The Weitzen family has welcomed a baby boy just eight days after the tragic Bondi Beach attack on December 14, which claimed the life of his great-grandfather. Tibor Weitzen, 78, was one of 15 people murdered in the terror attack on the first night of Chanukah.
The family celebrated the newborn’s arrival with a brit [circumcision] on Tuesday at Chabad of Bondi, the same synagogue that had held Weitzen’s funeral less than two weeks earlier.
The Jewish Chronicle reported that the baby, named Henry Amzalak, received the Hebrew name Aron Eliezer: “Aron" in memory of Weitzen and another great-grandfather, Henry Amzalak, and “Eliezer" to honor Rabbi Eli Schlanger, also murdered in the attack.
Weitzen, affectionately called “Saba" by his family, was known in the community as “the lollipop man" for the sweets he would share with children at synagogue. Speaking at the ceremony, Mendy Amzalak, Henry’s father and Weitzen’s grandson by marriage, said his son would carry forward Weitzen’s love for family and life, as well as Rabbi Schlanger’s spirit of “spreading light."
Reflecting on that horrific night, Amzalak said he witnessed moments no one should ever see, fearing for his wife, daughter, and unborn child.
To his newborn son, he said: “Henry, you are so beautiful. You have filled our hearts with joy when they were running on empty." He added that naming Henry in honor of Weitzen and Rabbi Schlanger would bring comfort to the Chabad community and serve as a living tribute to their memory.