Children cook meals for needy and mourners lay wreaths for Bondi attack victims on national day of mourning | Bondi beach terror attack

Fresh flower wreaths were laid on Bondi beach, children cooked meals for those in need and Anthony Albanese welcomed the opportunity to “put our arms around” the Jewish community as Australia held a national day of mourning for the victims of last month’s terror attack.

Under the banner of the New South Wales government’s One Mitzvah for Bondi initiative, all Australians were asked to perform an act of kindness or mitzvah to mark the day of mourning on Thursday.

The Prime Minister said that the day was a day to commemorate the 15 victims of the December 14 attack, which he described as “a stain on our nation”.

“This is an opportunity for us as a nation to wrap our arms around the Jewish community because people were being targeted because they were Jewish Australians. Every Jew Australian felt that very deeply that evening and ever since,” he said on Thursday.

“Today we share their pain. A pain that has no end but a beginning.”

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In Paddington, in Sydney’s east, children came together to cook meals for those in need. On Thursday morning, Kids Giving Back’s menu included Thai red curry and a salad with parmesan and pepitas. 350 meals will be distributed to vulnerable communities in Macquarie Park.

Co-founder and CEO Carole Schlessinger founded the non-denominational charity 13 years ago, based on the Hebrew concept: tikkun olam, or repairing the world.

“When everything is so dark, it gives people hope and agency,” he said. The kitchen, he said, is a place to focus on positivity and “the basic kindness that people need to overcome the evil in the world.”

Bondi’s Chabad community chose the theme “light will win” for the day of mourning.

Mother-of-three Rachel Filler, from Vaucluse, carried her 10-month-old baby Marlee while chopping carrots with her older daughters Lilah, six, and Emme Biondi, eight.

“I told the kids that we had a mitzvah to give back in a world that can sometimes be unkind. That’s never a bad lesson to learn,” he said.

“I know a lot of people who are afraid to go out after what happened in the Jewish community. But it’s nice to be able to show kids that the world is still good, there are still good people, and this is proof of that.”

Nearby, brothers Noah, seven, and Jordan Shabad, five, are peeling potatoes.

“The mitzvah is to help people,” Noah said. “We cook for others, it will make them happy.”

After tidying up, 12 hot plates bubbled with curry while the children decorated the lids of the cardboard containers in which the food would be carried.

Amid motifs of rainbows, love hearts, and sunshine, a message simply reads: “I hope this dish brightens your day.”

The state government said nearly 2,500 acts of kindness to One Mitzvah were recorded for Bondi’s website, with many more uncounted.

“My canoe club now runs a Harmony Paddle. We will paddle slowly down the river, reflect and light the candles on the bamboo pots, and let them float until nightfall,” one person wrote in the post.

Another said they went food shopping for their 90-year-old neighbor, and another said they collected garbage from the beach.

“We have been overwhelmed by the support and acceptance of people who set out to do their ‘one mitzvah’, not just in NSW but across Australia. Small acts of kindness add up to an overwhelming wave of support and we know how important this is to both the Jewish community and the Bondi region,” said Steve Kamper, NSW minister for multiculturalism.

In the Bondi Mansion, a few meters away from the scene of the attack, fresh flower wreaths were left near the memorial stone piles, inspired by the Jewish tradition of placing stones on graves.

An onlooker priest said people came and went at the memorial all day long, some to lay stones and others just to watch and pay their respects.

Danish Vibeke and Jan, who were on holiday in Sydney, visited Bondi to lay stones at the monument.

“The whole world knows what happened,” Jan said.

Mourners will also gather at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday evening for an official national memorial service organized by the Chabad of Bondi with support from the federal government, community partners and faith leaders.

In Melbourne, hundreds of people gathered at Paul’s Anglican cathedral to commemorate the 15 people killed in the Bondi attack.

State governor Margaret Gardner and premier Jacinta Allan joined those attending the morning vigil.

Melbourne Anglican archbishop Dr Ric Thorpe said political and community leaders had come together to mourn the lives of 15 people cut tragically short on Bondi beach.

“We stand side by side with members of the Jewish community here in Melbourne and across Australia, and with countless people around the world who, like us, condemn antisemitism, hate crime persecution and violence,” said Melbourne Anglican Dean Dr Andreas Loewe.

At the end of the vigil, after a moment of silence, each victim’s name was read aloud by priests.

Flags have been flown at half-mast on all government buildings across Victoria and landmarks will be illuminated in white tonight as a symbol of light.