Three weeks to the day after the horrific massacre at the Bondi Beach Chanukah event, Yanky Super returned to the scene for the first time since the attack that nearly took his life.

Yanky, who had been critically wounded and was believed to be among the first shot, was joined by his siblings, many of whom had traveled in the previous week from their shlichus posts around the world to surprise him.

Standing alongside him were his family members, as well as members of Hatzalah in Sydney, including head of Hatzalah Mendy Litzman, and Mendy Liebermann, who serves with the New South Wales ambulance service.

These were the same responders who, together with other first responders, had treated Yanky and evacuated him that night, while also caring for over forty wounded victims.

For the past four years, the Bondi Beach Chanukah celebration had been Yanky Super’s post. On the evening of the attack, he arrived early, set up his medical equipment, and was in the middle of his final rounds, positioning himself at the entrance as he had done year after year. Moments later, gunshots rang out.

Yanky felt a sudden jolt and fell to the ground, realizing he had been shot. In a clear miracle, the bullet struck and destroyed his radio mic instead of his chest. Despite his injuries, Yanky managed to trigger a duress alarm and call for help. 

Hatzalah responders reached him under fire, stabilized him, and rushed him to the hospital, where an off-duty Jewish doctor joined the surgical team and helped save his life. After multiple surgeries and twelve days of hospitalization, Yanky was discharged.

Returning now to Bondi Beach, the group first stopped at the exact location where Yanky had been shot. There, he paused and recited the bracha “Baruch … she’asa li nes bamakom hazeh,” as required by halacha, thanking Hashem for the miracle that had occurred to him at that very place. The group then sang “Al nisecha,” thanking Hashem for Yanky’s survival.

They next walked together to the spot where Hatzalah member Mendy Berger had taken cover behind his car as bullets struck it. For Mendy as well, this was his first time returning, and he recited his own bracha at the place where he had been saved.

From there, Mendy Litzman led the group to the exact spot where Rabbi Eli Schlanger HYD was killed, about thirty feet from the bridge, as he attempted to speak to the terrorists and stop the attack. 

At that location, they recited Kapitel 79 of Tehillim, which speaks about Kiddush Hashem, as they mourned the loss of the beloved shliach who had organized the Chanukah event and had given his life al Kiddush Hashem. May Hashem avenge his blood. Together, they sang “Ani Maamin,” expressing their faith in Hashem and the coming of Moshiach, when all bad will be eradicated and we will understand Hashem’s actions.

The group then went up onto the bridge from which the horrific attack had been carried out, where they sang and danced with the resolve to continue forward with strength and with joy.

Throughout the visit, Mendy Litzman narrated what he encountered upon arriving at the scene, how he located Yanky, and how the response unfolded. Other responders added where they had been positioned, how they treated the wounded, and how they worked together under impossible conditions.

Before leaving, they stopped at the permanent tefillin stand that had been set up near the bridge the day after the attack. There, they discovered that a local police officer was Jewish, and they helped him put on tefillin.

A fundraising campaign has been set up to help Yanky and his family cover medical and recovery-related expenses as he continues on this road to full health. Please donate at https://www.charidy.com/yanky

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