Youngest, oldest victims of Sydney Hanukkah attack remembered in tearful funerals

Four funerals were held in Australia on Thursday for victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack, with mourners lamenting the great-grandfather who shielded his wife from the bullets, a Holocaust survivor who had sought a new life in Australia, a defiant father who tried to stop the attack, and the “joyful” 10-year-old girl who was cut down in the gunfire.

Alex Kleytman, 87, Tibor Weitzen, 78, and Matilda, 10, were laid to rest in separate ceremonies in Sydney, while a funeral was held for Reuven Morrison, 62, in Melbourne.

The four were among the 15 people who were killed in the antisemitic massacre during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Sunday. Dozens more people were injured, and many remain in serious condition.

The country’s close-knit Jewish community held the first two funerals for victims on Wednesday, burying Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, a father of five known as the “Bondi rabbi,” and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, 39, a father of four in Sydney.

Thousands of community members attended Thursday’s funerals, accompanying tearful relatives as they bade goodbye to their loved ones. Several Australian officials also paid their respects.

The country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been criticized for allowing antisemitism to fester, has notably stayed away from the funerals and memorials.

The suspects, a father and son, were inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group, Australian authorities have said. One was killed in a shootout with police, and the other was injured and is in police custody.

Australia’s government has vowed to crack down on hate speech that some have blamed for fanning antisemitic violence in the country.

Matilda, the youngest victim

Hundreds of mourners bearing bright bouquets and clutching each other in grief gathered at a funeral in Sydney for Matilda, whose last name is being withheld at the request of her family. Aged just 10, she was the youngest victim of the antisemitic massacre during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach.

Matilda was enjoying a petting zoo at the festivities on Sunday, just before she was cut down in the attack.

“Matilda is our little ray of sunshine,” said the rabbi leading her funeral service in Sydney, reading a message from her school.

“She is genuinely the most kind, caring, and compassionate young girl, who brightened everyone’s day with her radiant smile and infectious laugh.”

Black-clad mourners held bouquets of lilies as they filed into the funeral at Sydney’s Chevra Kadisha, a Jewish society responsible for traditional burial rites.

Around the mourners, bumblebee balloons bobbed in the afternoon breeze, a reference to her family nickname Matilda Bee.

Mourners and reporters alike were handed stickers featuring a smiling cartoon bumblebee holding a menorah. Above the image was Matilda’s name printed in purple, her favorite color.

Sam Mostyn, governor-general of Australia, also attended the ceremony, as did Minister for Social Services Tanya Joan Plibersek.

Photos taken in the hours before the first bullets were fired showed the young girl stroking animals at the petting zoo and smiling after having her face painted.

The girl’s family said Matilda was their firstborn daughter after they moved to Australia from Ukraine.

“I couldn’t imagine I would lose my daughter here. It’s just a nightmare,” mother Valentyna told reporters ahead of the funeral.

The family chose the name as a nod to their adopted homeland, where the beloved folk song “Waltzing Matilda” is sung as an unofficial national anthem.

“And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist,” her father Michael said earlier this week. “So just remember. Remember her name.”

Matilda’s parents “moved away from war-torn Eastern Europe to come here for a good life,” Rabbi Dovid Slavin told The Associated Press as he entered the service.

“They did something that a parent is OK to do, take their child to a family event at Bondi Beach,” he added. “If it ended this way, it’s something for collective responsibility for every adult in this country.”

Beaming photos of Matilda have become a focal point for Australia’s grief at one of the worst hate-fueled attacks ever committed in the country. The massacre has prompted a national reckoning about antisemitism and questions about whether the country’s leaders took seriously enough the threat to Australian Jews.

Matilda, who had been delighted to win a national literacy prize two days before she died, “had an incredible gift to bring joy to those around her,” her school’s tribute said.

Survivor Matan Atzmon, 40, said he was briefly with Matilda after she was shot.

“I don’t know Matilda, but I was confused between her and my daughter,” he told AFP.

“I was with her when she got injured. I remember the look in her eyes. It’s not leaving me.”

Grief overflowed as her coffin was carried out of the hall.

“I don’t want to sound selfish,” Slavin said. “But I and many others are thinking, this could have been my child.”

