Over 800 people, including bereaved relatives, survivors, local worshipers, politicians, police chiefs, and civic figures, gathered at Manchester’s Heaton Park Synagogue on Monday to mark the first Hebrew calendar anniversary of the deadly Yom Kippur terrorist attack.
Last Yom Kippur, terrorist Jihad al-Shamie rammed his car into the synagogue gates before launching a knife attack against worshipers.
The assault claimed the lives of Melvin Cravitz, who was fatally stabbed, and Adrian Daulby, who was shot while armed police responded as worshipers held the doors shut to prevent the assailant from entering.
Mark Adlestone OBE, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region, said in a statement that standing together at the site of the attack was “both incredibly difficult and powerful in equal measure.”
He noted that the gathering served as a demonstration of the “extraordinary resilience and unity of Greater Manchester’s Jewish community.”
Personal message from King Charles III read to congregation
According to local reports, the service was chaired by Raphi Bloom, a management board member of the Jewish Representative Council, and featured prayers and readings from prominent religious figures.
Rabbi Amir Ellituv, senior rabbi of the S&P Sephardi community, read a psalm, while Heaton Park hazan (officiant) Yehuda Marx recited the memorial prayer Kel Male Rahamim, and mourners Alex Daulby and Brent David recited Kaddish.
As detailed in widespread coverage of the event, a central moment of the evening was the delivery of a personal message from King Charles III, which was read to the congregation by the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Eamonn O’Neal.
The King wrote that he and the Queen hold all whose lives were disrupted by the tragedy closely in their thoughts and prayers, adding that the sense of shock and sorrow remains undiminished despite the passing months.
“The memory of those who lost their lives, Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, and of those who were injured, Andrew Franks, Bernard Agyemang, and Yoni Finlay, remain especially vivid in my mind,” the King stated.
Addressing the congregation, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis described the attack as “a hate crime of the worst kind” fueled by the demonization of Israel and, by extension, all Jewish people, according to local reports.
He paid tribute to Cravitz and Daulby, stating that they would be remembered not only for how they died, but for “pious, wonderful lives of kindness, of hessed, selflessness, for the sake of others.”
Reflections from family members, survivors
According to local reports, the anniversary also brought forward reflections from family members and survivors addressing the congregation directly.
Sherelle Dresner, Cravitz’s stepdaughter, spoke about the profound impact of his loss, telling those gathered, “For Melvin, connecting to others, mattering to other people, was all that he ever wanted, and I hope he can see now just how much he mattered.”
Survivor Yoni Finlay, who was seriously wounded during the attack, told the congregation that his life changed forever when an “evil person tried to destroy us on Yom Kippur.”
He emphasized that the community’s spirit remains unbroken, stating, according to local reports, that “evil will never succeed because of who we are and what we do.”
Reflecting on the emotional toll of returning to the place where the tragedy unfolded, Heaton Park Synagogue’s rabbi, Daniel Walker, told the congregation that the experience was “incredibly emotional.”
In interviews cited across local and national media, Rabbi Walker also warned that the attacker had been “encouraged and inspired by a tone of deep antisemitism within our society,” noting that hateful thoughts remain only one step away from a hate crime.