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Rabbi Dovid Lewis was leading a prayer for the victims of the Bondi Beach shooting when he learned that his cousin, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was among those killed.

"That was when we knew that the unthinkable had happened," Lewis, a rabbi in Manchester, U.K., told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

"Amongst them was our cousin, a man who lived every moment of his life to bring light, joy and love to others."

Lewis urged people not to give in to fear. He pointed to something Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi, said a year ago when he was asked about the rise in antisemitism.

"He told his community that you must live more Jewish, be more Jewish and look more Jewish. We cannot and we dare not give in," Lewis said.

"It doesn't matter who you are, what faith you have. You have to be stronger, better and prouder within your faith, within your humanity, and within your very being as a person. That's the way we combat darkness. We shine a light."

I'm Courtney Dickson, a producer in Vancouver.

"We have colleagues of mine who were there running the actual Hanukkah events and they were gunned down," he said.

A public menorah lighting at the university is planned for Monday night. Loueb said campus security, local RCMP and private security firms are in place to ensure safety of those attending.

However, he said the gathering will be focused on togetherness and celebration.

"Although we're mourning and we're sad about what happened, we're going to counter the hatred with more kindness," he said. "We're not going to stand down."

Hi, I'm Ben Shingler, and I'm covering the story from Montreal.

Rabbi Yisroel Bernath says he thought about cancelling a Hanukkah celebration in the city's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood but ultimately decided to go ahead.

"The answer to darkness is always light."

More than 250 people attended the candlelighting on Sunday amid a heightened police presence.

Bernath also knew one of the victims, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, and described him as a "beautiful soul."

Residents also turned out for a Hanukkah event in the city of Côte Saint-Luc, in Montreal's west end. David Tordjman, the mayor of the municipality, said the message of Hanukkah is more prescient than ever.

"We will continue to celebrate events that bring light and hope to our community," he said.

I'm Darren Bernhardt, a reporter in Manitoba.

Rob Williams, among at least 100 people at the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Learning Centre, said the community won't be scared away from practising their faith.

"We're not gonna stay home and just be fearful of going out and wearing [the] Star of David," said Williams, who used to live in Melbourne, Australia. “We will always see the light through evil."

Rabbi Boruch Heidingsfeld, who helped organize the Chabad-Lubavitch event, gave a similar pronouncement.

"For thousands of years there have been people that have tried to put out the light of, and joy of, Hanukkah. It has never won and it never will," he said.

That message was also heard at the Congregation Etz Chayim in the city, where Rabbi Kliel Rose said that celebrations in the coming days won't be without grief but that it is incumbent on all Jews to honour the holiday.

"In times of sorrow that's what we do as a Jewish community."

'We're still in pain,' says Ontario rabbi after Bondi Beach attack

Rabbi Chaim Hildeshaim of the Chabad of Thornhill Woods says his community is still in shock and pain in the aftermath of the shooting at Australia's Bondi Beach, which targeted Jews celebrating Hanukkah, two of whom he knew personally. 'The only answer to pain is to add even more light,' he said.

Chaim Hildeshaim, a rabbi for the chabad hasidism of Thornhill Woods in Thornhill, Ont., knew Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in the shot.

He also knows single of the maimed — a adult male who was a counsellor in a boys' camp this summer in Thornhill and whose mother is friends with his wife.

Schlanger and his wife had five children, the youngest a baby, Hildeshaim said.

"He was someone who really had an impact on many, many people."

Hildeshaim recalled a recent interview in which Schlanger was asked how to respond to antisemitism: "He said to stand stronger, to stand prouder of who we are."

The Thornhill rabbi has tried to apply the same wisdom in his own community in the wake of the shooting.

"People are in pain but on the other hand we all understand that we cannot stop the celebrations. We cannot cave in to terror," Hildeshaim said.

Alex Stein, a senior cantor at a north Toronto synagogue, grew up in Sydney just minutes from the beach where the attack took place.

He said he knew many of the victims.

Several people he knew were killed during the attack, he said. A friend of his children, who lives in Sydney, is in critical condition after being shot.

"This is a holiday that should be filled with celebration, with joy, with light, with community," he said.

"The Jewish people, we're resilient people, we're strong people. And we will overcome this."

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Ontario Premier Doug Ford both posted statements condemning antisemitism in light of the attack.

"The fear you feel is real, while celebrating your faith, gathering with loved ones or simply being visible," Chow told Toronto's Jewish community. She said the city stands with its Jewish community at Hanukkah and year-round.

Ford said Sunday his thoughts were with Jewish communities in Australia, Ontario and around the world, and he was praying those responsible would be "swiftly brought to justice."

"As we come together in support of our Jewish friends and neighbours to grieve this terrible attack, we must all stand with our Jewish community against hate and antisemitism wherever it is found," he said.

Police in the Greater Toronto Area posted on social media following the attack that they will increase their presence in the city's Jewish communities during Hanukkah.

Across the Greater Toronto Area, Jewish communities are both mourning and calling on their cities to stand up to antisemitism.

Toronto's Jewish community — which makes up about three per cent of the city's population — has been scared by the rise of antisemitism in the city and beyond, said Sara Lefton with the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.

"When we see hateful words turn into hateful actions, like we've seen in Sydney, Australia, the Jewish community in Toronto knows that we're not far behind," she said Sunday.

While Jews in Toronto still feel relatively safe, they "don’t feel as safe as they did a few years ago," said Anna Shternshis, director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto.

The rise in hate, she said, has come following Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel's ensuing actions in Gaza, where this week more than 16,000 people are waiting to be evacuated to receive medical attention after two-plus years of war.

A man who has been hailed as a hero for disarming one of the shooters is now recovering from gunshot wounds in hospital.

Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old Muslim father of two, hid behind parked cars before charging at one of the gunmen from behind, seizing his rifle and knocking him to the ground, according to Reuters.

He was shot twice by a second perpetrator, Albanese said. Ahmed's family said he was hit in the hand and arm.

Ahmed's father, Mohamed Fateh al Ahmed, told ABC News in an interview that his son was an Australian citizen and sells fruits and vegetables.

"My son is a hero. He served in the police, he has the passion to defend people," Mohamed Fateh said.

"When he saw people lying on the ground and the blood, quickly his conscience pushed him to attack one of the terrorists and take away his weapon."

Jozay Alkanji, Ahmed's cousin, said he had had initial surgery and may need more.

Donations have poured in for Ahmed, surpassing $1 million Cdn.

Carney says government 'will always stand with' Jewish community following Bondi Beach shooting

Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a menorah lighting in Ottawa on Sunday to mark the beginning of Hanukkah, speaking in English and French as he paid tribute to the 'resilience of the Jewish people' and expressed solidarity with the community after the Bondi Beach mass shooting in Australia earlier that day.

"Jews were literally gunned down, including my colleague and even an extended relative of mine, a rabbi in Sydney," said Rabbi Chaim Mendelsohn with Chabad of Centrepointe, who was taking part at an annual menorah lighting at Ottawa's Ben Franklin Place.

He said he once served as a junior rabbi in Australia for two years and was at the same Bondi Beach event in 1999 and 2000.

Some community members stayed home from Sunday's celebration out of fear they could be "the next target," Mendelsohn said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who represents the Ottawa riding of Nepean, also spoke at a Hanukkah event at Ottawa city hall Sunday.

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