Portrait of love and loss unveiled at Chabad gathering in Bondi

When Melbourne portrait artist Miriam Lange received a call from Rabbi Mendy Groner of Chabad Glen Eira, she did not hesitate.

He was calling on behalf of Melbourne’s Chabad rabbis with a request that was both simple and immense: to paint Rabbi Yehoram Ulman together with his late son-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was murdered in the December 14 Bondi Beach terror attack.

There was one complication. There was no suitable photograph of the two rabbis together.

“I’m not a magician. “I can’t just invent a pose,” Lange told JWire. “I had to gather a lot of photos of each of them and find the right stance, the right lighting, the right angles so it would work naturally.”

 

Lange, who is best known for her portraits of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, felt a personal connection to the commission. She grew up in Sydney and as a child attended Rabbi Ulman’s shul.

“Being asked to paint this picture was huge for me. It was very humbling and a huge honour,” she said.

Working in oils, she had just three weeks to complete the painting so it could dry in time before the Regional Kinus Hashluchim when more than 80 rabbis from Australia and New Zealand would come together.

Writing on Instagram, she stated, “For 55 hours I studied and copied Rabbi Ulman and Rabbi Eli’s faces. I had so much time to think about what happened on that fateful day and what has happened since. One thing is for sure… through Eli’s horrific murder and subsequently through Rabbi Ulman’s unfathomable strength and leadership, the world has been changed in ways we will never understand.”

“It was probably the most nerve-wracking commission I’ve ever done,” she told JWire. “The people I worry about most is the family. This is their loved one. If anything is off, that’s what will stand out to them.”

Determined to ensure the likeness of Rabbi Schlanger was accurate, Lange consulted his sister, Perela Goldhirsch, sending her regular progress updates. She also sought feedback from Rabbi Ulman’s son Shmuli about his father’s features.

“You can copy a photo, but you need someone who actually knows the person,” she said. “Not every photo truly captures the likeness. I wasn’t going to give it in unless they said I had it.”

Entirely self-taught, Lange left school in Year 10 and has been painting for 25 years. She now teaches portraiture and describes herself as relentlessly critical of her own work.

“I always tell my students you’ll never be done. You just have to be smart about when to stop.”

Once completed, the portrait was presented to Rabbi Ulman during the Regional Kinus Hashluchim, held at Chabad of Bondi on February 17 and 18. The gathering brought together Chabad emissaries from across Australia and New Zealand, just two months after the attack that claimed 15 lives, including Rabbi Schlanger.

Accompanying the painting was a card bearing the words, “Presented with love and respect from your fellow Shluchim in Melbourne.” Inside, the dedication described Rabbi Ulman as a “very dear and beloved fellow shliach, mentor and guide” and it was signed by dozens of Melbourne shluchim.

At a conference marked by mourning, psalms recited at the site of the massacre, and renewed commitments to strengthen Jewish life, the painting offered something deeply personal. A restored closeness. A father-in-law and son-in-law brought together again.