In a first, Australian state government encourages acts of kindness to honor victims

By: Moshe New

The New South Wales government—the Australian state where the Bondi massacre in Sydney took place last Sunday—has launched a campaign asking all its citizens to perform “one mitzvah” in honor of the 15 people murdered in the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, the dozens injured, and the community at large.

The “One Mitzvah for Bondi” campaign, announced by Premier Chris Minns at the final night of Chanukah celebrations at Bondi Beach last week, represents a departure from typical governmental responses to tragedy. Rather than offering only condolences and increased security, NSW has embraced a distinctly Jewish concept and vocabulary to unite the state in response to an antisemitic massacre.

“A mitzvah is a simple but powerful idea: a concrete act of goodness, something you do that makes the world more just, more compassionate, more humane,” Minns said at the launch. “The One Mitzvah for Bondi campaign is inspired by Rabbi Eli Schlanger.”

Schlanger, 41, the assistant rabbi of Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi, was murdered at the “Chanukah by the Sea” celebration on Dec. 14. He had long advocated that the proper response to antisemitism was not to hide Jewish identity but for Jews to increase their Jewish observance and for one and all to perform more acts of goodness.

As he told Chabad.org prior to Chanukah 2024, during a spate of antisemitic attacks in Australia: “Be more Jewish, act more Jewish and appear more Jewish.”

‘We Have to Increase in Light’

The campaign emerged from an emergency session of the NSW Faith Affairs Council held the day after the attack. Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper convened faith leaders from across the state and posed a direct question: What could the broader community do to support the Jewish community at this moment?

Rabbi Nochum Schapiro of Sydney’s Chabad North Shore responded with two requests: Stand with the Jewish community unambiguously, and do one mitzvah—an act of kindness or charity to bring light into the world.

Rabbi Eli Feldman, rabbi of the Newtown Synagogue and director, with his wife Elka, of Young Adult Chabad, has been instrumental in organizing the campaign. “The minister loved it,” he said of Kamper’s response. “He said: ‘let’s do it!’” The campaign was immediately put to action.

The decision to use the Hebrew word “mitzvah” rather than translate it was intentional and significant, said Elka Feldman. “Minister Kamper was inspired to bring the message and mission of the Jewish people to the community of NSW.”

A Governmental First

Governmental responses to terror attacks sometimes focus on much-needed security measures, but more often than not veer towards vigils and generic calls for unity—before life continues and people move on.

“Such a governmental response to a tragedy is unprecedented,” Rabbi Feldman noted. “To take such a proudly Jewish and meaningful concept and apply it so broadly and so explicitly is truly groundbreaking.”

The initiative encourages Australians to undertake concrete actions—donating blood, volunteering, calling someone they haven’t spoken to in a while, buying a neighbor coffee, supporting local businesses or helping those in need—and to share their actions using #OneMitzvahforBondi or by registering at nsw.gov.au/onemitzvah.

“At the core of our faith communities is a commitment to love and compassion,” said Dr. Michael Stead, chairman of the NSW Faith Affairs Council. “The NSW Faith Affairs Council encourages everyone to take part in the ‘One Mitzvah for Bondi’ campaign, to spread warmth and kindness to our fellow Australians.”

Living Rabbi Schlanger’s Vision

Kamper, NSW’s minister of multiculturalism, emphasized the campaign’s roots in Jewish resilience and its applicability to all Australians. “In the face of this terrible atrocity, our Jewish community has responded with remarkable kindness and compassion,” he said. “This call to action is the remedy our heartbroken city requires at this time.”

According to Feldman, the response has been overwhelming. “It’s been well received in the community. People are inspired,” he said. One journalist who reached out to cover the campaign told the rabbi that she was so moved by the concept that she planned to begin lighting Shabbat candles.

On social media, particularly in groups like “Jews of Sydney” with more than 10,000 members, photos of people wearing yarmulkes and Magen David necklaces have proliferated, garnering hundreds of comments from people using the opportunity to be as visibly Jewish as possible where in the past they may have been discreet.

At Schlanger’s funeral, Kamper told the Feldmans that he “wants to see Jewish people being more Jewish!”

‘We’re Not Going to Let the Pain Break Us’

For Feldman and the broader Jewish community, the campaign embodies the quintessentially Jewish, and even more so Chabad, spiritual response to violence.

“In the Jewish tradition taught to us by the Rebbes of Chabad, we have to strengthen ourselves,” Feldman explained. “In the spirit of Chanukah, we have to increase in light, and only by increasing in light can we vanquish the darkness. That’s what we need to dedicate ourselves to as the greatest tribute to the martyrs.”

The campaign asks participants to share their acts of kindness with others, creating “a visible record of collective acts of kindness” and “a ripple effect of goodness” across NSW and beyond.

“Our hearts are broken, and we’re shattered, shocked, saddened, angry,” Feldman said. “But we’re not going to let the sadness and the pain break us.”

The ultimate vision, according to Feldman, is to see “millions of kind acts shared across humanity, demonstrating the power of everyday acts of kindness to build connection, compassion and a shared future.”

As Minns, the premier of NSW, said during the celebration of the eighth night of Chanukah at Bondi Beach, standing where Schlanger was murdered just days before: “Even in this period of sadness and evil, there is work to do. Action to confront this hatred. That is the task of every citizen, to seek peace and pursue it.”

To participate in the One Mitzvah for Bondi campaign, visit: nsw.gov.au/onemitzvah or share your act of kindness using #OneMitzvahforB.

(Chabad.org)