Sydney attack: Rabbi who organised 26/11 memorial among 15 victims; survived by wife, five children

Eli Schlanger, a 41-year-old UK-born rabbi who was among the victims of the antisemitic terror attack in Sydney, had days earlier hosted a memorial service for Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, who were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.Schlanger, a key organiser of Bondi’s annual “Chanukah by the Sea” event, had served Sydney’s Jewish community since 2007. He is survived by his wife, five children, his parents and eight siblings."In recent months, Schlander had become a vocal advocate for protecting Jewish communities against rising antisemitism. Just weeks before his murder, he hosted a memorial for Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, Chabad emissaries who were brutally killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, and Rabbi Zvi Kogan, murdered in the UAE in November 2024," according to Chabad.org website.Nariman House, a Jewish cultural centre in Mumbai’s Colaba neighbourhood, was among the buildings targeted by terrorists from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. The couple’s son, Moshe, who was two years old at the time, was rescued by his nanny, Sandra Samuel, who carried him to safety.A response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s post on X condemning the Sydney shooting read: “Dear Prime Minister @narendramodi, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who organised the Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, was murdered in the terrorist attack along with 12 members of his community.

Just a week earlier, Rabbi Schlanger had organised a commemoration of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, honouring Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg.

Please join a menorah lighting at the Gateway of India or in Delhi in solidarity. Thank you for your deep solidarity.”

The Sydney shooting, described as Australia’s worst in three decades, was allegedly carried out by a father–son duo suspected to be of Pakistani origin. While police have yet to formally identify the suspects, local media have named them as Sajid Akram (50) and his son, Naveed (24).