December 15, 2025
The Central Conference of American Rabbis condemns in the strongest terms what Australian authorities have determined to be a targeted antisemitic terror attack on Jewish Australians celebrating Chanukah at Bondi Beach in Sydney. We grieve with the families and communities of those who were murdered. We pray for the healing of the injured. We send support and strength to our Australian colleagues. And we give thanks for the heroic bystander, Ahmed al Ahmed, who disarmed one of the terrorists, risking his life to save Jewish lives. He may be counted among חסידי אומות העולם (chasidei umot ha-olam), the world’s righteous.
This deadliest terrorism directed at the Jewish people since October 7, like too many violent attacks before it, reminds us that antisemitic hate speech—whether ostensibly about Israel, from a White Christian Nationalist perspective, or any other form of bigotry—is deadly dangerous to Jewish bodies. The proliferation of antisemitic hate speech has again led to mass murder of Jews, a phenomenon well known to our rabbinic forebears. In their Talmudic discussion of Psalms 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” our sages observed: “Actually, a person’s tongue is more powerful than their sword. A sword can kill somebody who is nearby; a tongue can cause the death of someone who is far away.”[i]
We are commanded to publicize the Chanukah miracle by placing the chanukiyah in the window.[ii] At times of danger, though, Maimonides permitted us to place the Chanukah lights inside the home.[iii] Some Jews will be and feel unsafe to place their Chanukah menorahs in the window this year. All Jewish communities will take security precautions. Still, CCAR rabbis and the communities we serve—in Australia, in North America, in Israel, and around the world—will follow Hillel’s example by increasing the light of holiness throughout the festival,[iv] proclaiming the prophetic faith of Zachariah that might and power, terrorists and their weapons, will ultimately be defeated by the Divine spark in humanity.
Rabbi David A. Lyon, President
Rabbi Hara E. Person, Chief Executive
Central Conference of American Rabbis
[i]Babylonian Talmud, Arachin 15b.
[ii] Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 21b.
[iii] Rabbi Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, M’gilat Esther v’Chanukah 4:8.
[iv] Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 21b.
CCAR statements are grounded in the history of CCAR resolutions and platforms. We strive to represent the overall voice of the CCAR leadership and the Reform rabbinate on critical issues of the day. The CCAR is a diverse community of rabbis, and we recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints that exist within our membership. We encourage those of differing perspectives to engage in respectful dialogue. It is our hope that these statements provide the Reform community with deeper understanding of important issues that impact our lives as Jews and as global citizens.