Friends,

This weekend started with the hope of a happy start to the Hanukkah holiday for many in our community. My two-year-old and four-year-old daughters were excited for presents and gelt, and I was happily preparing for holiday gifts for their teachers. And then the news came out of Providence, then Australia. While we don’t know the cause of the attack at Brown, it hit me hard as a proud alum of that beautiful university. But we do know what prompted the attack in Sydney. Antisemitism and hate.

As we have all learned, attackers injured and murdered Jewish Australians celebrating the first night of Hanukkah with their community—to light candles, sing songs, and share in the joy of Jewish heritage. At least 15 of them will never come home and many more will be forever affected by what happened. As Australia’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said, this was an antisemitic terror attack. This is not an isolated incident. It is the tragic but predictable result of normalized, escalating hateful antisemitic rhetoric and activity that has been festering across Australia and worldwide. The Australian Jewish community has experienced a nearly fivefold increase in antisemitic incidents since October 7.

Recent antisemitic incidents in Australia:

• October 2024 - The kosher restaurant Lewis' Continental Kitchen in the Sydney suburb of Bondi was the target of an Iranian-regime led antisemitic arson attack.
• December 2024 – The Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed, injuring one and causing significant damage to the building. This was also an Iranian-regime led attack, and we recently marked the one-year anniversary together with the J7 on site.
• January 2025 - A childcare center near a Sydney synagogue was torched and spray-painted with anti-Jewish profanity.
• July 2025 - A man attempted to burn down a synagogue in Melbourne just as 20 people, including children, were sitting down inside for Shabbat dinner.

Members of the ADL leadership team were in Australia, and on Bondi Beach, just last week to raise the alarm about what is happening to our community worldwide. We were there along with leaders of the world’s seven largest Jewish communities convened in Australia as part of ADL’s J7 Task Force to Combat Antisemitism. ADL leaders spent Shabbat with this very same Chabad community. They prayed together, ate together, and witnessed their resilience. To know that members of this vibrant community were murdered days later is shattering.

Now is the time to stand together. We are still deeply at risk and we need your help. Your D.C. team will continue to share information and work to protect, advocate, and educate on behalf of the Jewish community. Please consider how you can join in our fight.

Best,
Tali