The family of the Bondi shooting’s youngest victim, Matilda, urged the community not to let her death fuel anger, as they said a final goodbye to the 10-year-old on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Matilda was among 15 people who were shot dead when two gunmen opened fire on an event marking the start of Hanukkah at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the BBC at Matilda’s funeral, her aunt Lina Chernykh said the Jewish community is right to want more action to stamp out antisemitism \u2013 she does too.<\/p>\n
But she said Matilda was a joyous child who spread love everywhere she went, and urged the community to do the same in her honour.<\/p>\n
“Take your anger and\u2026 just spread happiness and love and memory for my lovely niece,” Ms Chernykh said.<\/p>\n
“I hope maybe she’s an angel now. Maybe she [will] send some good vibes to the world.”<\/p>\n
Jewish community leaders have in recent days suggested the tragedy was an inevitable result of Australia struggling to address rising antisemitism.<\/p>\n
The attack on Sunday was the country’s deadliest incident since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people during the Port Arthur massacre.<\/p>\n
Mourners – including the Governor General Sam Mostyn and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns – packed out the service in Sydney, wearing bee broaches and stickers as a tribute to the girl who adored them.<\/p>\n
Michael and Valentyna had named their daughter after the song Waltzing Matilda, as a tribute to the country where their Ukrainian family found safety.<\/p>\n
“She’s waltzing with the angels,” Minns said, reading a poem in her honour.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, who led the service, had to pause and collect himself as he paid tribute to Matilda’s short life. <\/p>\n
“The tragic, so totally cruel, unfathomable murder of young Matilda is something to all of us as if our own daughter was taken from us,” he said.<\/p>\n
The service heard how she had lived with beauty, goodness and righteousness.<\/p>\n
“The Jewish … believe that death is not eternal \u2026 it is not because we are na\u00efve,” Rabbi Ulman said.<\/p>\n
“I’m telling you with absolute conviction that the separation with Matilda is not forever.”<\/p>\n
Still, he conceded that his words would likely offer little comfort – something he knows too well. A day earlier, Rabbi Ulman spoke at the funeral of his own son-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was also killed in the attack on Bondi.<\/p>\n
“You give me strength at a time when you need strength yourselves. And I try to do the same,” he said to Matilda’s parents, who sobbed in the front row.<\/p>\n
Ms Chernykh earlier said the family was devastated.<\/p>\n
“I look at their faces [and] I don’t know if they will be ever happy again,” she said of Matilda’s parents.<\/p>\n
Matilda’s younger sister, from whom she was “inseparable”, is shattered and confused, she said. “She doesn’t have enough tears to cry.”<\/p>\n
On the same day the massacre’s youngest victim was laid to rest, its eldest was too. A service for Alex Kleytman – an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor – was held at the same funeral home on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
In a statement, his family said he died doing what he loved most: protecting his wife Larisa and celebrating his Jewish faith. <\/p>\n
“The two gunmen killed him, but his memories, his legacy, and his books will bring light for generations to come,” it read.<\/p>\n
Police have designated the attack a terrorist incident, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying it appears to have been “motivated by Islamic State” group ideology.<\/p>\n
Police allege that the two gunmen were a father and son. Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead at the scene, while his son Naveed, 24, has been charged with 59 offences<\/a>, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act.<\/p>\n