Jewish faith triumphs amid terror as rediscovered identity sanctifies life, exposing hatred behind Islamist violence.
A profoundly moving account has emerged from the Bondi Beach terror attack, revealing how one victim rediscovered his Jewish identity moments before being murdered—turning his final minutes into an act of eternal spiritual significance.
Peter Meagher, known affectionately as “Marzo,” was a former New South Wales police detective and respected community photographer. Until that night, he was widely believed—even by himself—to be non-Jewish.
According to a report by COLlive, during a public Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach, Chabad bochur Shalom Druin and fellow students, accompanied by Rabbi Eli Schlanger, were offering passersby the opportunity to don tefillin. As they prepared to leave, Druin noticed Meagher photographing the event and asked if he was Jewish.
“I’m not Jewish,” Meagher replied, adding quietly that his grandmother was. When Druin clarified that she was his mother’s mother, he gently told him the truth: “Then you are completely Jewish.” Moved, Meagher agreed to put on tefillin—fulfilling a mitzvah he never knew belonged to him. Approximately ten minutes later, the terror attack erupted. Meagher was murdered Al Kiddush Hashem, sanctifying G-d’s name with his final act.
Further testimony came from Bondi resident Chavi Israel, who survived the massacre. She recounted how her friend Chana Michla Deitz, lying on the ground with her daughter near Meagher, instinctively began reciting Shema Yisrael over him—unaware of his newly affirmed Jewish identity. Deitz later said she felt an overwhelming, unexplainable compulsion to pray.
By the grace of Hashem, Deitz and her daughter survived.
This story stands as a haunting testament to Jewish continuity: even amid terror, faith is reclaimed, mitzvot are fulfilled, and the Jewish soul endures. While extremists seek to erase Jewish presence, moments like these affirm what Israel and the Jewish people have always known—identity, faith, and sanctity cannot be extinguished by violence.
