Authorities in Australia have so far released the names of nine victims killed as a result of the Bondi Beach terror attack. They are 10-year-old Matilda, whose family are not disclosing her surname at this time, British-born rabbi Eli Schlanger, Holocaust survivors Alexander Kleytman and Marika Pogany, retired New South Wales police officer Peter Meagher, French engineer Dan Elkayam, Sydney rabbi Yaakov Levitan, grandfather Reuven Morrison and great-grandfather Tibor Weitzen.
The “devoted” Rabbi Schlanger, 41, was brought up in Temple Fortune in north-west London, part of a large family many of whom have become rabbis.
His great uncle was Rabbi Leslie Olsberg, who served for many years at Heaton Park synagogue, the scene of a murderous attack at Yom Kippur.
After that attack Rabbi Schlanger wrote a social media post calling on the Australian premier to stop “fuelling terrorism by legitimising those who spread hate”. He added: “This attack must serve as a wake up call for strength, for clarity and for unity.”
His cousin Rabbi Dovid Lewis told Sky News that Rabbi Schlanger “dedicated his life to spreading light”.
He pledged to carry on his work, “darkness can only be combatted with light.”
Rabbi Schlanger was the father of five children, one of whom is only a few months old.
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