Aggie rabbi’s son remains hospitalized after Sydney attack

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - A Texas A&M rabbi’s son remains hospitalized in Australia after being shot during what officials are calling an antisemitic attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on Sunday.

Rabbi Leibel Lazaroff, 20, was volunteering at the Bondi Beach celebration when two gunmen opened fire on the crowd, killing 15 people and injuring dozens more. Lazaroff was shot in the abdomen and leg and has undergone multiple surgeries.

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Rabbi Leibel Lazaroff grew up on the Texas A&M campus, where his father, Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff, serves as executive director of Rohr Chabad. He had reportedly moved to Sydney about two months before the attack.

As Rabbi Yossi and his wife flew to Australia to be with their son in the hospital, Leibel’s brothers stepped in to help lead a Hanukkah celebration on campus.

“My brother Leibel should have a speedy recovery, and we should just continue to have him in our prayers, in our thoughts,” Leibel’s brother Lazer Lazaroff said.

Rabbi Yossi confirmed his son has undergone emergency surgery, including a second surgery to remove bullet shrapnel. Leibel remains intubated while awaiting additional surgeries, but is expected to recover.

“I’m here thousands of miles around the world. You can’t always beat darkness with a stick, but you can beat it with a little flame of light,” Leibel’s older brother, Rabbi Menachem Lazaroff, said. “I think the message for all of us is to be kinder to others.”

Australian authorities confirmed the attack was the country’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years. Police said a father and son opened fire at the Hanukkah celebration. Among the dead were a child and two rabbis.

One of the gunmen was shot and killed by police. The other remains hospitalized and in custody.

During this time, the Lazaroff family is asking the community to respond to hate not with fear, but with light.

“Every day is a blessing, every day’s a gift, we got to spread light,” Lazer Lazaroff said.