Newsletter Weekly Guest Statement

Eyewitness to Terror

A report from Hadar Lev-Tzori – Netzer Schlicha

The past week has been a complicated one. A difficult week for me. A difficult week for my family. For my community in Israel. For my community here in Australia. For Sydney. For anyone who believes in goodness in this world.

Trigger Warning

On the first night of Hanukkah, I was at an event at Bondi Beach.

I went with Yarden and Carmel to the Chabad Hanukkah celebration, hoping to feel a bit of the holiday spirit and enjoy the evening with my girls.

About forty minutes after we arrived, everything changed.

I saw the magnet photographer and suggested to Yarden, my nine‑year‑old, that she go with her friend to take a picture together—something to remember Australia by. A moment later, the photographer walked toward me, and Carmel, who is seven, and I stood up and asked him to take our photo. In the middle of the picture, the first shot was fired. The photographer, Peter, was murdered. I immediately dropped to the ground. I grabbed Carmel by the leg and pulled her down so she would fall to the floor too.

I lay on top of her, and together we crawled a few meters to hide behind a table. Under the table, I covered her with boxes, guided her through breathing and meditation, and began searching for Yarden with the help of the Jewish Agency security guard who accompanies us, and Asaf all while shots were still being fired.

We later learned that we had been in the direct line of fire. By sheer luck, we escaped with only minor injuries.

There, under that table at Bondi Beach, with screams and blood around us, we still saw a glimpse of goodness. A tiny chick probably dropped by one of the children who ran stood there alone. I asked Carmel to take care of it because it was scared. To protect it. Suddenly she had responsibility. Someone else who felt just as frightened as she did in the middle of the chaos.

When the shooting quieted for a moment, I found a friend who took Carmel to their car, and I continued searching the scene for Yarden, even as more shots were heard in the area. After nineteen minutes of searching among the wounded, I found her. She had been alone throughout the entire attack luckily in a slightly more sheltered area but she experienced the event in the most traumatic way and saw things no adult should ever have to see.

We are going through a difficult time as a family, but we are also finding joy. We dance. We light candles. We hold on to the good.

The Jewish community has embraced us with so much love and support. We feel surrounded, held. We are deeply grateful to be part of this community one that will forever be part of our identity.

I imagine this is not easy for you either. It is painful to feel that something happened in a place that, for you, is so safe. This should never have happened. It was an event that occurred, ended, and will not return.

Two days before the attack, I spoke in synagogue during the “Kol Nefesh” service and shared my experience of living in Australia. I spoke about how every community has different opinions, but in the end, we are connected. I thanked Australia for being my home for the past two and a half years, and at the same time, I spoke about Israel my true home. The place where I allow myself to be fully me, with all my identities. At home, I walk barefoot. Without disguises. Israel is the home of all of us. The place where we can be who we are.

I know how painful it is when someone harms your home. I understand you, and I feel how hard it is when your safe place is shaken. But we are stronger than this. With more light, we defeat the darkness. With truth, we defeat the lies. That is how we have survived for thousands of years, and that is how we will continue as the Jewish people.

We are strong. All of us.

“For the miracles and the wonders You performed for our ancestors and for us.”                                              על הניסים ועל הנפלאות שעשית לאבותינו ולנו

We will overcome this too. Together.

Am Yisrael Chai.