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Community gathers at Heaton Park Synagogue to mark first anniversary of Yom Kippur terror attack
Families and survivors returned to the scene of the attack as the King said its memory remained “especially vivid”
Hundreds of people returned to Heaton Park Synagogue on Monday night for an emotional commemoration of the Yom Kippur terror attack which claimed the lives of two members of its congregation.
Around 850 people filled the Manchester synagogue to remember Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, almost a year after they were killed in the attack on 2 October, 2025.
Bereaved relatives and survivors stood alongside worshippers, Jewish community leaders, politicians, police chiefs and civic figures at the same synagogue where terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie struck on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
The King sent a message to the congregation saying the memory of those killed and injured remained “especially vivid in my mind”.
Read by Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester Eamonn O’Neal, the message said: “My wife and I hold all those whose lives were so tragically disrupted by that terrible day most closely in our thoughts and prayers.
“Though the months have passed, the sense of shock and sorrow remains undiminished.
“I shall never forget my visit to the synagogue shortly afterwards.
“It was a deeply moving and heartbreaking experience.
“To meet those who had been present that morning, and to hear their personal accounts of what they had experienced, was profoundly moving and troubling.”
Charles said the “strength, resilience, and determination” he encountered following the attack had left an “indelible impression” on him.
He added: “Today, as we remember those who so cruelly lost their lives and all who suffered injury, grief, and hardship, we also give thanks for the spirit of unity, compassion, and support, which shone so brightly in those dark days.”
Al-Shamie, 35, drove into the synagogue gates before attacking with a knife while wearing a fake suicide belt.
Cravitz was murdered outside the synagogue, while Daulby was killed in the crossfire as he and others tried to prevent the terrorist from getting inside.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis told the congregation that the synagogue had witnessed “a hate crime of the worst kind”.
He said: “Encouraged and inspired by thoughts, by speech, by statements, by policies, by declarations, by the demonisation of the state of Israel, and by extension the demonisation of all Jews.
“And so, while we mourn the loss of two exceptionally good and pious people who forever shall be kadoshim, we extend, as always, our heartfelt condolences to the Cravitz and Daulby families.
“Melvin and Adrian will not only be remembered for how they died, but also for how they lived.
“Pious, wonderful lives of kindness, of chesed, selflessness, for the sake of others.”
Sir Ephraim also recalled visiting members of the congregation the day after the attack and seeing a community concerned for one another despite the trauma it had suffered.
He told them: “Confronted by evil, you have responded with virtue. Confronted by a terrorist with hatred in his heart, you have responded with love. Confronted by somebody to glorify death, you have responded by sanctifying life.”
Rabbi Daniel Walker, who leads Heaton Park Synagogue, spoke movingly about the two men and the painful experience of returning to the place where the attack unfolded.
“Being back here today, in this place where so much changed for our community, is incredibly emotional. The events of that morning have left a mark on all of us, and the pain of losing Adrian and Melvin will never go away,” he said.
“But today has also shown us something very important. To see 850 people come together, to see our community standing alongside our friends, our civic leaders and so many people who have supported us, is incredibly powerful.”
He remembered two men with very different personalities but a shared instinct to help others.
Recalling Daulby, Rabbi Walker pointed towards the front of the synagogue where he would sit after regularly being the first to arrive.
He described Cravitz as a familiar face across Manchester and said the two were “very united in their ability and determination to be part of the community and to make this world a better place”.
A new Sefer Torah is due to be completed in their memory.
Among the most personal moments of the evening came from Sherelle Dresner, Cravitz’s stepdaughter, who spoke tearfully about the year since his murder.
“For me, it is hard to remember a life or world prior to Yom Kippur 2025. This new world is lonely, uncertain and overwhelming,” she said.
She told the congregation she had received messages from strangers seeking to blame Jews and world events for her stepfather’s murder.
“For me, all this achieves is to remind me of what Melvin’s crime was – being born Jewish, something that he never would have apologised for, something he was proud of being.”
Dresner said 30 August would have marked Cravitz and her mother’s 17th wedding anniversary.
“For Melvin, connecting with others…mattering to other people was all that he really wanted, and I hope he can see now just how much he mattered… and I am going to try my best to make sure he continues to matter.”
Survivor Yoni Finlay, who was seriously wounded after being struck by a police bullet as worshippers held the synagogue door shut, also addressed the service.
“My life changed forever on Yom Kippur 5786, the day a rabid Jew-hater chose to try to destroy my shul, my community, my friends,” he said.
Finlay recalled lying wounded in the synagogue foyer with four organs badly damaged and seeing the shock on his son’s face.
He said: “I made myself a promise that I would not die. This was not when my life was going to end.”
Despite the difficult days since, Finlay said he had encountered people whose own experiences of tragedy had inspired him to continue.
“Yes, we are all different now than we were before Yom Kippur, but I like to think that we are also better people.”
He added: “An evil person tried to destroy us on Yom Kippur, and together we have not let that evil win.
“Evil will never succeed because of who we are and what we do.”
Alan Levy, chair of trustees at Heaton Park, said Cravitz and Daulby had died in “acts of profound courage”.
He remembered Cravitz as a man who regularly delivered shiva chairs and prayer books to bereaved members of the community, while Daulby was usually the first person through the synagogue doors on Shabbat and Yom Tov mornings.
Levy recalled how Daulby ran from his usual seat to help keep the doors closed as the terrorist attempted to enter.
He said: “I look to my right and I see the seat where he used to sit.”
Their deaths, he added, remained “personal to all of us at Heaton Park”.
“They were friends, familiar faces, but most of all they were just good men.
They came to shul to observe the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. That should have been the safest place they could have been.”
Communities Secretary Angela Rayner described Cravitz and Daulby as “two men of such immense kindness killed in an act of antisemitic hate”.
“Any attack on Jews is an attack on us all,” she told the congregation.
“The horror which happened here, in a place of prayer, on the holiest day of the year, is a moment none of us should ever forget, and in particular, we should never forget Melvin and Adrian.
“Memories of those two men will forever live on.
“Together, we can overcome and defeat antisemitism, and we will never rest until every Jewish person is safe.”
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said the atrocity had become part of “a growing litany of antisemitic hatred” and further eroded the security Jewish people should be entitled to feel in Britain.
He acknowledged that GMP “is not infallible”, but said there should be no doubt about “our fierce determination to stand in defence of you, your families, the wider Jewish community, both in Greater Manchester and beyond”.
Mark Adlestone OBE, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region, said standing together at the site of the attack had been “both incredibly difficult and powerful in equal measure”.
“But today was also a demonstration of the extraordinary resilience and unity of Greater Manchester’s Jewish community,” he said.
“We will remember, we will stand together, and we will continue to ensure that the victims and their families are never forgotten.”
The service, chaired by Raphi Bloom, also included a psalm read by Rabbi Amir Ellituv, senior rabbi of the S&P Sephardi community, while Heaton Park Chazan Yehuda Marx recited the memorial prayer, Kel Male Rachamim.
Alex Daulby and Brent David recited Kaddish.
Among those attending were senior political and civic figures, Jewish community representatives and emergency service leaders.
The evening brought the community back to the place where its Yom Kippur prayers were shattered almost a year ago – this time filling the synagogue with prayer once again as Cravitz and Daulby were remembered.
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