Public invited to ceremony in Main Plaza
“Our Hanukkah celebrations will continue with strength, dignity and resolve.”
— Rabbi Yossi Marrus
A Hanukkah gathering in Main Plaza will include a heartfelt remembrance for the mass killings of 15 people on a popular Sydney beach during the first day of the Jewish festival that sent shockwaves around the planet.
The Boerne event begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, and is free to the public. It will include live music, a chocolate gelt — or chocolate money — drop by the Boerne Fire Department, refreshment, activities and prizes for children.
The observance was scheduled before the massacre in Australia, which police said was carried out Sunday by a father and a son targeting members of Sydney’s Jewish community gathered on Bondi Beach for a Hanukkah celebration.
In addition to the dead, 43 people were wounded in the attack, reportedly carried out by Naveed Akram, 24, and Sajid Akram, 50.
The father, who was disarmed by a bystander, died in the episode and the son is in critical condition, according to reports.
“We are devastated by the horrific news from Australia of a terrorist attack that took place at a public Hanukkah menorah lighting, hosted by Chabad in Bondi Beach, Sydney,” said Rabbi Yossi Marrus, executive director of Chabad of Boerne.
The dead included children “and our dear colleagues and friends, rabbis Eli Schlanger and Yackov Levitan of blessed memory,” Marrus said.
The tragedy has even taken its toll on a family with a Texas college student, Marrus said.
“Our local Chabad colleagues at Texas A&M (University) are currently tending to their 20-year-old son, Leibel, who was shot while visiting Sydney,” he added.
Marrus issued a press release Monday ahead of the local observance.
“The entire Jewish world is in shock and mourning. Our hearts ache for the families of the victims, for the wounded and for the Jewish community of Sydney,” Marrus said in the statement.
“We pray for healing, and we cry out together: enough of this darkness. End the hate and antisemitism. Over the last years we have seen a dangerous uptick in antisemitism and violent attacks against the Jewish community,” he added.
They are calling upon governments and elected officials to stand tall against hate in any fashion, Marrus said.
“This act of hatred was aimed not only at innocent people, but at the very idea of Jewish light and Jewish presence,” he said. “It is chilling to realize that this senseless violence, the horrific attack that took place in Bondi Beach, was intended to disrupt what should have been the first public menorah lighting in the world, this Hanukkah.”
And yet, he added, “The message of Hanukkah could not be clearer.”
Hanukkah, he said, celebrates the rededication and reclamation of the holy temple in Jerusalem and the kindling of the menorah (candelabra), symbolizing the power of good over evil.
“Our response to darkness and evil is more light. Our response to fear is unity and strength. Our response to hatred is Jewish pride, joy and positive action,” Marrus said “As such, we state clearly and unequivocally, we are not canceling our Hanukkah events. On the contrary, our Hanukkah celebrations will continue with strength, dignity and resolve.”
Marrus also thanked local and state law-enforcement agencies — the Boerne Police Department; the sheriff’s offices of Kendall, Kerr and Gillespie counties; the Texas Department of Public Safety; and the FBI — working to keep the community safe.
MARRUS
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