IN MEMORIAM

Eli Schlanger

Rabbi

Rabbi Eli Schlanger, of Blessed Memory, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi in Sydney, was murdered on December 14, 2025, when two gunmen opened fire on the "Chanukah by the Sea" celebration he had organized at Bondi Beach. He was 41 years old, a father of five children including a two-month-old son. Born in England and ordained at the central Lubavitch yeshiva in Crown Heights, Schlanger had served Sydney's Jewish community for 18 years. Throughout 2024, as synagogues burned and Jewish homes were vandalized across Australia, he refused to retreat. When asked how Jews should respond to rising hatred, his answer was defiant: "Be more Jewish, act more Jewish and appear more Jewish." Just weeks before his murder, he had written to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, pleading with him to stand with Israel. Approximately 2,000 people had gathered for the menorah lighting when the gunfire erupted. Fifteen people were killed, including a 10-year-old girl and Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor who died shielding his wife. The day after the attack, 1,000 people put on tefillin at Bondi Beach in his honor.