An official public memorial service will be held tomorrow, Wednesday 17th at 7:15 pm on the forecourt in front of St Mary’s Cathedral.
The Prime Minister and Premier will be speaking, as will Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Rabbi Benjamin Elton of the Great Synagogue, accompanied by many senior faith leaders. Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel will also be there.
The NSW Faith Affairs Council met on Monday, and Senior Jewish clergy leaders addressed the meeting, including Rabbi Benjamin Elton – of Sydney’s The Great Synagogue – and Rabbi Nochum Shapiro, of Chabad House of the North Shore and President of the Rabbinical Association of Australasia.
Rabbi Shapiro conveyed to fellow faith leaders that tangible ways for their communities to show support for Jewish Australians were to light a Chanukah candle or engage in tangible acts of charity, to fight the darkness with light.
Murray Norman of Better Balanced Futures, a multifaith group supporting voluntary religious teaching in public schools, in consultation with the Jewish community has sent out these suggestions for worship services this week.
• Observe one minute’s silence
• Light a candle (or candles) to acknowledge those whose lives have been lost
• Appropriate reading (eg. Psalm 20 or 91)
• Appropriate prayers
• Encourage members to engage in tangible acts of charity, to fight the darkness with light.
The meeting endorsed this statement: The NSW Faith Affairs Council and the Multicultural NSW Advisory Board extend our deepest sympathies to the victims of the tragic shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday, 14 December 2025.
Our prayers and thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone impacted by this unspeakable act of violence targeting our Australian Jewish community.
We extend our sympathies to the Jewish community, who will be deeply impacted by this terrorist incident, at a time of year when they should be coming together to celebrate the start of Chanukah with family and friends.
In the face of this tragedy, we call on the people of New South Wales to remain steadfast in our commitment to peace, humanity and to each other as Australians.
We will not let hatred and violence divide us. Across all our cultures and faiths, will stand united in sympathy, compassion, and solidarity.
The Right Reverend Dr Michael Stead
Chair, NSW Faith Affairs Council
Simon Chan AM
Chair, Multicultural NSW Advisory Board
Joseph La Posta
CEO, Multicultural NSW
Image Credit: nerissa’s ring / Flickr