This weekend’s mass shooting at a Hanukkah event in Australia hit particularly hard for Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad Poway, whose nephew, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was leading the festive holiday event before he and more than a dozen others were killed, Goldstein told City News Service. Goldste in himself was shot and seriously wounded in an antisemitic attack at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in 2019 that killed 60-year-old parishioner Lori Gilbert Kaye. Two others, 34-year-old Almog Peretz and his 8-year-old niece, Noya Dahan, were also hurt. He told CNS on Sunday that he had been up all night after getting a phone call from a relative in Sydney, Australia, about Schlanger, his youngest sister’s son-in law, who was one of at least 15 people killed. The Hanukkah attack took place at Sydney’s Bondi Beach as hundreds of Jews gathered to mark the first day of the eight-day holiday. Authorities there described it as a targeted antisemitic attack. “Every time there is a mass shooting, it just brings it back up to the front,” Goldstein said, recalling the 2019 attack. “That trauma never leaves you.” Goldstein urged the entire Poway community not be deterred and to attend his Hanukkah event Sunday at Old Poway Park to show solidarity. He also said there will be a strong security presence at another event he is hosting at North County Mall on Monday evening. “Nothing that anyone does will never dim our lights,” Goldstein said. “A little bit of light will push away the darkness with random acts of goodness and kindness. We will recover from this stronger and brighter and greater.” Schlanger, 41 and a father of five, was the head of the Chabad mission in Bondi, and had served the Jewish community there for over 18 years. The San Diego police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department each expressed their condolences to the Sydney community and said they would ramp up patrols near houses of worship and community events locally in light of the attack. “We understand the real fear that acts of violence like this spread among our communities. It is a reminder for all of us to remain vigilant. While there are no known threats, the San Diego Police Department is working closely with our law enforcement partners,” SDPD said in a statement. Goldstein lost his right index finger in the April 27, 2019 attack, which occurred on the last day of Passover and killed Lori Gilbert-Kaye. John Earnest of Rancho Penasquitos carried out the shooting. He was later sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors said he authored racist and antisemitic writings and committed the attack out of hatred. Goldstein also made headlines in 2022 when he was sentenced for several fraud schemes involving the misuse of at least $6.2 million in contributions and donations to the synagogue.  This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less