Bring your full Jewish self.”
Multiple Hanukkah celebrations in Miami-Dade County marked the first night of Hanukkah, from the municipal menorah lightings to festivals hosted by synagogues and Jewish community centers. The Lincoln Road celebration did have added security on Sunday night, according to organizers.
“Chabad is working closely with local law enforcement and has taken all appropriate steps to ensure that our gatherings are secure,” Katz said.
“This attack was not only against people,” Katz said. “It was an attack on Jewish visibility, Jewish joy, and Jewish courage. It was meant to make us hesitate before gathering, before singing, before lighting a flame in public and saying proudly, We are here.
“And yet, Hanukkah teaches us something eternal. Darkness does not get the final word. Fear does not get the final word. Light always does.”
This story was originally published December 14, 2025 at 4:34 PM.
