Sydney Community Mourns Dan Elkayam, Victim of Bondi Beach Attack
Dan Elkayam, 27, a Paris-born IT engineer who had lived in Sydney for years, was killed in the Bondi beach attack, one of 15 victims of the Hanukkah celebration shooting. He had moved from Paris and was building a future in Australia with a partner when he was killed, with his family stating he was murdered because he was Jewish.
At a memorial held at Chevra Kadisha in Woollahra, friends and rabbis highlighted Elkayam's warmth and his love of football and Judaism. His coffin was draped with a Star of David, and he is to be buried in Ashdod, Israel, with family members livestreaming the ceremony from France and Israel.
French president Emmanuel Macron expressed France's solidarity with Elkayam's family in the wake of the attack.
The community launched a mitzvah-for-Bondi campaign encouraging acts of kindness and charity in Elkayam's memory, supported by the New South Wales Faith Affairs Council. Rabbi Chaim Koncepolski noted the attack united Australian Jewry and urged ongoing mitzvahs in response. Additionally, over 150 colleagues from NBCUniversal reportedly joined the tribute to Elkayam.
