Community gathers at Temple Beth Israel to honor one year anniversary of Hamas terrorist attacks

Community members, religious leaders and elected officials came together Monday evening at Temple Beth Israel to honor the Israeli lives lost and hostages taken exactly one year ago.

“I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just a number that we thought about, but rather their stories and the fact that they lived, that they were humans,” Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar told The Melody. 

More than 1,200 people died and more than 230 people were taken hostage during a surprise Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The U.S. estimates 101 hostages remain in Gaza. The attack prompted an ongoing war between Hamas and Israel that has resulted in tens of thousands of casualties in Gaza, with millions of people displaced.

Monday evening, Bahar lit a candle in honor of the many lives lost and irrevocably changed. One by one, attendees stood up and shared stories of those who lost their lives or fought to save others, such as a young woman killed by Hamas while attending the Nova Music Festival and a man who loved surfing and was a father. 

Attendees also shared prayers and listened to Samantha Friedman perform Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah with her own lyrical twist and the Israeli National Anthem, the Hatikvah.

Sophie Rosen, 26, has attended Temple Beth Israel all her life and helped program the vigil. Her family’s legacy is woven throughout the temple, from her grandparents’ names engraved on metal plaques along the walls to a stained glass window that reads “In memory of Caroline Elkan Died Jan. 23 1908.”

“This is something that we don’t carry lightly and we carry this in our chest every day,” she said. “This is the hurt and the pain and the anger and the sadness we felt for a whole year.”

The vigil began from a painful place, explained Bahar, but “crescendoed up toward hope,” a message that she wants folks to carry with them as their community grapples with the loss and learns to move forward. 

“I hope that they remember that these are people. That they’re just like them,” Bahar said. “I think sometimes, we as a society, think about violence and chaos and it happens far away and ‘over there.’ I wanted to make sure that the ‘over there’ was over here as well.”