‘Pain is still raw’: Relatives of Bondi Beach victims visit Israel, meet chief rabbi

Rabbi Yoram Ulman, the head of the Sydney rabbinical court and director of Chabad Bondi, visited Israel and met with Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Chief Rabbinate says in a statement, six weeks after a terror attack killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event organized by the center on the famous Australian beach.

Ulman, who lost his son-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was accompanied by another member of the Sydney Jewish community, David Meir, who also lost loved ones in the massacre.

“The pain is still raw, and coping with it is a daily struggle, but the embrace we received from Jewish communities in Israel and around the world strengthened and continues to strengthen us during these difficult moments,” the pair told Ber in his office in Jerusalem.

“Alongside the terrible pain over the immense loss, it is important to remember and take heart in the fact that the spirit of our people remains strong,” Ber said. “They did not defeat us and will not defeat us — not in Israel and not anywhere in the world.”