At 7.01pm on Thursday evening, a crowd of 1,500 mourners packed into the Sydney Opera House descended into a heavy silence. Television stations paused their coverage. Gatherings fell still.
Six weeks after 15 people were gunned down celebrating the first night of Hanukah in Bondi, in the worst terror attack on Australian soil, the nation was still coming to terms with the weight of its loss.
As Australians paused for a minute’s silence on the national day of mourning to honour the victims, the profound quiet spoke more than words could.
The local Chabad of Bondi’s theme for the official national service at the iconic Opera House was one of hope: “Light Will Win”.
Outside, Orthodox Jewish mourners offered tefillin – small black leather cubes with biblical parchment scrolls that are wrapped on the arm and head of men during prayers – to others.
On the main stage, usually home to theatre, music and dance, 15 candles representing the victims of the shooting were lit by family members and survivors.
Larisa Kleytman – whose husband, Alex, survived the Holocaust before being gunned down at the age of 87, three years before their 60th wedding anniversary. Valentyna Poltavchencko, whose daughter, Matilda, was the youngest person killed in the massacre at just 10. Ahmed al-Ahmed, the Syrian-born father of two who helped disarm one of two gunmen during the Bondi terror attack.
Al-Ahmed lit the candle of Sofia Gurman. Her husband, Boris died alongside her trying to stop the shooters.
In a surprise appearance, another survivor of the shooting, 20-year-old pianist Leibel Lazaroff, appeared onstage to perform a song just hours after being discharged from hospital. It was his first public performance since last month’s Hanukah event.
The dozens of heavily armed police, snipers positioned on the Opera House’s roof and circling helicopters outside the memorial served as a reminder that Sydney was still on high alert.
Tourists and locals have returned to Bondi Beach but the memory of the terror attack in Sydney lingers.
It’s there in the debates over the future of the heritage-listed pedestrian footbridge used by the shooters to gun down civilians, and in Archer park, where a menorah sits proudly as a temporary memorial to the victims.
On Thursday afternoon, a crowd gathered outside the Bondi Pavilion to mark the day of mourning, returning to a place where thousands of bouquets had been laid in the week after the horrific event.
The three tonnes of flowers had been removed to be preserved and turned into a permanent artwork, so the mourners placed stones of remembrance, adhering to the Jewish tradition of laying a stone at a grave.
Australians have been urged to perform mitzvah – small acts of kindness – in their mourning, from cooking for strangers to helping a neighbour.
Senior Rabbi of the Chabad of Bondi, Yehoram Ulman, told reporters the Jewish community’s “hearts are broken, but our spirit is unbroken”.
Ulman lost his son-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, in the terror attack, and had spent the past month attending funerals of victims.
“The Jewish response to violence and to tragedy is not to pull away from society, but to contribute more to it, to heal it,” he said outside the Opera House.
“We don’t fight darkness by shouting. We fight darkness by turning on the lights. And judging from the incredible support from across this nation, one thing is clear to me: that light will win.”
It was a message of unity in what has been a tense few weeks for the federal government, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, facing a backlash over his response to the terror attack, including dragging his feet on establishing a commonwealth royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion.
A week after the shooting, some members of the crowd booed the PM on arrival at a commemoration in Bondi.
Addressing the memorial service on Thursday evening, Albanese was apologetic and drew cheers.
“Tragically, we are gathered here because on 14 December, everything changed. And for that, I am sorry,” he said.
“We cherish the promise that this country is a safe harbour. But sadly, that promise was broken. I am deeply and profoundly sorry that we could not protect your loved ones from this evil.”
Albanese said Bondi wasn’t just a beach but part of Australia’s “promise to the world”, a “welcoming embrace … where there is room for everyone”.
“We gather here tonight, drawn together in one Australian icon to mourn the devastation inflicted at another,” he said.
“Let me say this clearly and unequivocally: An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on all Australians.”
For Ulman, returning to the Opera House was an act of healing. He said during the protests of 2023, the Jewish community was “told to stay away”.
“We were told that this place is not safe for us,” he said. “But today we have returned. We are back, not in fear, not in hatred, but with our heads high.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, in her speech, referred to the 2023 pro-Palestine protest at the Opera House, in which protesters shouted antisemitic chants.
“Friends, in October 2023 the worst of Australia tried to co-opt an iconic building as a backdrop for hate, as a prop for inciting violence and glorifying terrorism. Tonight, how good it is in January 2026 that we take back the Opera House,” she said.
“And not just for Jewish Australians but for all Australians.”
It followed an earlier comment from the NSW premier, Chris Minns, who said: “Just as you reclaim Bondi beach, tonight, you have taken back the Opera House as well.”
“That’s what exactly the Opera House is for – not a place of hate with loudspeakers and racism, flares and hateful symbols – but a location of peace and unity. Tonight, we gather in our most important building to bring out the best in Australia,” he said.
Minns, who received a standing ovation as he walked on stage to give his speech, said 22 January was chosen for the day of mourning because the Chabad community asked that it coincide with shloshim, the one-month mark following the death and burial of a loved one.
“Many rabbis have told us while the pain remains and the grief continues, the one month mark is a transition, where we begin to search for meaning, to find purpose, to take action, and even to ask questions. Sometimes difficult questions,” he said.
