Dr Fundji Benedict
To the Bereaved Families, Survivors, and the Manchester Jewish Community,
It is with profound sorrow and heavy heart that I extend my deepest condolences following the horrific terrorist attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on October 2nd, 2025. On what should have been a sacred day of reflection and atonement—Yom Kippur, the holiest day in our Jewish calendar—unspeakable evil struck at the very heart of our community.
I offer my heartfelt sympathies to the families and loved ones of the two precious souls who were so cruelly taken from us in this act of pure hatred. Their memories will be eternally blessed, and their loss deeply felt not only by their immediate families but by Jews worldwide who stand in solidarity with Manchester’s Jewish community during this darkest of hours.
My thoughts and prayers extend equally to all those who were physically wounded in this savage attack. May they experience complete healing—refuah shlemah—and find strength in their recovery. To those who witnessed this terror, who were traumatized by these events, and who now carry invisible wounds in their hearts and minds, I pray that time, love, and community support will help restore your sense of safety and peace.
This attack was not merely an assault on individuals, but a strike against the very foundations of religious freedom, human dignity, and our right to worship in safety. That it occurred on Yom Kippur—as our community gathered in prayer, seeking forgiveness and spiritual renewal—makes this act even more unconscionable and devastating.
As a fellow Jew, I feel this attack as if it were upon my own synagogue, my own community, my own family. The pain reverberates through every Jewish heart, reminding us that antisemitism remains a vicious force that threatens our people wherever we may be. Yet in our shared grief, we find our shared strength. We will not be broken by hatred. We will not be silenced by terror. We will continue to gather, to pray, to live as proud Jews.
To the heroic security personnel, police officers, emergency responders, and ordinary citizens who acted with extraordinary courage to protect lives and minimize this tragedy, we owe a debt of gratitude that words cannot adequately express. Your swift actions undoubtedly prevented even greater loss of life.
May the souls of those we lost ascend to the highest heavens, and may their memories serve as a blessing and inspiration for all who knew them. May the wounded heal completely, may the traumatized find peace, and may our community emerge from this darkness stronger and more united than ever before.
In closing, I offer these words of ancient wisdom from our tradition:
עוד לא אבדה תקוותנו – התקווה בת שנות אלפים להיות עם חופשי בארצנו ארץ ציון וירושלים
Od lo avdah tikvatenu – Hatikva bat shnot alpayim, lihyot am chofshi be’artzenu, eretz Tziyon ViYerushalayim
Our hope is not yet lost – the hope of two thousand years, to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.
May their memory be for a blessing. Am Yisrael Chai.
With deepest sympathy and unwavering solidarity,
A Fellow Member of the Jewish People