Colorado, like Australia, has seen its fair share of anti-Israel pro-Palestinian demonstrations since Oct. 7, 2023.
But the protests in these two different places on opposite sides of the planet are also opposites, according to Australia native Rabbi Yossi Serebryanski, director of DU and South Denver Chabad.
Demonstrations on the streets of Sydney and other places in Australia are “very different from the Colorado demonstrations at the State Capitol, which usually are a blend between the ‘Marade’ and a festival. People with cute signs. Colorado demonstrations are almost like a picnic atmosphere.
“In Australia, when the anti-Israel demonstrations take place, there is a palpable danger. People are enraged to the point of action.
“I don’t want to make fun of Colorado, but the only thing that can get hurt at a demonstration the Capitol are your feelings. In Australia, when they are out marching, there’s a culture of violence in British countries that I don’t think Americans really grasp.”
The mass shooting at the Sydney suburb of Bondi Beach, Australia Chanukah celebration hit close to home for Serebryanksi, who was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. He moved to the US as a student in 1987 and came to Denver to start South Denver Chabad in 2001.
Rabbi Serebryanski and his wife Chanie have relatives and friends in Sydney, which the rabbi says has a smaller Jewish community than Melbourne. He draws a parallel between the closeknit Sydney Jewish community and the smaller Denver Jewish community of yesteryear: “You’re only one friend away from another friend of knowing everyone.
“So, there’s a real sense in that community of misphucha — everyone is an extended family.”
The Bondi Beach attack also hit hard for Serebryanski because the Chanukah celebration where it occurred was a Chabad event, and one of those murdered was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, the 41-year-old assistant rabbi of Chabad of Bondi.
Serebryanski did not know Schlanger, but he knew the family because he studied in London in 1989 and 1990.
Another Chabad rabbi, Yaakov Levitan, COO of Chabad of Bondi, died alongside Rabbi Schlanger. Rabbi Levitan was serving as emcee that night.
Rabbi Serebryanski woke up Sunday morning at 7 a.m., planning to do some studying before gearing up for the first night Chanukah celebration he and Chanie would be hosting for the few DU students still around for winter break and for Wash Park Jewish residents.
“My phone had already blown up with people reaching out to make sure I’m OK, but I have no idea what they’re talking about.
“I couldn’t respond to anyone because first I needed to respond as a human, and then I needed to respond as a Jew. And then, If I could, I said I would come back to Facebook as a rabbi.
Serebryanski says that after he realized what had happened, it took him three hours to get his head straight before he could post a video message on Facebook, a medium often uses to reach his community.
In the video, Serebyranski said, “Our tradition gives us something to lean into when events happen. It’s Chanukah, and I’m leaning into Chanukah at the moment. The Jews won a battle and walked into devastation. The Holy Temple of G-d was defiled and it was destroyed, an they had to rebuild. It was rebuilding from scratch.”
He concluded, “We need to know that the miracle of Chanukah is to find, to search for the light in the devastation. We can hold those two conflicting emotions in the same place. G-d’s temple is utterly destroyed. It is profane. It is terrible. But they searched and they found this little bit of oil, enough to light a day, but they leaned into that and it became their miracle.”
© IJN 2025
