Shot 14 Year Old Chaya Dadon Says G-D Told Her to Save Children in Bondi Beach Chanukah Attack • Jewish Breaking News

SYDNEY — As two gunmen opened fire on hundreds celebrating Chanukah on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, 14 year old Chaya Mushka Dadon did not panic.

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Taking cover beneath a bench as shots rang out, Dadon saw two young girls trapped in the open beside their wounded parents. Without hesitation, she ran to them.

“I knew in that moment I felt like Hashem was sitting right next to me,” Dadon said, using a Hebrew name for God. “He was whispering into my ear, ‘This is your mission go save those kids.’”

Dadon, the daughter of Chabad emissaries Rabbi Menachem Dadon and Shterny Dadon, was shot during the attack. Despite her injuries, she lay over the two girls, shielding them from the spray of gunfire after their mothers were struck.

“I do not feel like I am a hero,” Dadon said. “I feel like everyone was a hero in that situation.” She added that she was prepared to give her life to save the children.

Dadon appeared on stage with her parents during a ceremony at Bondi Beach marking Australia’s National Day of Reflection for victims and survivors of the attack. She was interviewed publicly by Australian television anchor Erin Molan, drawing sustained applause from thousands gathered along the shoreline. At the end they were shouting her name in unison, “Chaya Chaya Chaya!”

Dadon walked in stage with crutches after surgery to remove the bullet was successful and doctors say that Dadon is expected to make a full recovery.

In a tragedy that devastated Australia’s Jewish community and shocked the nation, many have come to describe the teenager’s actions simply and reverently.