“When I was a child, I was walking with a friend on a Friday afternoon in London and we met these 2 Israelis schlepping suitcases. They asked where the local synagogue was. I knew no one would be there—it was hours before Shabbat. So I gave them my home address. My friend said, are you insane? The next morning they were sitting at our breakfast table. I didn’t think it was strange. My parents would let literally anyone come.
I’m the 11th of 12 children. A lot of chaos, but a lot of warmth. When I was 11, my older sister—she was 17—very suddenly passed away from epilepsy. From that I felt the greatest sense to live fully. Not just for me, for her too. My husband’s sister passed away in the same community, on the same day, of the same year. Our families were connected forever through that. When we married, people said it felt like a balm—our families brought together in joy rather than tragedy. Both our mothers later became ill. When mine was near the end, life became crystal clear. We realized the challenges we’d been through weren’t random—they were hand-chosen for us. We started Abraham’s Tent, supporting patients and families in Sydney’s hospitals. My name is Sarah, my husband is Avraham, our last name is Abrahams.
On December 14th, we were at the Chanukah event on Bondi Beach when the shooting started. We ran with our four kids through the park, past people no longer living. When we got home, our big menorah was glowing outside—we keep it up year-round. We cried as we lit the menorah inside that night. I thought, G-d, we’re doing this for you, but my heart’s not in it. My boys begged—turn the menorah outside off. Someone’s going to attack the house. After a while, as parents, we felt the right thing was to turn it off. Even though it went against everything we believe in. Days later, a Christian neighbor knocked on our door. Her daughter had driven past that night to get strength from our menorah. It was off. She sobbed. She said—they’re turning off their menorahs. The evil can’t win, Mum. My husband and I made a decision. That menorah was going back on and never coming off. It’s been on since.”
-Rebbetzin Sorella Abrahams, Sydney, Australia
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