Alex Kleytman, Holocaust survivor, shielded his wife to save her

Also buried in Sydney was the massacre’s oldest victim, Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor killed while shielding his wife from bullets with his own body, according to her.

His family remembered him in a statement as someone who deeply loved his family and his adopted home of Australia. The family released the statement via police following his funeral, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“He loved his wife, Larisa, with unparalleled passion, the kind you only see in the movies,” the statement said.

“Alex discovered Judaism in his 50s and became observant after immigrating to Australia, where he married Larisa AGAIN on the 25th anniversary of their civil wedding, but this time according to Jewish law,” the statement continued. “Equally, he cherished Australia, the Australian way of life, the freedom, democracy, people, all of it. In his presence, no one could ever criticize anything about his beloved new home.”

The statement said the two gunmen killed him, but his memories, his legacy, and his books will bring light for generations to come… you touched so many lives. You will be deeply missed and never forgotten.”

We mourn the loss of Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman. After enduring the horrors of the Nazi regime, to face the same antisemitic hatred once again at Bondi Beach is truly heartbreaking. Alex, a beloved husband, father, and grandfather, leaves behind a family who cherished him… pic.twitter.com/c23OOQUZPp

— Israel in Australia (@IsraelinOZ) December 18, 2025

Israel’s embassy in Australia memorialized Kleytman as “a beloved husband, father, and grandfather, [who] leaves behind a family who cherished him deeply.”

Tibor Weitzen, great-grandfather who protected his wife

A great-grandfather, Weitzen was fatally wounded while shielding his wife, who survived, and family friend Edith Brutman, who was killed in the attack, local media reported.

His daughter eulogized him through tears as a loving father and community member.

“Above all else, he was a family man. His love for his family was constant, unconditional, and deeply felt,” Hanna Abesidon said at Weitzen’s funeral, according to ABC.

“Friends, neighbors, and members of the community knew him as kind, generous, and dependable,” she continued. “He has a way of making people feel seen and valued.”

“I love you, Abba,” she said. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you. I’m so sorry.”

“We’re strong, and we’ll move on, and we’ll walk around with our heads up high,” she said.

Weitzen had moved to Australia from Israel in 1988.

Reuven Morrison attacked the terrorists

Thousands of people reportedly gathered in Melbourne for Morrison’s funeral, who was killed while fighting one of the attackers.

Video footage showed Morrison, a grandfather, hurling items at terrorist Sajid Akram, after bystander Ahmed Al Ahmed had disarmed him. Morrison was then shot dead by the other terrorist, Sajid’s son Naveed Akram.

Another victim, the late Reuven Morrison, was killed as he was throwing bricks at the terrorists

There were many heroes on that day that rose to the occasion to try to save lives. pic.twitter.com/ut6Hq7RxsC

— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) December 16, 2025

At the funeral in Melbourne, Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann said Morrison was a modern “Judah Maccabee,” the hero of the Hanukkah story, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

“He’s someone that single-handedly tried to take on the terrorists. He tried to stop him in his tracks, and if you watch the video like I sadly have, you’ll see he picks up anything that he can find around him, a stick, a brick,” Kaltmann said.

Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, a close friend, described Morrison as a devoutly religious, fun-loving man, according to the report.

“Reuven is a hero. He did so much for all of us in his lifetime, and left this world in a flame,” Gutnick said.

Gutnick told those gathered that Morrison first met his wife, Leah, at Bondi Beach, the place where, decades later, he would be killed. He also described how religious faith was central to Morrison’s life.

“He wanted to do everything devoutly. He would not move left or right without asking the rabbi,” he said.

Morrison had a playful sense of humor, Gutnick said, recalling how “sometimes his stories would become a bit too colorful and Leah would have to control him. ‘Reuven, Reuven, Reuven,’ she would say, and he would almost instantly comply.”

An immigrant to Australia from the former Soviet Union, Morrison “discovered his Jewish identity in Sydney,” the Chabad movement said. He remained deeply connected to the Jewish community there even after moving to Melbourne.

Morrison’s family relocated to Melbourne for his daughter’s schooling, Chabad said, but he continued to split his time between the two cities and worked primarily in Sydney.

He was a “successful businessman,” Chabad recounted, and donated generously to charitable causes, including Chabad of Bondi.

“We in the community are mourning and hurting. We know you are all proud of him,” Gutnick told mourners.