‘Our family has been shredded’: Sydney’s Jewish community in mourning

“A community is but a family, and our family was ripped apart,” Ryvchin said. “Our family has been shredded.”

A vigil of around 50 people broke out in prayer and Jewish song just after midday as many others watched on in silence. Bondi man and respected music scholar Kim Cunio sang the Kaddish, a hymn recited in Jewish prayers sessions.

Prayers were led by Rabbi Yossi Friedman. He arrived in Bondi early on Monday morning after a sleepless night.

“I just wanted to be here,” he said.“I found a way to get through the police bollards with many others. I wanted to do my prayers here and pray for the victims and those who are trying to heal.”

In a video message from Jerusalem overnight, Coogee Rabbi Elozer Gestetner said he was “shocked and heartbroken” by the news.

“Who would have believed and expected such a thing,” Gestetner said.

He urged the members of his synagogue to “stand tall and proud, you are the characters and heroes of history being made in Australia and it’s a sad, sad history”.

“If you can ride horseback on Bondi Beach with a Palestinian flag, this is what happens as a follow-on,” he said.

Marc Hochstadt, the son of a Holocaust survivor, said he was experiencing a mix of anger and sadness as he sat alone near the lifesaving club in North Bondi.

“We were a lucky country,” the 58-year-old said.

The Paddington resident broke down in tears as he asked why the Jewish community continued to be persecuted, especially in a country like Australia.

“We have three-metre-high fences around schools and security guards outside synagogues. Who lives like this?”

Synagogues, including the Great Synagogue in Sydney’s CBD, remained shut on Monday after the NSW Board of Deputies recommended that all “communal institutions are closed until further notice”.

Flowers were also left outside the Great and Coogee synagogues while police were stationed at the Randwick Jewish school Emanuel and the Caro Synagogue at Bondi.

Many kosher cafes and restaurants in Sydney’s eastern suburbs also remained closed on Monday.

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