Carole Schlessinger (middle), CEO of Kids Giving Back, help some of the families as part of the One Mitzvah for Bondi event.<\/span> Photograph: R\u00e9mi Chauvin\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBondi\u2019s Chabad community chose the theme \u201clight will win\u201d for the day of mourning.<\/p>\n
Mother-of-three Rachel Filler, from Vaucluse, carried her 10-month-old, Marlee, as she chopped carrots with her elder daughters Lilah, six, and Emme Biondi, eight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve told the children we\u2019re doing a mitzvah to give back in a world that can sometimes be not kind. It\u2019s never a bad lesson to learn,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know a lot of people in the Jewish community who are afraid to go outside after everything that happened. But it\u2019s nice to be able to show kids that the world is still good, there are still good people and this is proof of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nearby, brothers Noah, seven, and Jordan Shabad, five, peeled potatoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cA mitzvah is to help people,\u201d said Noah. \u201cWe\u2019re cooking for other people, that will make them happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
After tidying away, and while 12 hot plates bubbled with curry, the children decorated the lids of the cardboard containers that would carry the meals.<\/p>\n
Among rainbow, love heart and sunshine motifs, one message simply read: \u201cI hope this meal brightens your day.\u201d<\/p>\nChildren write messages of support to those who will receive the meals cooked by them.<\/span> Photograph: R\u00e9mi Chauvin\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe state government said about 2,500 acts of kindness had been registered with One Mitzvah for Bondi\u2019s website, with many more taking place without being counted.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy canoe club is now running a Harmony Paddle. We will paddle gently down the River, pausing to reflect and light candles on bamboo containers, letting them float into the evening\u201d, one person wrote in their submission.<\/p>\n
Another said they had gone food shopping for a 90-year-old neighbour, while another had collected rubbish from the beach.<\/p>\n\u201cWe have been staggered by the support and uptake of people going out their way to do \u2018one mitzvah\u2019, not just in NSW but across Australia. Small acts of kindness that together have become an overwhelming wave of support, and we know how much it has meant to both Jewish community and the Bondi area as a whole\u201d, the NSW minister for multiculturalism, Steve Kamper, said.<\/p>\n
At Bondi Pavilion, metres from the scene of the attack, fresh wreaths of flowers were laid near piles of memorial stones, inspired by a Jewish tradition to lay a stone at a grave.<\/p>\nA man stands by the piles of memorial stones in memory of the 15 victims of the Bondi beach shooting on 14 December. <\/span> Photograph: Steven Markham\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nA chaplain watching on said people had been coming and going all day from the memorial, some to lay stones, others to simply watch on and pay their respects.<\/p>\n
Vibeke and Jan, who are from Denmark and are on holiday in Sydney, visited the memorial to lay a stone while touring through Bondi.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole world knows about what happened,\u201d Jan said.<\/p>\nPeople comfort each other while looking at tributes to the victims of the Hanukah massacre. <\/span> Photograph: Steven Markham\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMourners will also gather inside the Sydney Opera House on Thursday evening for the official national memorial service, organised by the Chabad of Bondi, with support from the federal government, community partners and faith leaders.<\/p>\n
In Melbourne, hundreds of mourners gathered at Paul\u2019s Anglican cathedral for a sombre service to commemorate the 15 people killed in the Bondi attack.<\/p>\n
The state governor, Margaret Gardner, and the premier, Jacinta Allan, joined attendees for the morning vigil.<\/p>\nVictorian premier Jacinta Allan (left) attends a national day of mourning multi-faith vigil at St Paul\u2019s cathedral in Melbourne.<\/span> Photograph: Jay Kogler\/AAP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Anglican archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Ric Thorpe, said political and community leaders had come together to mourn the lives of the 15 people \u201ccut tragically short on Bondi beach\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand side by side with members of the Jewish community here in and Melbourne and throughout Australia, and with countless people the world over who, like us, condemn antisemtiism, hate crime persecution and violence,\u201d the Anglican Dean of Melbourne, Dr Andreas Loewe, said.<\/p>\n
At the end of the vigil, the name of each victim was read aloud by reverends before a minute of silence.<\/p>\n
Across Victoria<\/a>, flags were being flown at half mast at all government buildings and landmark buildings will be lit up in white as a symbol of light tonight.<\/p>\n