‘We stayed, we danced’: Brisbane Hanukkah lights shine on in face of deadly Bondi terror attack

Follow our live coverage of the Bondi shooting here. 

The celebratory spirit of about 500 people in Brisbane’s CBD for a special Hanukkah in the City event was shattered as news from Bondi filtered through on Sunday night.

Police swarmed the event at Queens Gardens on George Street as soon as it became clear that the Bondi terror attack had targeted a family-friendly event to mark the first night of Hanukkah – the Jewish festival of light.

But Brisbane Rabbi Levi Jaffe said he and members of his community decided not to abandon the event at which a large menorah candelabra is lit.

“Some community members came over to me and they told me. They said, ‘Look, we’ve just heard this horrible news out of Sydney’,” he said.

“There was some consideration about whether or not we should ... stop the event, but we felt that that goes against the whole message of Hanukkah.

“So people stayed, people stayed. With broken hearts and crying spirit inside, we continued to celebrate. We danced, we celebrated ...

“We felt this is a time we need to strengthen ourselves, and we need to strengthen our resolve. And as difficult as it was, there was a very strong spirit.”

Jaffe is grieving friends and community members killed in the Bondi attack, but was touched when he arrived at the synagogue on Monday morning to find flowers left on the front gates.

Two terrorists – a father and son – opened fire at a Hanukkah by the Sea celebration at Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 16 people, including a 10-year-old girl, in Australia’s worst mass shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. A further 40 people were injured, including four children.

Red Cross Lifeblood has transported blood from Brisbane to Sydney hospitals for victims of the attack, but more is needed.

The service is calling on Brisbane residents of all blood types to donate blood.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and his family attended the Brisbane Hanukkah event, as did Queensland MP Charis Mullen.

“Tonight my family and I joined Brisbane’s Jewish community on the first night of Hanukkah. This afternoon’s shocking attack during a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration is horrific and distressing,” Schrinner said in a statement on Sunday night.

Premier David Crisafulli said he had contacted Jewish community leaders to offer his prayers and support, in what will be difficult days and weeks ahead.

Queensland’s security cabinet convened on Monday morning, and Crisafulli was due to join a national security cabinet later in the day.

Schrinner said Brisbane City Hall and Reddacliff Place, as well as the Story, Kangaroo Point and Victoria bridges would all be lit bright white on Monday night in tribute to those killed.

Public flags at thirteen locations across the city – including King George Square, the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, Observatory Park and Gregory Terrace – were also lowered to half-mast.

Tensions, however, rose outside Brisbane’s synagogue on Monday morning, where people laid brightly coloured flowers in solidarity with the Bondi victims.

A truck driver delivering goods to a neighbouring worksite took issue with being asked by Jaffe’s son to move his vehicle away from the place of worship.

“For security reasons, we have to be very careful and conscious about people that park their cars outside the synagogue, and my son simply asked the driver ... whether he had some kind of permit,” Jaffe said.

“The driver, for whatever reason, wasn’t very happy to get that kind of question. It’s unfortunate that this happened this morning, but it was just a little incident.”

The entire confrontation happened in front of watching media, with the driver at one stage coming over to speak to the cameras, claiming he was being criticised and humiliated for doing his job.

Despite Queensland police releasing a statement on Sunday night that there would be heightened security at Jewish places of worship, there were no officers at the scene for at least 15 minutes.

Officers arrived just before 7.30am and spoke to the man before asking him to leave.

Jaffe said worshippers arrived at the synagogue on Monday morning with “incredible spirit” to continue marking Hanukkah, the eight-day festival of light.

“It was so heartwarming. I actually said to the people, ‘what you’re doing, is you’re really living the Hanukkah spirit by being here today ... in not allowing this event to affect our way of life and our beliefs’,” he said.

“I’m talking to you from a broken heart … [but] it is our firm belief that goodness will prevail.”

A Hanukkah event that was due to take place in a park on the Gold Coast on Monday night has been cancelled over security concerns.

Queensland Holocaust Museum Board chair Jason Steinberg said Friday and Saturday services for the Sabbath would go ahead in Queensland.

“One thing that is crucial for us as a religion is to keep practising, and we won’t let terror influence what we do as a community, to stop practising our religion,” he said.

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