Arya News - Mourners gathered in Sydney on Wednesday as the first funerals began for some of the 15 people killed in Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost three decades.
Mourners gathered in Sydney on Wednesday as the first funerals began for some of the 15 people killed in Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost three decades.
There were emotional scenes outside the Chabad of Bondi in Sydney, where large crowds paid their respects ahead of the service for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in Sunday’s massacre that targeted Jewish families celebrating the first night of Hanukkah.
Family members wept as Schlanger’s coffin, draped in black velour, was wheeled into the synagogue.
Schlanger, 41, organized the “Chanukah by the Sea” event at Bondi Beach and served as assistant rabbi at the Chabad of Bondi. He was a father of five, whose youngest son is only two months old.
Known as the “Bondi Rabbi,” Schlanger has been described as a devoted and beloved chaplain who worked tirelessly “to support Jewish life in the Bondi community” through Chabad, a global Jewish organization that seeks to promote Jewish identity and connection, the organization said.
Mourners gather at a synagogue for the funeral of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a victim in the Bondi Beach mass shooting, in Bondi in Sydney on December 17, 2025. - Mark Baker/Pool/AP
During the service, Schlanger’s father-in-law broke down in tears as he described him as “the best husband, the best father, the best son.”
“Whatever I say today will be an understatement to what you mean to everyone and to your family and to me personally,” Rabbi Yehoram Ulman said. “You are my son, my friend, my confidant.”
“A day without you is impossible.”
The funerals come as Sydney residents continued a massive outpouring of grief and support, laying flowers and lighting candles at the Bondi Pavilion, next to the world-famous beach where Sunday’s massacre unfolded.
Australian authorities say the suspected attackers , a father-and-son duo, were driven by “Islamic State ideology,” and Australian counterterrorism officials believe the pair underwent military-style training while in the southern Philippines last month, in an area known for Islamist extremism, public broadcaster ABC reported on Tuesday.
Mal Lanyon, police commissioner of New South Wales state, told a local Australian radio station that the younger suspect, Naveed Akram, had woken from a coma on Tuesday and that police were expected to charge him later Wednesday, ABC reported.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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