Less than a month after a terror attack shattered a Chabad-run Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15 people, the spotlight shifted from violence to resilience at Colel Chabad’s annual International Awards Gala.
At the fundraiser, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman of Chabad of Bondi delivered his first public address outside his community since the attack, urging those gathered to respond with unity and moral clarity. Also honored was Ahmed al-Ahmed, the Syrian-born shopkeeper who helped disarm one of the gunmen, an act credited with saving lives.
Before the event, reporters asked al-Ahmed whether he hoped to meet President Trump during his visit to North America. Al-Ahmed responded enthusiastically, praising the president’s leadership.
“Of course, I wish,” he said. “He is a hero of the world. I love him. He’s a strong man.”
Speaking before several hundred attendees, Ulman reflected on the tragedy and the global outpouring of support that followed. He called on the audience to “never allow the darkness to win,” framing the community’s response as one rooted in compassion and courage.
Following his remarks, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman presented al-Ahmed with a menorah inscribed with the words “Light will win” and announced a $180,000 donation to Colel Chabad in al-Ahmed’s honor.
“Jews are 0.2 percent of the world,” Ackman said. “To see someone step forward for people he did not know, to risk his own life against a gunman, is one of the great acts of heroism. The menorah represents endurance, courage, persistence and, above all, life and light in the darkness. This man deserves this.”
Addressing the crowd, al-Ahmed described his presence at the event as miraculous. “I am proud to be here with a community and with the innocent people I put my life at risk to save,” he said. “This moment is very hard to explain, but I believe it was holy. The miracle is from God.”
Ulman and al-Ahmed traveled to North America at the encouragement of Chabad International after the attack claimed the lives of Chabad Bondi’s assistant rabbi, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was Ulman’s son-in-law, and the synagogue’s chief operating officer, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan. Ulman said he decided to invite al-Ahmed not only to receive recognition, but to share a broader moral message.
“What he did was not random,” Ulman said on the sidelines of the gala. “It reflects something much deeper. It separates what is right from what is wrong and speaks to universal laws of morality and goodness.”
Although Ulman had visited al-Ahmed in the hospital while he was unconscious, the two formally met for the first time at the airport, embracing and enduring a lengthy flight delay together.
In his speech, Ulman grappled with the meaning of the attack, urging the audience to respond with what he called “irrational love.”
“There are things we will never understand, but we do have free choice,” he said. “What we saw at Bondi Beach was evil in its purest form, irrational hatred. Our answer must be irrational love.”
He pointed to what he described as miracles amid the horror, including explosive devices that failed to detonate and acts of bravery by bystanders who shielded children and confronted the attackers.
When al-Ahmed, wearing a kippah and with his arm in a sling from injuries sustained during the attack, took the stage, the audience rose in a prolonged standing ovation. Visibly moved, he said, “I did my best to save innocent lives, and I am sorry for all the loss.”
Ulman responded by praising al-Ahmed’s moral courage. “You are not Jewish,” he said. “When faced with the choice to run or act, you chose to save life. Those ideals transcend boundaries.”
Other heroes who tried to stop the attackers, including Boris and Sofia Gorman, a married couple killed while attempting to wrestle a gun from one of the terrorists, Reuven Morrison, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union who also confronted the assailants and Rabbi Leibel Lazaroff, who could have run to safety, but instead assisted a wounded police officer in the line of fire, taking his shirt off to use as a tourniquet and tried to shoot the terrorist before he was shot himself.
The evening closed with a message echoed throughout the hall: that even in the wake of terror, acts of conscience and courage can affirm life and light.
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