TORONTO — The rabbi of a Toronto synagogue says Hanukkah celebrations will continue as planned tonight in the wake of a deadly mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia on Sunday.
Levi Gansburg, the rabbi at Chabad on Bayview, says his synagogue will “choose light over darkness” and move forward with its planned Hannukah celebrations this week despite the devastation abroad.
At least 11 people were killed and 29 were wounded at a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach in Australia after two gunmen opened fire on the crowd. Jewish officials have identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and one of the celebration’s organizers.
One attacker was taken into custody and the other was fatally shot by police. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the shooting an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation.
Gansburg says he was in a state of shock and mourning when he first heard the news of the shooting.
That shock was numbed, however, by a spate of antisemitic attacks and vandalism across the GTA since Oct. 7, 2023. Gansburg says a synagogue down the road from him — the Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue — has been vandalized 10 times and his daughter’s school was shot at three times last year.
Gansburg says he spent the morning on the phone with Toronto police requesting added measures to ensure the community’s safety.
Toronto police say the force is closely monitoring the events in Australia and says people can expect to see “increased police presence in the Jewish community as a proactive measure to ensure the safety and security of the community.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media post he is “horrified by the antisemitic terror attack that has stolen the lives of 11 people.”
“Canada stands with the people of Australia and Jewish people everywhere in sorrow, and determination never to bow to terrorism, violence, hatred and intimidation,” Carney wrote.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also paid tribute to Australia’s Jewish community, saying in an X post he is “praying for the victims and their loved ones.”
— with files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2025.
Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press
