Swimmers paddle out to sea to honor victims

4 more victims of Bondi Hanukkah attack laid to rest, including couple that tackled terrorist

Boris and Sofia Gurman died ‘not just because they were Jewish, but fighting for being Jewish,’ says rabbi; ‘Charitable’ Edith Brutman, ‘gentle’ Boris Tetleroyd also memorialized

Four people killed in the antisemitic terror attack in Sydney on Sunday were laid to rest Friday, including a couple who were shot dead after tackling one of the two terrorists who killed 15 people and wounded dozens at the Hanukkah candle-lighting event on Bondi Beach.

Boris and Sofia Gurman were buried at the Chevra Kadisha in Woollahra, and Edith Brutman and Boris Tetleroyd were buried at the Rookwood Cemetery in Lidcombe, according to local media.

Senior Sydney Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, whose son-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger was also killed in the terror attack, led all four funerals on Friday.

“Yesterday we buried a 10-year-old girl; it’s been years since I’ve seen two coffins next to each other,” said Ulman at the Gurmans’ funeral.

“Boris and Sofia were taken from us, not just because they were Jewish, but fighting for being Jewish,” said Ulman.

Ulman, who, like the Gurmans, was born in the Soviet Union, read aloud a statement by their son Alex, who was wounded in the attack.

“If you were lucky enough to know Sofia and Boris, you didn’t just know them, you felt their presence in your life,” the statement said. It described how Sofia, 61, and Boris, 69, left Ukraine after Alex was born.

“They started from ground zero in Sydney, in a new country with a new language, and a completely new life. They bought their first house in Bondi, and over time, Sydney became their home.”

The Guardian reported that Ulman wept as he described how Alex expressed concern that his parents were distant from their Jewish faith.

“You thought your parents were very far from Judaism, you told me. But I will tell you, they were closer than all of us,” he said.

Speaking later at the funeral for Brutman, who was vice president of the New South Wales branch of B’nai Brith, Ulman said Brutman, 68, was “charitable in every way,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

“And she did it with love, with devotion and without being asked,” said Ulman.

“Edith wasn’t just a part of our lives; she was a very, very vocal part of our lives. But her love, her loyalty, her devotion, was really unique in every way,” he said.

Boris Tetleroyd, whose son Yakov was seriously injured in the terror attack, was memorialized by his family as “a gentle man, a gifted musician and a valued member of his community,” according to a statement cited in Australian media.

“He was well known to his neighbors, deeply connected to our wider community, and cherished by his family,” said the statement.

Also on Friday, Australia’s Jewish community gathered at Bondi Beach for prayers, while hundreds of swimmers and surfers formed a huge circle in the waters off the beach to honor the victims of Sunday’s terror attack.

“They slaughtered innocent victims, and today I’m swimming out there and being part of my community again to bring back the light,” security consultant Jason Carr told AFP.

“We’re still burying bodies. But I just felt it was important,” the 53-year-old said. “I’m not going to let someone so evil, someone so dark, stop me from doing what I do and what I enjoy doing.”

Carole Schlessinger, a 58-year-old chief executive of a children’s charity, said there was a “beautiful energy” at the ocean gathering.

“To be together is such an important way of trying to deal with what’s going on,” she told AFP.

“It was really lovely to be part of it. I personally am feeling very numb. I’m feeling super angry. I’m feeling furious.”

Community leaders described the support as deeply moving amid heightened fears over a surge in antisemitic incidents.

“Over the past two years, there’s been a lot of people who have been questioning whether we’re still welcome here in Australia because we saw people calling for our death on the streets on a weekly basis,” Rabbi Yosef Eichenblatt from Sydney’s Central Synagogue told ABC News after attending the paddle-out event.

“So it’s been so heart-warming to see the outpouring of love and support. It’s really so therapeutic.”