As Sydney reels after the Bondi attack, Jewish Australians reckon with an ongoing sense of threat

"I was just delighted because the wedding had gone very well I was beetling back to Sydney, it's a gorgeous drive the green hills and the trees and I was going to get home for eight o'clock, the family would be back from Dover Heights by then, we would all get together, we would light Hanukah candles, give out chocolate money to the kids, it was one of those perfect days."

"His WhatsApp groups buzzed with reports some accurate, some not about an attack in Bondi, about the number and names of the wounded and dead. He had a very terrifying window when he couldn't reach his wife who had been attending an outdoor Hanukah event at a park in Dover Heights, just north of Bondi, with their young children, but eventually got through and heard they were safe."

Rabbi Benjamin Elton was returning from co-officiating a wedding in Jervis Bay when he received urgent WhatsApp messages about an attack in Bondi. He experienced a terrifying period without contact with his wife, who had been at an outdoor Hanukah event in Dover Heights with their young children, and later confirmed they were safe. The family had planned a joyful evening of Hanukah candle lighting and gifts after a picturesque drive. The Dover Heights event was a family-oriented gathering with a petting zoo, food and live music. The attack involved alleged gunmen and resulted in at least 15 deaths, described as an antisemitic act.

Read at www.theguardian.com