To Our Friends in Australia,
We were deeply saddened to learn about the acts of senseless violence that took place yesterday in Sydney, which ended with the death of two innocent hostages.
The hostage-taker, who was also killed during the siege, professed to be a man of faith. We believe that true faith expresses itself not through hatred and violence, but through respect and loving-kindness for all of humanity.
We applaud the immediate calls for solidarity and peace by the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammed. It’s hard to imagine terror like this in the peaceful serenity of Sydney. We know from our own experience that it takes weeks and months to grapple with the significance of such a tragic event in each of our lives. We offer our condolences to the families of those directly affected by this voilence and to all of you, our supporters in Australia. Our hearts are with you.
Tonight we begin to light the Chanukah candles. It is our sincere wish that you will find inspiration in the ability of our little candle to remove so much darkness from our midst. When we light the chanukiah as a family or community, we can create even more light and rid our world of much darkness.
Let there be light for all of us,
Anat Hoffman Executive Director
Rabbi Noa Sattah Director
The Entire IRAC Staff