12/14/2025
Dear Friends and Community,
Our hearts are shattered. As we prepare to celebrate Chanukah, we are confronted with the horrific news of a terror attack at a public Chanukah menorah lighting in Bondi Beach, Australia, where 11 innocent people were murdered, among them our colleague, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, HY״D.
Yet again, Jews celebrating their Judaism were attacked.
Adding to the shock, our family members Chida Levitansky, Rivky Shuchat, Leah Nechama Barukh, and Mushka Munitz and their families were at this event. Thank G-D they are all OK.
Please pray for the injured, including Yehuda Leib ben Manya - son of our friends who run Chabad of Texas A&M, who is in critical but stable condition after being shot in the head.
And PLEASE bring more light in to the world! Chanukah is the festival of lights, celebrating the little light of the Menorah that has managed to survive all of these centuries. But it also highlights the need to add light, as each night we add one more flame.
PLEASE light your Menorah, tonight and for the next 7 nights.
Please join with Jewish community, wherever you are, to celebrate with pride.
If you're nearby, please join us to stand together as a community at the Chanukah celebration tonight on the 1400 block of Third street promenade, from 5-7pm.
We are in full and close coordination with the authorities ensuring a safe and secure experience for all.
There will be police and security presence throughout the event.
As the Rebbe once said in the wake of a horrific attack on the Kfar Chabad village in Israel: “Every blow meant to break us must become a reason to grow stronger, for as they tried to suppress us, so we multiplied and flourished.”
Sincerely,
Rabbi Isaac Levitansky
Rabbi Eli M. Levitansky
Chabad in Simcha Monica
