Waltzing Matilda tribute for youngest victim of the Bondi shooting
More than 2,000 people attended a vigil for the Bondi shooting victim at the Bondi Pavilion, marking the end of the Jewish period of mourning.
More than 2,000 people attended a vigil for the Bondi shooting victims, marking the end of the Jewish period of mourning.
The service was held at Bondi Pavilion, a site where mourners have gathered to lay flower tributes and grieve in the time since the terror attack.
On Sunday evening, the crowd heard from witnesses, as well as family members of victims killed during the December 14 massacre.
The crowd, which included members of the Jewish community and Bondi locals, was flanked by a heavy police presence with specialist officers on horseback.
The service heard a touching rendition of Waltzing Matilda, a tribute to the youngest victim, 10-year-old Matilda.
'Beacons of light'
Rabbi Yossi Friedman addresses the crowd. (ABC News: Victoria Pengilley)
Rabbi Yossi Friedman, who has attended the site multiple times a day to share the victims’ names and stories, shared a moving tribute.
"They didn't die helpless they were heroes," Rabbi Yossi Friedman told the crowd.
"I call them heroes because many of them did not die running away from the bullets, but actually running towards the bullets, covering others."
Mr Friedman remembered the victims as beacons and ambassadors of light.
"Whilst their lives were taken away from us, their light can never be taken away,"
he said.
The youngest victim, Matilda Bee, was honoured with a rendition of Waltzing Matilda.
Several songs were performed during the service, including a rendition of Waltzing Matilda in tribute of the youngest victim. (ABC News: Victoria Pengilley)
The crowd sang several songs in Hebrew and English and danced, many shone a light from their mobile phones in solidarity.
Attendee Carol Schlessinger said it was "a beautiful, uplifting service".
"It was just wonderful to hear from everyone [and to] be together as a community," she said.
Crowds gather to pay tribute to the victims at Bondi on Sunday. (ABC News: Victoria Pengilley)
Ms Schlessinger said it was a wonderful way to end Shloshim, the 30-day mourning period in Judaism.