How Nikki Goldstein and the late Rabbi Eli Schlanger’s book came to life
Sydney author Nikki Goldstein was in a coma at St Vincent’s Hospital when Rabbi Eli Schlanger walked out of the intensive care room, her body succumbing to a life-threatening infection.
Goldstein’s husband, Rowan, and daughter, Liberty, were told they had days to live, just minutes before Schlanger, a very attentive rabbi, arrived at the hospital as chaplain to perform the final rites.
The rabbi asked a sister if he could blow his shofar; On special occasions, an old ram’s horn was played to stir the spirit. The nurse agreed, agreeing that it wouldn’t bother anyone. “Most of them are in a coma,” the nurse said dryly. Schlanger’s horn briefly silenced the machines in the intensive care unit.
Twenty-four hours later, Goldstein’s lungs began to repair. Instead of dying within a few days, he was transferred to the general ward of the hospital and recovered there. Schlanger arrived, surprised but thrilled to see that Goldstein had survived.
He told her the shofar was a “spiritual defibrillator.” Doctors joked that it was a miracle he survived.
Three years later this happened Schlanger, who would die in the Bondi Beach massacre, was killed The first night of Hanukkah on December 14, 2015. But as they got to know each other, Goldstein and Schlanger struck up a friendship and signed a book deal based on conversations between a questioning Jew and a guiding Jew.
That book Conversations with My RabbiIt was launched Tuesday at Chabad Bondi, where Schlanger served as assistant rabbi for 18 years. Alex Ryvchin, Schlanger’s close friend and prominent Jewish community leader, initiated the book.
“Nikki has given us a profound gift when we desperately needed it,” Ryvchin told guests including Premier Chris Minns, Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane and Liberal elder Philip Ruddock.
“All of us. His family and friends. His community. And the entire nation. A record of his deepest beliefs, a testament to the beauty of his soul.”
Minns said he never met Schlanger, but from what he learned about him after his death, he was “the kind of guy who was fueled by optimism.”
“Eli’s death was an unforgivable crime, but I think it’s important for us to say this morning that this is not the story of his life, and no criminal or terrorist will write the story of his life,” Minns said.
“One of the really great things about this book is that it manages to bring Eli’s voice to life, and by reading the conversations you get this palpable, unmistakable feeling for the man.”
“This book wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Goldstein wrote in the book’s foreword.
“Eli wasn’t supposed to die before we finished. I had one more episode to discuss with him, ironically episode 7, ‘What Does Justice Look Like?’ ”
Goldstein completed the final chapter with the help of Schlanger’s wife, Chaya, and his father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, chief rabbi of the Bondi Chabad Center.
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Alexandra Smith is a senior writer and former state political editor for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
