Terror on Bondi Beach

The grief that settled over Sydney after the Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach was heavy and far-reaching, touching families, communities, and an entire nation struggling to comprehend an act of terror carried out against people gathered to celebrate faith, light, and survival. 

The shooting, which left 15 people dead and more than 40 wounded, was an antisemitic terrorist attack. Two terrorists opened fire on families and community members, shattering a moment meant to mark resilience and hope. 

One terrorist was killed at the scene and the other was taken into custody and now faces multiple charges. 

As Australia mourned, the tragedy reverberated globally, particularly among Jewish communities who recognized the attack as part of a broader pattern of terror aimed at Jewish life around the world.

At the center of the nation’s grief stood the name Matilda. Just 10 years old, she was the youngest victim of the massacre, and her life and death came to symbolize the innocence stolen by terrorism. Her parents, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, had moved to Australia in search of safety and a future free from war and persecution. That dream was violently torn away on the sands of Bondi Beach.

Hundreds of mourners gathered in Sydney on Thursday for Matilda’s funeral, filling the Chevra Kadisha Memorial Hall with tears and embraces shared between strangers united by sorrow. A small white coffin was slowly carried out as people clutched teddy bears, wiped their eyes, and held colorful heart-shaped balloons. Outside, cars were adorned with posters of bees, and mourners carried bee-shaped balloons in tribute to the child whose life had been cut short.

Matilda’s father, Michael, had spoken days earlier at a vigil, explaining the deep meaning behind his daughter’s name. “I named her Matilda because she was our firstborn in Australia. And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist,” he said. “So just remember – remember her name.” Those words spread quickly across the country, turning Matilda into a symbol of both belonging and loss.

The name carried added resonance in Australia because of “Waltzing Matilda,” the 1895 poem and song widely regarded as an unofficial national anthem. At a vigil held at Bondi Pavilion, a public space transformed into a sea of flowers and messages of solidarity, hundreds of people gathered and sang the song together. Their voices rose in unison to honor Matilda, whose short life had come to represent the heartbreak felt by so many.

In the hours before the attack, Matilda had been filmed standing near her father as he put on tefillin, the small black prayer boxes worn by Jewish men during morning prayers. The Hanukkah celebration had been organized by Chabad. 

In the video, Matilda looks on quietly, absorbing a moment of faith and family. Not long afterward, she was standing with her mother, Valentyna, and her 6-year-old sister when terrorists opened fire. Matilda was killed where she stood.

Seeking to protect their privacy, the family asked that their last name not be published. Instead, Matilda became known publicly by her first name and her middle name, Bee. In the days following her death, the bumblebee emerged as a symbol of remembrance. Stickers bearing Matilda’s name alongside a smiling bee clutching a menorah were handed out at memorials. A giant plush bumblebee was placed atop her small white casket during her funeral, echoing the many bee drawings and stuffed animals that now line the Bondi Pavilion memorial.

Parents and schools around the world responded to the family’s request for bee-themed tributes, sharing children’s drawings and photos on social media. Matilda’s father reposted many of them, quietly acknowledging the global outpouring of love. A limited-edition plush bee was announced by a national retailer, with proceeds designated for the family, and a GoFundMe campaign launched by Matilda’s language teacher drew more than $550,000 in donations.

Those who knew Matilda described a gentle, joyful child. Her language teacher, Irina Goodhew, wrote that Matilda was a student who radiated kindness and compassion. “Matilda was a bright and loving soul who taught us that true goodness is found in the love and compassion we share,” she wrote. “Her memory reminds us to carry kindness in our hearts and spread it to the world. May the light of her eyes live on through us — in our actions, our words, and our love for one another.”

At Matilda’s funeral, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman spoke of the child she was and the devastation left behind. “She loved the outdoors, animals, she went to school, she had friends, everybody loved her,” he said. “The tragic, so totally cruel, an unfathomable murder of young Matilda is something that’s painful to all of us as if our own daughter was taken from us.”

Matilda’s mother, Valentyna, addressed the crowd at a vigil, her voice breaking as she spoke about the family’s journey from Ukraine, a country at war. “I came from Ukraine. I brought from Ukraine my oldest son, with him, and I was so happy that he’s not there right now. He’s not fighting for his land, and he’s safe here,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine I would lose my daughter here.” Her words captured the cruel irony faced by families who flee violence only to encounter terror again.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns attended Matilda’s funeral and quoted from “Waltzing Matilda” in his tribute. Wearing a bumblebee sticker on his lapel, he said, “She bore the name Matilda to honor this great land, Australia’s heart and spirit forever hand in hand. Her spirit like a swagman’s will never fade away. She’s waltzing with the angels, where love will always stay.” The words reflected a broader national reckoning with terrorism and its impact on innocent lives.

While Matilda’s story became a focal point of mourning, the attack also claimed the life of Alex Kleytman, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor whose death struck a particularly painful chord. Kleytman and his wife, Larisa, had survived the unspeakable terror of the Holocaust as children before eventually moving from Ukraine to Australia in search of peace and safety. 

Larisa later spoke to reporters outside a Sydney hospital. “I have no husband. I don’t know where is his body,” she said. “Nobody can give me any answer.” In another interview, she described the moments of terror when gunfire erupted. “We were standing and suddenly came the ‘boom boom’, and everybody fell down,” she said. “At this moment, he was behind me and at one moment he decided to go close to me. He pushed his body up because he wanted to stay near me.”

Kleytman died protecting his wife, a final act of love after a lifetime shaped by survival. That a Holocaust survivor could be murdered in an antisemitic terrorist attack decades after escaping genocide underscored the persistence of hatred and the deadly consequences when terrorism is not stifled.

The massacre also claimed the lives of others who had devoted themselves to community and loving kindness, chesed. Rabbi Eli Schlanger, the assistant rabbi at Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi, helped organize the Hanukkah celebration. A father of five, including a newborn just two months old, he was known for going wherever he was needed, serving as a chaplain in prisons and hospitals. “Eli was a very special person,” his friend Ben Wright said. “He spent a lot of his time trying to get Jews to do one good deed.”

Marika Pogany, an 82-year-old grandmother, had spent nearly three decades delivering kosher meals to those in need. “For 29 years she arrived at COA with her quiet smile and her steady kindness,” a volunteer organization wrote. “She lifted the room simply by being in it. She asked for nothing and gave everything.”

Reuven Morrison, 62, was killed while trying to stop one of the terrorists. His daughter said he was the man seen in widely shared footage throwing objects at the attacker. “I believe after Ahmed managed to get the gun off the terrorist, my father had then gone to try and unjam the gun, to try and attempt shooting. He was screaming at the terrorist,” she said. Morrison had migrated from the Soviet Union decades earlier to escape antisemitic persecution, believing Australia would be a safe place to raise a family.

In the aftermath, Jewish communities worldwide drew parallels between the Bondi Beach attack and other acts of terrorism targeting Jewish civilians, including those faced daily by Israel. 

And on December 26 there was yet another terrorist attack inside northern Israel that claimed the life of Aviv Maor, a 19 year old woman from Kibbutz Ein Harod, who was stabbed while hitchhiking.

Israel’s military operations are aimed at eradicating terrorist groups that deliberately target civilians, whether at concerts, religious gatherings, family celebrations, or innocently hitchhiking. 

The attack in Sydney reinforced, for many, the understanding that terrorism is a global threat and that the same ideology driving violence in the Middle East can inspire attacks far beyond its borders.