ECAJ President Daniel Aghion’s speech marking the National Day of Mourning, delivered at Temple Beth Israel in Melbourne on 22 January 2026.

When I think about Bondi, the first image that comes to mind is of Reuven Morrison – the Mel­bur­ni­an killed in the attack, standing tall and full-stretch, arm curved mid-throw as he prepared to use whatever is in his hand – a brick or a bottle maybe.

His family describe Reuven, euphemist­ic­ally, as a master of “choice words”. Was it a delib­er­ate strategy of Reuven’s to cause a dis­trac­tion to save others, throwing something while shouting and swearing, or was he simply so outraged that he could not contain himself? Or perhaps both? We do not know and will never know.

Next, I think of Boris and Sofia Gurman, who acted early and with incred­ible foresight in recog­nising that an attack was about to occur and dis­rupt­ing it, slowing the attackers down.

Then the incred­ible footage of Ahmed al Ahmed, who disarmed one of the ter­ror­ists but then put the gun aside – safely out of reach – because, as he described it, he would not take a life.

Then Gefen Bitton, an Israeli and now granted Aus­trali­an permanent residency, who ran in alongside Ahmed al Ahmed to confront the terrorist.

Then Chaya Dadon who, like so many others, protected a child she did not know. Tash Willemsen working at the petting zoo, who sheltered three children and told them not to look around but to instead pet the rabbit. One of the children she sheltered was Summer, the younger sister of Matilda B.

Then the lifesavers, first respon­ders and police who rushed in, without thought or care to their own safety.

And of course so many more heroes of Bondi. Many names we know. Some we do not. Sadly, there will be some whose acts of bravery we will never know.

This is the Bondi I will remember. The place of crashing waves and natural beauty, and now of raw courage and determ­in­a­tion.

The ter­ror­ists? They barely register. Their names and images keep slipping from my mind, as they fast fade into irrel­ev­ance.

Our religion is deep, ancient and learned. It is the pro­gen­it­or of the mono­the­ist­ic faiths. Judaism thrives on, and rejoices in, debate and dis­cus­sion.

The teachings of the Lub­avitch­er Rebbe are core to the worldwide Chabad movement, of which Bondi Chabad is an integral part. The Rebbe taught that there is no great evil in the world, and indeed it is ego­centric of humankind to think that. To the contrary, there are simply humans each with the ability to do good or ill to each other.

This week in shule, we will read the story of Exodus, the found­a­tion­al story of freedom from slavery and the beginning of the Israelite people as a nation.

In order to become free, Moses had to confront the great and evil ruler Pharoah, the ruler of the land, who was convinced that he alone could determine the fate of all. Moses was terrified. However, with God as his guide, Moses was able to conquer his fear and see Pharoah for what he was – just a person who could make choices and could do good or ill.

The Rebbe taught that the most jealously guarded secret of evil, is that in truth it does not exist. It was in that moment of real­isa­tion by Moses, the Rebbe explained, that the people of Israel truly won their freedom.

The campaign One Mitzvah for Bondi springs from that same theology. It is a simple idea, but an enduring one. We all have that choice, to do good or ill. Each of us are made better by acts of kindness. And so is the world.

Tikkun Olam, as the Prime Minister mentioned in his speech on the con­dol­ence motion, is the Jewish concept of healing the world, one good deed at a time. A mitzvah – a good deed, a small act of kindness – is all that any of us can do. But that action is so powerful.

A mitzvah does not need to be a grand gesture or an act of heroism. It just needs to be kind. It can be as simple as showing human warmth to a stranger.

My seatmate on the flight home from Canberra this week did exactly that. He asked about the design on my kippah. That led to a light­hearted dis­cus­sion about how it stays on the head (he had less hair than mine), which in turn resulted in a delight­ful dis­cus­sion that enter­tained us both for the duration of the flight. He performed a mitzvah, and as a result two people who did not know each other formed a friend­ship.

Modern science has now caught up to religious schol­ar­ship on this topic. Sci­ent­ists have dis­covered that altruism – selfless giving – releases oxytocin in the brain. The neural response that is triggered, is the same as when humans look at babies. A giver exper­i­ences both personal reward and love. Repe­ti­tion of the exper­i­ence keeps that feeling going. The more you give, the more that you feel like giving.

January is the time in the secular calendar when we talk about New Year’s res­ol­u­tions, about what we plan to change about ourselves. The experts say that behaviour is habit-forming. According to them, fewer than 30 daily repe­ti­tions are suf­fi­cient to create long-term change. I therefore encourage you all to perform a mitzvah, a good deed. Do several. Even better, do one a day until it becomes a habit.

That is the legacy of Bondi. There is no great evil in the world, just people who make choices. Our answer to Bondi, is to choose to do good.

When I think of the heroes of Bondi, I am inspired. I am inspired to make that choice.

I did not know Reuven Morrison. But from a single act, I have a sense of his character. Every Aus­trali­an does. Wherever he is now, perhaps in the Kingdom of Heaven, I am sure he is smiling at the legacy he created for his adopted country. He may even look at the ‘One Mitzvah for Bondi’ campaign and say “well done”. There might even be a few choice words thrown in as well.