On Monday, Oct. 7, Stony Brook Hillel and Seawolves for Israel (SFI) held a vigil and memorial service to acknowledge the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas and raise awareness for the remaining hostages in Israel.
Hamas and Israel have been at war since Oct. 7 of last year, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking another 200 people captive as hostages. Since then, an additional 40,000 Palestinian people have been killed and more than 95,000 people have been injured in the ongoing war on Gaza.
Students, staff and local community members gathered around the Administration Fountain at 6 p.m. where hosts passed out papers containing Jewish prayers and songs. Candles to each person which were eventually lit in support.
“We’ve known this day was coming for a year, so for us it was about finding the emotional capacity to both put something like this together and guide our students through this tragedy,” Executive Director of Stony Brook Hillel Jessica Lemons said about planning the memorial. “We want to give students an outlet to be able to mourn together on what is a really sad day for the Jewish community globally… We are guiding our students through tragedy in real time.”
Shortly after Lemons’ introduction and reminder to have civil discussions, she introduced Imani Chung, a senior majoring in Women’s and Gender studies, to speak more about her experience being Jewish on the Stony Brook campus ever since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
“Do I try to support new students here and at other campuses? Does my impact even matter in the grand scheme of everything? These are the questions that I have to ask myself every single day,” Chung said. “What more can I do? Am I doing enough? Because sometimes it feels like the honor that it is to be Jewish has been turned into a weight that is too heavy to bear.”
Chung ended her speech by reminding those in attendance the resiliency of the Jewish community.
“We recognize and know many members of this community and many allies of this community,” Chung said. “This community — our community — has a history of coming together in the face of unimaginable eyes in times of crisis, we unite and we endure, and that’s the legacy of the Jewish people.”
Students and community members then were led in prayer by Assistant Director of Stony Brook Hillel Shachar Pinsky. After reciting multiple prayers in Hebrew as a group, Gabriella “Gabby” Garber, the vice president of SFI and a junior majoring in biology, sang the “Hatikvah,” the State of Israel’s national anthem.
On the same day, SB4Palestine held a memorial service for the Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas war, and was still hosting their memorial at the same time on the opposite side of the block.
“I’m hoping for community, and I’m glad to be here with people who feel strongly about it. I don’t know how you could disagree with people who are grieving,” Laurel Scheinfeld, a librarian at the Health Sciences Library, said.
Deborah Richman, a retired associate professor who used to teach in the Department of Anesthesiology, emphasized how there should be a balance between arguments for and against the conflict.
“People are people, and I worked with Palestinians for a long time in Israel. I’m a Jewish Israeli American, so it’s all difficult for me to see,” Richman said.
Stony Brook Hillel took to Instagram to recognize the anniversary.
“Supporting students during this difficult year and creating opportunities to express Jewish joy amidst grief is part of the important work we do at Stony Brook Hillel. This is the most meaningful work I could be doing with my life, ensuring that this next generation finds their place in the Jewish world,” Pinsky wrote in the post, with the hashtag #BRINGTHEMHOMENOW in the caption.
In the 30-minute intermission, those in attendance from the memorial then proceeded to walk over to the Charles B. Wang Center to hear a war survivor’s testimony.
Before hearing from the survivor, Lemons said hate speech and disruptions will not be tolerated and anyone doing so will be asked to leave.
She warned attendees that the content and conversation may be disturbing and triggering, and mentioned the mental health resources available on campus.
After Lemons’ preface, Jewish Agency for Israel Fellow Noa Fishman gave a speech about Hamas’ actions on Oct. 7 of last year and her personal experiences.
“I’ve been in Israel twice since October 7, most recently in June of this year … the first time I noticed the strange shadow on somebody’s back I didn’t understand what I was seeing, when I got closer I realized it was a bullet scar,” Fishman said.
Liron Hacohen, the featured guest speaker, presented a slideshow full of photos, her life story and her own version of the sequence of events from last year.
She described her community in Kfar Aza, Israel as a quiet, warm and peaceful neighborhood, despite her kibbutz’s close proximity to Gaza. Hacohen included a photo of her family having dinner the night before Oct. 7, 2023.
“We didn’t know [having dinner as a family] was going to be the last time that we [were] going to see all of us alive,” Hacohen said.
She and her husband were awoken at 6:30 a.m. from a siren, which she assumed would be another military operation. She said she heard gunshots and was confused as to what was happening.
She and her family began messaging in their group chat and found out there were terrorists invading her kibbutz. She said she took a water bottle and a kitchen knife with her as she ran to a shelter room, where she eventually lost electricity.
Hacohen spent around 22 hours hidden in a shelter. She said during that time she was constantly trying to contact the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Around midnight, she heard soldiers speaking Israelian Hebrew, and spoke with them to get help for her neighbors, whose house had been set on fire.
She mentioned in her presentation that she lost her brother-in-law, Yahav Winner, from the attacks as he protected his wife and newborn baby.
Her biggest takeaway from the events on Oct. 7, 2023 was that she felt a stronger connection to what it meant to be Jewish. In her presentation, she highlighted that despite living in Israel for some time, she struggled with her Jewish identity.
After Hacohen’s presentation, the floor was now open to discussion as attendees could ask questions directed to her.
One attendee went up to the microphone and asked if Hacohen felt comfortable going back to Israel despite the ongoing conflict and its proximity to Gaza.
“I was in survival mode and I’m still in survival mode right now,” Hacohen responded. “My nervous [system] still [experiences post-traumatic stress disorder] symptoms, but I trust my country … to protect me and I trust the [IDF] soldiers.”
As Hacohen stepped down from the stage, Lemons thanked everyone who attended both events, the event organizers and those who recounted their personal experiences of being Jewish since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
“I speak for all of us when I say that the three of you — Liron, Noa and Shachar — are the true embodiment of the resilience of our community in the millennia of Jewish suffering and tragedy. We are here, and you remind us of that,” Lemons said.
