We are shattered, horrified, shaken to our core.
Jews gathered for one purpose - to bring light into the world - mercilessly gunned down at a Chabad event, a menorah-lighting on the beach in Sydney.
This is as close to home as it gets.
There are moments when words fail, and this is one of them.
I do not understand how such barbaric murder, such pure evil, can exist - how G-d allows terror to tear through innocent, holy lives. Everyone there was gathered to serve Him! I have no theology neat enough to wrap around this brutality.
But let one thing be very clear: This was not random and this was not “one disturbed individual.” This was hatred. Jew hatred, plain and simple.
It makes no difference whether you are in Sydney or London, Paris or New York, Melbourne or Jerusalem. Those who hate us do not differentiate; they hate us all equally.
Nor does it matter how religious you are.
A Jew with a beard. A Jew without a beard.
A Jew with a kippah. A Jew with long hair.
A Jew lighting a menorah. A Jew just enjoying a hot summer evening at the beach.
A Jew breathing Jewish life - this is what they hate.
Darkness does not tolerate light, and yet, this is the deepest truth I know: The darkest moment of night occurs right before dawn breaks.
We are living in that moment now.
This is not just another tragic chapter in Jewish history. These are the final pages before Redemption, the foretold turbulence before Moshiach.
And that leaves us with one option: Light.
We cannot retreat. We cannot dim ourselves. We cannot hide.
As afraid as we are, as tempting as it is to cower in the shadows, we absolutely must live openly, publicly, proudly.
We must increase in light; there is no other option.
Go to your local public Chanukah event. Light the menorah with your fellow Jews. Support one another and show the world that we will not live in fear and be silenced.
Light at home with your children, your spouse, your parents, your neighbors. Place your menorah in the window and declare to the world: We are still here and we’re not going anywhere.
Do it every night. We need it all - more light, more courage, more Jewish pride.
This is how the war against evil is won. Not with fear, but with faith. Not in the dark, but with light. Not in silence, but by raising our voices and making ourselves heard.
Our hearts are broken for the families whose loved ones were murdered, and we pray for all those wounded and traumatized.
We cry and we mourn, and then we promise: Your light will not be extinguished. Your deaths will not silence us. Your memory will ignite thousands more flames across the world.
Because darkness never wins. Light always prevails.