Before His Death, Rabbi Eli Schlanger Warned About the Danger of Hatred

Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt of Rabbi Eli Schlanger and Nikki Goldstein’s Conversations with My Rabbi: Timeless Teachings for a Fractured World. The book reads as a conversation between Rabbi Schlanger and Goldstein, a secular writer. Shortly before the book’s completion, Schlanger was killed during the Bondi Beach mass shooting in Australia in December 2025. In this excerpt, Rabbi Schlanger and Goldstein discuss the Third Noahide Law, “Do not murder.” It is reprinted here with permission from Harper Influence, an imprint of HarperCollins.

RABBI ELI: Let’s start simple. In Judaism, life is not just sacred — it is divine. Every human being, regardless of background, belief, or behavior, carries a spark of the divine. We say that every person is created b’tzelem Elokim, in the image of God. That’s not just poetic. That’s law. That’s foundation.

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About the Author

Rabbi Eli Schlanger

Rabbi Eli Schlanger was the assistant rabbi at Chabad Bondi, a role

he had held for eighteen years.

NG

About the Author

Nikki Goldstein

Nikki Goldstein is an internationally recognized bestselling author

of sixteen books and an award-winning

copywriter and journalist.

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Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt of Rabbi Eli Schlanger and Nikki Goldstein’s Conversations with My Rabbi: Timeless Teachings for a Fractured World. The book reads as a conversation between Rabbi Schlanger and Goldstein, a secular writer. Shortly before the book’s completion, Schlanger was killed during the Bondi Beach mass shooting in Australia in December 2025. In this excerpt, Rabbi Schlanger and Goldstein discuss the Third Noahide Law, “Do not murder.” It is reprinted here with permission from Harper Influence, an imprint of HarperCollins.

RABBI ELI: Let’s start simple. In Judaism, life is not just sacred — it is divine. Every human being, regardless of background, belief, or behavior, carries a spark of the divine. We say that every person is created b’tzelem Elokim, in the image of God. That’s not just poetic. That’s law. That’s foundation.