Rabbi remembered as a 'force' who died 'doing what he loved best'

Rabbi Eli Schlanger has been remembered as “much more than a rabbi” to his congregation in one of the first funerals held for a victim of the Bondi terror attack.

- Penry Buckley Cait Kelly

In a service yesterday attended by friends, family, members of the Jewish community and politicians, Schlanger, 41, was described as “a force” who died “doing what he loved best”.

Rabbi Aron Moss, who began the service, said Schlanger was “more than a rabbi to his congregants”.

“He was a loving friend to his family. He was not just another family member. He was a mentor to his colleagues and friends.”

The London-born rabbi was the first of 15 victims to be named following Sunday’s attack at an event to mark the first night of Hanukah in Archer Park, near Bondi beach. Schlanger was a key organiser of the Chanukah by the Sea event.

The father of five’s funeral took place at the Chabad of Bondi synagogue in the suburb, where he worked as an assistant rabbi.

Schlanger’s father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, said holding the service in a synagogue, where funerals are not normally held, was a special honour for “a great leader among the Jewish people”.

Ulman addressed a tearful audience gathered to pay their respects to the 41-year-old, whose wife had recently given birth to a boy.