As Bondi’s Jewish community celebrates Passover, freedom and fear are front of mind

For many bereaved families the holiday – which commemorates their ancestors’ liberation from slavery 3,000 years ago – is going to be ‘very, very confronting’ Rabbi Mendy Ulman’s family is one of a dozen who will be sitting down for the Jewish holiday of Passover for the first time since the massacre at Bondi beach without the loved ones they lost that day. When Ulman remembers his brother-in-law at previous celebrations – known as Pesach in Hebrew – he says simply: “He was life.” Rabbi Eli Schlanger was always singing and initiating the traditional Jewish toast “l’chaim” (meaning “to life!”): “He’d make sure everyone’s spirits were high.” Schlanger’s highlight of the holiday was the first night, which they celebrated as a family, allowing him to focus on his children – engaging them in the story of their ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. On the second night, the orthodox Bondi Chabad congregation would host a communal Seder meal where Schlanger would “run the whole show”, Ulman says. This year, with many families in their community also facing a very different holiday, the communal Seder will move