My family is from a few different places. My dad’s side is all from Philadelphia (Go Birds!) and my mom’s side is from two lands with the strongest accents: England and Australia.

My grandparents met in London on a blind date, with my grandmother moving from Australia to live with my grandfather in London after a while. They had my Mom and my Uncle in England, then moved to Florida with the famous ‘American Dream’ vision. My grandmother left over a dozen family members in Australia. 

Fast forward around 50 years later, a 16 year old is living in Miami, over 10,000 miles from Australia. He wakes up one morning and comes to find out: a shooting on Bondi Beach in Australia. Keep in mind, this 16-year-old boy has tons of cousins, uncles, aunts, and other relatives in the land of Australia. 

That 16-year-old boy is me. I have never been to Australia, so honestly the severity of the situation didn't resonate until I caught my mother crying as she started to talk to me over breakfast: “Your cousins go there all the time,” she said. “Cousin K.K. and Cousin Lucy go there every other day.” Mom told me more, and the horror didn’t just hit me a little; it punched me right in the gut. On the first night of Hanukkah – the beginning of the Festival of Lights – antisemitic terrorists had opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration, murdering fifteen innocent people.

To be honest, I didn’t have any real connection or direct experience in regards to battling antisemitism until this weekend. Even though my cousins and family in Sydney are distant, I still feel the hurt that they all feel as a Jew myself. 

The Bondi Beach terrorist attack connects to my life not just through my family being evacuated or living through it, but also through making me realize the great extent of antisemitism that goes on globally. I start to ask, “Why?” like every other Aleph and BBG across the Order. When my grandmother heard about the shooting, she was horrified and made a comment that expressed exactly what we all are thinking: “For what reason? Why? Never in a million years I would have thought this would happen at home.”

Thankfully, my family in Australia is okay. My cousin Lucy was in a hotel on Bondi Beach and luckily she was not at the celebration while the shooting happened. I have reached out, called, and prayed for my family in Australia, and I hope all you Alephs and BBGS do the same for the large Jewish community there as a whole, especially our BBYO counterparts. 

So as we light the candles and eat tons of latkes this week, let's remember a different kind of Why: Why do us Jews, so profoundly persecuted every day, hour, and second, stay strong? The answer to that, well, is simple: Because our bonds, heritage, and religion provide a wall that no sort of hatred can come through. 

As we get through this tragedy together, the miracle of Hanukkah reminds us that a small light can push back overwhelming darkness and persecution. We, as Alephs and BBGs, are the inheritors of that sacred light, and we use its strength to stand united this holiday season.