Bees, in memory of Matilda’s middle name, are also everywhere: on balloons, in toys, some wet and sad. They are surrounded by religious symbols; candles and menorahs, representing Hanukkah, the festival of light that ends on Monday.
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A hand drawn card remembered her: “Precious Matilda bee, forever in our hearts.”
A group representing migrants from India’s Kerala, Nevodaya Australia, had travelled to Bondi from Gosford, Penrith and Parramatta on Saturday to pay their respects and say their hearts were with the victims.
Group member Anand Antony from Old Toongabbie said they had moved to Australia for a better life.
“This is very disheartening,” he said. “Australia has a reputation as a peaceful country.”
Rabbi Yossi Friedman of the Chabad of Bondi synagogue has promised to recite the names of the dead every hour next to the flowers where they are being remembered.
By the time he finished on Saturday, it was pouring. It was hard to tell where the rain ended and the tears began.
Rabbi Yossi Friedman has prayed for the victims of the attack every hour at the memorial. Credit: Oscar Colman
The rabbi said he didn’t know when the flowers would be removed, but he would remain there reciting the names until the end.
Seven days on from last weekend’s senseless attack, the smell of the yellowing chrysanthemums and the stench of dying daisies, some a week old, now permeates the air.
A bunch of blue hydrangeas, sagging in the heat and rain of the past few days, are accompanied by a note: “The attack is proof that our government has allowed for a crack in our identity to grow.”
After a week in the heat, many of the flowers have begun to wilt.Credit: Oscar Colman
By Saturday, even some of the mental health nurses and chaplains around the large pool of dead and dying flowers dotted with fresh had been worn out. A staff member said the messages to Matilda left by children were the hardest.
A large bunch of yellow lilies included an apology to the Jewish people of Sydney for the “atrocities that occurred last Sunday”.
Other cards offered help. “If you need help stopping antisemitism, email me,” read one. Another simply said: “We are standing with you.”
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