Thousands gather to hear Waltzing Matilda rendition for 10-year-old Bondi victim
Thousands of people lifted their torches into the sky for the last daily vigil in Bondi to show sadness, love and support for the 15 victims of the Bondi massacre.
A rainy Sunday night marked the end of “shloshim”, the 30-day Jewish mourning period, when Bondi Pavilion was filled with throngs of people arriving in raincoats and carrying umbrellas, unfazed by the rain.
The audience fell into deep silence as the artists sang a special rendition of the song. Matilda’s waltz It is dedicated to ten-year-old Matilda, the youngest of the victims who died after being shot in Bondi on 14 December.
“When the bright little girl was laid by the ocean, in the shade of a tall pine tree. And she sang and laughed with the dancing flames of Hanukkah, you’ll come with me a Waltzing Matilda,” the artist sang.
“In the night sky, here in the fields of flowers and dreams a smile shines like day. If you listen closely you’ll hear the buzz of a bumblebee, you’ll come with me like a Matilda Waltz.”
Matilda’s father Michael, mother Valya and younger sister Summer attended and in their speeches described Matilda as “a typical 10-year-old girl who loves to laugh, dance and sing.”
Rabbi Yossi Friedman has kept vigil at Bondi Mansion three times a day, at 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m., and 7:30 p.m., since the first day after the attack. He prefers to call the 15 people who died in the shooting heroes rather than victims because “many died not by dodging bullets, but by actually running towards the bullets and protecting others.”
“I don’t call them victims because they didn’t die helpless. They were heroes; guides and ambassadors of light. Each of them lived their lives that way,” Friedman said.
He recalled being deeply moved at one of these vigils after seeing Holocaust survivors give a standing ovation to a group of 100 NSW ambulance personnel.
“Over the last four weeks we’ve certainly seen the best of Australia come here. Australians stand together as one people; whatever faith, origin, belief, skin colour, we are one humanity.”
Governor General Sam Mostyn, Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh and NSW Governor Margaret Beazley also attended the meeting.
Beazley asked all participants to join hands with the person standing next to them and observe a moment of silence.
Flowers and tributes outside the Bondi Pavilion were removed more than a week after the attack, following a notice from the NSW government and Waverley Council that the tributes would be collected and stored for display at the Sydney Jewish Museum and the Australian Jewish Historical Society.
The vigil came after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday bowed to weeks of pressure and appointed a federal royal commission into the circumstances that led to the Bondi attack, when alleged terrorists targeted a Hanukkah celebration and killed 15 people.
Albanese appointed former Supreme Court justice Virginia Bell to lead the national inquiry. Bell was asked to complete his report before December 14.
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Cindy Yin is an urban affairs reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
