Manchester synagogue rabbi ‘still struggling’ after attack

The rabbi of the Manchester synagogue where worshippers were killed in a knife attack has told of the fear and trauma he still feels.

Rabbi Daniel Walker was among those inside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue when Jihad Al-Shamie rammed it with his car and then attacked people who were attending on 2 October 2025.

The attack left two men dead and three others seriously injured.

The rabbi said the attack, which happened on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar, made this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day “more poignant”.

Holocaust Memorial Day is held on the same day every year, marking the liberation date of the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, Auschwitz-Birkenau, on 27 January 1945.

“In the shadow of what happened here, there was the Bondi Beach attack in Australia, and there was also the attempted terrorist attack in this area that went to trial,” Rabbi Walker told the BBC.

“That’s why it is been more poignant at the moment.”

Rabbi Walker said: “I see these things as a continuum of hatred towards Jewish people.

“We all wish Holocaust Memorial Day would be where we remember one tragic event, but the hatred hasn’t gone away.

“We’re still being murdered, injured and attacked in the name of this hatred.”

Al-Shamie, 35, attacked the synagogue with his car before stabbing worshippers, including Melvin Cravitz, 66.

Adrian Daulby, 53, was unintentionally killed by a bullet from an armed response officer’s weapon as police shot at Al-Shamie.

Rabbi Walker was one of the men who, like Mr Daulby, had been barricading the doors to stop Al-Shamie getting in before police shot the attacker dead.

The synagogue reopened within days of the attack, and it has now returned to providing its full programme of services.

“It doesn’t feel as if it has been four months,” Rabbi Walker said.

“Most of us are definitely still struggling. There is still a lot of trauma, and there is still fear.”

However, he said his congregation had shown “resilience and positivity” since that day.

Rabbi Walker also highlighted the progress made in growing interfaith relations.

“After the attack we received so much support from all faiths, and people of no faith.

“But we still need to do more, because there were also expressions of the opposite of support.”

He described feeling a sense of duty to make sure “the world becomes a better place”.

“The battle isn’t won,” he said.

“We need to invest in that, to bring a sense of togetherness within our society.

“We will never forget, but we also want to make sure the moral adjustments we need to make sure it never happens again.

“Antisemitism is a stain on society, and prejudice is a stain because it isn’t just a Jewish problem.”