“Australia will never be the same again.” I have heard and reflected on this statement many times since Sunday 14 December 2025 when 15 innocent people were killed, writes Congregational Leader Sister Catherine McCahill.

As the Jewish community of the Bondi Chabad gathered on the iconic Bondi Beach for the first day of Hannukah, the Jewish festival of lights, two men shot and killed 15 people, including a ten-year-old girl. Across the nation and around the world, shock reverberated at this targeted, antisemitic attack on one of the community’s most important feast days.

Much has been written and spoken in relation to the horror, the causes, the aftermath, the heroism, the rupturing of community, the outpouring of solidarity, the long journey of healing, and the fear that still prevails among our Jewish neighbours. I cannot add anything further. In this space, I simply record my own reflections, my sources of hope and light, and my commitment to healing and peace.

We were shocked and saddened. The response was immediate and heartfelt across our country. That night the first responders were heroic and self-less. In the days that followed thousands of ordinary people visited Bondi to pay their respects, to bear witness, to hold the grief.

Tens of thousands donated blood as an act of service, to provide practical support to those injured, and fighting for life in hospitals across Sydney.

Seven nights later, on the eighth day of the Hannukah festival, thousands gathered with the Bondi Jewish community to light the eighth candle of the menorah. Across our nation, countless thousands watched, listened and prayed with those gathered in person.

The presence, the compassion, the faith and the words of Rabbi Ulman of the Bondi Chabad echo in my being. His own son-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was one of those killed. After paying tribute to each of the 15 who died, he continued:

Tonight, I ask every person here, and everyone watching to take personal responsibility to continue the light of those souls brought into the world. Let us not wait for tomorrow. Let us start today, tonight.

… darkness is not defeated by anger or force; darkness is transformed by light. That light begins with what each of us chooses to do next. Returning to normal is not enough. Sydney can and must become a beacon of goodness, a city where people look out for one another, where kindness is louder than hate, where decency is stronger than fear. We can make it happen. But only if we take the feelings we have right now and turn them into action…

… do an act of kindness today, have compassion for one another, resolve a conflict today, not tomorrow … goodness is contagious … When light multiplies history shifts direction.

(Day of Reflection, 21 December 2025, YouTube)

For me, the most moving gesture, a sign of openness and courage, was the decision of the Chabad to ask Mohamad Fateh al-Ahmed, the father of Ahmed el-Ahmed, to light the first candle of the menorah. So, on the most solemn festival and after the worst and unimaginable antisemitic occurrence in our country, a Muslim man is honoured because he acted against the darkness, he chose to risk his own life to save others. His father stood in for him while he continued to undergo surgery in hospital. We could not but be touched by this invitation from the Chabad.

This simple act of inclusion and participation stands in defiance of what happened a week earlier and surely as a beacon of light for all Australians. We are better and stronger when we embrace each other as neighbours.

In Australia, we are very aware that antisemitism is a reality in the lives of our people, as are other forms of abuse and exclusion based on ethnicity or religion. However, these episodes have intensified since the tragic events of 7 October 2023 – the invasion of Hamas into southern Israel and the subsequent retaliatory invasion of Gaza by the Israeli government with the loss of tens of thousands of innocent people.

Speaking in Rome in January this year, the Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pizzaballa, stressed that “the wounds are still deep, people are disoriented, with weak leadership.” I was saddened as I read further – “Neither side wants to hear about the other: the relationship has broken down.”

I wonder is there anything that I can bring to this chasm of violence and dispute, to the lack of will to reconcile.

In the text that Christians share with Jews, I read the ancient Psalm 34:

Come to me, children, listen:

learn to cherish the Lord.

Do you long for life,

for time to enjoy success?

Keep your tongue from evil,

keep lies far from your lips.

Shun evil, go after good,

press on, seek after peace.

The psalmist knew, as we still know today, peace does not simply arrive or happen. Peace must be sought. Action is required. “Doing good” is not for the faint-hearted.

The Rule of St Benedict tells us that we need to “seek peace and pursue it”. We need to chase after it. The contemporary scholar, Terence Kardong OSB, insists that, “What is needed is long term, dogged effort to ‘make peace,’ that is, do deeds that build a solid human foundation for true peace.”

Australians participated in a National Day of Mourning on 22 January and we continue to remember the tragedy of Bondi in a variety of ways. However, it would be all too easy to move on, to pass by.

We cannot pass by. Surely, as neighbours, we are called to “see” as the Good Samaritan “saw”, to linger long enough so that we are changed by our seeing. We must act.

The first action may be personal and internal, as we negotiate any bitterness, lack of forgiveness or discord in our own hearts. Hard work is often required to rid my heart of these sentiments.

Then we can reach out to our neighbours with acceptance and forgiveness at home, in our workplaces, the marketplace, our places of worship, on public transport and on the footpath. This requires courage, tenacity and patience on a daily basis in all aspects of our lives.

On the eve of Australia Day on 26 January, our Governor-General, Her Excellency Sam Mostyn AC, reminded us that we “have a significant project of unity to commit to, we all need to focus on care, kindness and respect for each other.”

Finally, our actions must ripple outwards. We must call our governments and public institutions to account for all forms of discrimination based on ethnicity or religion, for failing to promote social harmony, and for politicising social division.

We should expect our political leaders to act with integrity in the global discourse. The future of our human community depends on this action.

On 22 January, many of us lit a candle at the front of our homes. We chose to bear witness to the suffering of our neighbours at Bondi, to all who are vilified and harmed by the discrimination of other members of the community. Likewise, many chose to do “one mitzvah for Bondi”, an act of kindness.

I hope that we can continue these acts of kindness, that we might shine light in the darkness of hatred and discord, and become beacons of peace.