Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Bondi Beach shooting victim, remembered by his friend, Stony Brook Rabbi Motti Grossbaum

A few days before he was killed Sunday in a terrorist attack that left at least 15 people dead at a Hanukkah event in Australia, Rabbi Eli Schlanger sent a voice message to a friend in Stony Brook.

Schlanger was reminiscing about his time with Rabbi Motti Grossbaum when they studied together in a yeshiva in France decades ago. The two knew each other most of their lives, starting with elementary school in Brooklyn.

"He was the epitome of light, joy, inspiration, and standing strong for values and especially Jewish pride ... He was a symbol in my class," said Grossbaum, 41, who works at the Village Chabad in Stony Brook. The ultra-Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch mission is to reach out to Jewish people everywhere, and Schlanger "went to the furthest corner. He went to Sydney," Grossbaum said.

Shocked by killing

On Sunday, Grossbaum and others on Long Island who knew Schlanger, and others preparing to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, were in shock over his killing after two gunmen opened fire at Sydney's Bondi Beach. One gunman was shot to death by police. The other shooter, his 24-year-old son, was wounded and transported to a hospital for treatment. 

Grossbaum said he was trying to pull himself together to lead a menorah lighting ceremony to start Hanukkah. He said he was forcing himself to do it to honor his friend and to send a message that Jewish people will not succumb to threats against them.

"I’m tasked every year to inspire a community with the message of light over darkness," he said. "For him to be taken on the first night of Hanukkah, under the glimmer of the Menorah, which is symbolic of being a beacon of light over darkness, I can't think of a more profound ... irony," he said.

"This is Eli telling me and every Jew in the world, stand tall like the Menorah, shine bright like the Menorah," he added, as he broke into tears.

He and Schlanger spent years together studying to become rabbis, including in Brooklyn. Two decades ago, they spent a summer in Sydney, serving with Chabad. It was the start of Schlanger’s road to moving there permanently, Grossbaum said. "He was in his element," Grossbaum said, adding, "I know Bondi Beach," the site of the mass killing.

Fond memories

Schlanger, 41, was born in England. When he was a boy, his family moved to Brooklyn, Grossbaum said. The worldwide Chabad headquarters is located in the borough, in Crown Heights. Grossbaum had expected to see Schlanger in November for Chabad’s annual worldwide conference, but Schlanger didn’t make it — his Australian-born wife had a baby that month, the couple’s fifth child.

In the voicemail Schlanger sent, he recalled Grossbaum, when they were together in France, singing "Ufaratzta," a religious song taken from a verse in Genesis that refers to God telling Jacob that his descendants will spread across the land. Schlanger sang the song on the voicemail.

"He said every day on the calendar, when this day comes ... it just throws me back to remembering this image of you, singing this song in France," Schlanger said in the message, according to Grossbaum.

He added that Schlanger "would want to share a message. He did not cower. Life has challenges and there's a lot of darkness out there ... That's what he was saying: Guys, march forward. Put a smile on your face and march forward."

North Hempstead Town Council Member Yaron Levy, 43, who grew up near Bondi Beach, also knew Schlanger and said he was stunned to hear of his death.

'A good friend'

Levy, a Chabad rabbi on Long Island, said he came to the United States in 1996 to celebrate the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in Crown Heights.

"I spent almost every single day there, that month period that I was here, almost every single day I spent it with Rabbi Eli Schlanger," he said. "He was a good friend of mine. I've used up about a full box of Kleenex. He was a good, special guy, just so happy to be able to spread the word of the Torah, happiness and light, and bring everybody closer to Judaism, to have a relationship with God, a connection with God."

Levy said that growing up, he spent every Hanukkah on that beach celebrating with Jews and Gentiles alike.

"You have about 2,000 people partying from the Jewish faith that are there, and they're giving donuts and latkes and lighting the menorah and spreading the word of light and kindness and happiness and how grateful they are to be living in Australia, praising the country that they live in, not damning it and cursing it," he said.

He likened the event to the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

"Who wouldn't want to just dance to nice music and have a nice jelly doughnut," he said. "It's a nice celebration that makes you feel warm."

Levy said that other leaders in the Chabad-Lubavitch community were slain or injured as well.

Light from the dark

"You're talking about illustrious people, people that do nothing but incredible acts of goodness and kindness, phenomenal things," he said.

At the Long Island Rail Road station in Merrick, families gathered on Sunday for the lighting of a giant menorah to mark Hanukkah's first night. Several in attendance said the shooting in Australia was on their minds and underscored the need to show up in public spaces to mark the holiday.

"I do come every year, but I felt like, in light of what happened in Australia, it was extra important to come and stand strong," said llana Greenblatt, of Merrick. "People still go out and just murder Jews because they're Jewish, and this holiday is important because it shows triumph over evil, and we're here every day to tell that tale."

Seth Field, of Bellmore, held his young daughter as the organizers threw chocolate coins to the children.

"It's like the rabbi was saying, we can't push the darkness away with the broom," Field told Newsday, "but we come together and through our combined acts can help light up the dark corners."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.