Ya’akov Tetleroyd is a survivor of the terror attack on the Hanukkah by the Sea celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14.
He was seriously wounded when a bullet tore through his elbow.
“After I was shot, I was bleeding very heavily,” he recalled and feared he would lose his arm.
“I’m fortunate that the doctor saved my arm and my life, and I’m here today,” he told CBN News.
YA’AKOV FORGIVES THE KILLERS OF HIS FATHER
His father Borris Ya’akov Tetleroyd was murdered right beside his son.
They had come to Bondi Beach together to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights.
“In this world we mourn, that’s the way of the world, we mourn, and it’s a sad thing, and it’s a tragic thing,” said Ya’akov.
Weeks after the atrocity, he stunned not only the Jewish community, but Australians at large, when he announced he forgave the gunmen who took 15 lives.
YA’AKOV EXPLAINS HIS FORGIVENESS
“Do I want to be full of rage? Do I want to be resentful? No.”
“The answer to those questions is no. Because it’s no way to live a life,” said Ya’akov.
He credits his Jewish faith for teaching him that responding to hatred with more hatred only deepens the wound.
“There’s an idea that says: One who does not forgive burns the bridge that he himself must cross,” he reflected.
Instead, he prays, grieves, and speaks about love, not because the pain is gone, but because it hasn’t.
YA’AKOV KEEPS RETURNING TO BONDI
As life settles back into something that looks like normal at Bondi Beach, Ya’akov keeps coming back.
Not because the pain is gone, but because this is where his father’s life ended, and where his own, miraculously, continues.
He says he refuses to let hatred write the final chapter.
“God wants me to live, and I believe God wants me to be happy, joyous and free.”
CBN NEWS REFLECTS ON THE IMPACT OF AUSTRALIA’S WORST TERROR ATTACK
Ya’akov’s story is featured in an evocative Special Report on the impact of the terror attack on Australia’s Jewish community as seen from a foreign and Christian perspective by George Thomas, Special International Correspondent of American Christian Broadcaster CBN News.
His insightful report hears from some key players in reacting to one of the 21st Century’s worst incidents of antisemitism outside Israel.
Arsen Ostrovsky who was seen with his face covered in blood on the night of the attack, says it’s a miracle he survived to lead the Australia-Israel Jewish Affairs Council.
Alex Ryvchin from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and Rabbi Levi Wolff who leads Australia’s biggest Jewish house of worship, Sydney’s Central Synagogue, give their incisive viewpoints.
“PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO WEAR THE STAR OF DAVID IN PUBLIC”
The report also features Mark Leach, a Sydney Anglican minister of Jewish heritage, who co-founded the Never Again Is Now movement — urging Christians to stand publicly with the Jewish community.
“People are afraid to go out in public wearing, you know, a Magen David (Star of David) like I do when I walk on the streets.”
“When I wear this in public, my wife worries about my safety,” Mr. Leach told CBN News.
Ya’akov’s cousin Jenny Roytur who has become a leading voice for victims’ families gives her reflections on the impact of the Bondi tragedy.
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