The Texas A&M campus Rabbi reports his son “has miraculously survived the terrorist shooting in Sydney.”
Yossi Lazaroff posted on social media Wednesday morning (December 17) a photo of Leibel in the hospital.
The father said his son was shot “while crouching over a critically injured police officer, using his own shirt as a tourniquet and risking his life to help him.
Yossi’s post went on to say that “Leibel has undergone multiple life-saving surgeries for severe abdominal and leg injury and faces additional surgery and a long road of medical treatment.”

Original story, December 15 2025:
The Texas A&M campus Rabbi and the CEO of the Rohr Jewish Center is on his way to Australia, where his son was among the casualties in a terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration.
Yossi Lazaroff posted on social media Sunday morning (December 14) “Please say Psalms 20 & 21 for my son, Rabbi Leibel Lazaroff, יהודה לייב בן מאניא who was shot in a terrorist attack at a Chanukah event he was running for Chabad of Bondi in Sydney, Australia. The Chabad Rabbi he was working with Rabbi Eli Schlanger HY”D was killed. Praying for all the victims and their families.”
Sunday night he posted “As I travel to Australia, to be with my son who is in the ICU, following the terrorist attack on the Jewish community in Sydney, I had a layover in San Francisco, I needed a place to light my Menorah for Chanukah. Not an easy feat. As I prepare to light, Vital comes over and joins me proudly. A proud elderly Sephardic Jew, originally from Spain before his family was expelled for being Jewish. Lived in Israel for many years and served in the IDF protecting our Holy land. מי כעמך ישראל (translation: Who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days, at this time.) #sharethelights”
Monday morning (December 15) he posted “Sitting on a very long plane ride to Australia from Texas, while still grappling with the lives lost & communicating with the hospital as my son Leibel goes into multiple surgeries for his life threatening injuries. Leibel was spreading light, helping a community thrive, volunteering his year to bring joy to others. While doing so, a father & son duo, filled with an ideology of Jewish hatred, hunted him & his fellow Jews down. This is about good vs evil, light vs darkness, up-standers vs bystanders. It’s your choice to make. Who are you?”
Monday afternoon, Texas A&M interim president Tommy Williams posted the following message on the president’s office Facebook page: “”I am deeply saddened by the horrific violence in Sydney and join the university community in praying for the son of our own Rabbi Yossi and Manya Lazaroff, Rabbi Leiber Lazaroff, and all the victims and their families. Texas A&M remains committed to supporting our Aggie community during this difficult time and we are making resources available to our students, faculty and staff who may be affected by this tragedy.” – Tommy Williams ’78, Interim President”
