Australian News Anchor In Tears As Chabad Mother Says ‘We Don’t Stop Shining The Light’

NEW YORK (VINnews) — During the course of the horrendous terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, Rabbi Eli Schlanger was brutally murdered, but his wife was also injured by a bullet and even his two-month baby suffered shrapnel injuries. The baby remains in hospital after developing a fever in the wake of his injuries.

In an interview with Sky News’ Sharri Markson, Rabbi Schlanger’s loved ones recalled how he died protecting his family and his community during the shooting. In his final moments, Rabbi Schlanger raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, walked toward the gunman as he reloaded his weapon, and pleaded with him to stop shooting. Moments later, he was murdered.

Sorella, a close friend of Rabbi Schlanger’s wife, Chaya, said that the two-month-old baby is “not out of the woods just yet” after being hit by pieces of shrapnel in his calf.

“The sheer horror and evil for somebody to shoot at babies, at women, at old people, it’s horrific,” Sorella said.

Chaya was also injured in the attack, but did not realise she had been hit amidst the chaos.

“Chaya was hiding, trying to protect herself and more importantly her two-month-old baby and she does not recall getting hit because of the adrenaline, but suddenly somebody next to her said to her: ‘You’ve got blood on your back’.”

The mum-of-five had been grazed by a bullet and spent Sunday night in hospital.

Her two-month-old son is currently recovering in the children’s hospital, with Sorella praising the “unbelievable” support of the medical team.

Rabbi Schlanger’s young baby in hospital

In harrowing scenes, Chaya was forced to watch on as her husband and the father of her five children was fatally shot.

“At the same time as Chaya was hit by a bullet, she was also trying to keep her husband alive and begging the local nurse and surfer to keep doing CPR,” Sorella said.

“We had to get her medical help but she kept saying: ‘Please don’t stop. Wake up Eli, you have to wake up.’ Eli was a believer in miracles and she said to him: ‘Make a miracle for me, you can’t leave me, I’ve got five children, I can’t do this on my own’.

“It was devastating to watch.”

Another family friend, Chana, struggled to hold back tears as she branded the horrific event “inevitable”.

“An average Australian doesn’t live with this fear,” she said. “My children are fourth generation Australian, when are we going to be considered Australian like everybody else?”

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“The children were crying and begged please turn off the Menorah, our home is going to become a target of hate.”

Sorella, who runs a Chabad center in Sydney with her husband and family, shared a deeply moving moment with @SharriMarkson on @SkyNewsAust following the… pic.twitter.com/0x7hIaKni5

— Avraham Berkowitz (@GlobalRabbi) December 17, 2025

Full interview

Later in the interview, Sky News host Sharri broke down in tears as Sorella revealed how her children had begged her to turn off the menorah outside of their home to avoid becoming a “target”.

“We have a big menorah outside our home and we keep it up all year because since October 7th especially, we just feel the community needs that,” she said.

“When we finally made it out of the beach and got home that night, our children were crying and they said: ‘Please turn off the menorah. Our home is going to become a target’.

“My husband and I looked at each other and we said: ‘No way, we’re not going down like this. We don’t turn off menorahs, we don’t hide our kippahs. We stand proud and loud’.”

Sorella said her children cried and begged, and as a mother she decided to turn it off.

The following day one of Sorella’s neighbours, a Christian, “sobbed” after noticing the menorah had been turned off.

“They’re turning off their menorahs, the evil can’t win,” the neighbour told Sorella’s husband.

As the Sky News host broke down in tears, Sorella said she and her husband decided to turn their menorah back on because “we don’t stop shining light”.

“I can promise you, I can say it with full certainty, if [Rabbi Schlanger] was standing here today, he would say: ‘We don’t go down in darkness, we shine light. That’s the only way to push out darkness. We look out for each other, we spread goodness and kindness. That’s what we do’.”