This event kicked off this year’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival, presented as part of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners’ 15th Annual Israel Today series.

 The discussion was moderated by David Brand, a UJFT past president and a member of the Attorney General of Virginia’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism as Special Advisor for Outreach. Brand opened the conversation by highlighting five key areas of focus for the evening:

1. The lead up to October 7, 2023 – including failures of intelligence gathering, the Jericho Wall, and policies of containment or “kicking the can down the road” regarding Hamas.

2. Fauda – chaos at the Kirya, missed warnings, and internal dysfunction within Israeli leadership.

3. IDF operations into Gaza.

4. Recommendations for future Israeli security, including intelligence reform and strengthening national resilience.   

5. Accountability – an investigation.

Within each of these areas, Katz examined a few of Israel’s blind spots and miscalculations.  He discussed the observations made by the tatzpitaniyot—the observation unit composed primarily of young female IDF soldiers—who reported increasing Hamas activity along the southern Israeli border with Gaza that was dismissed by their military officers. Tragically, most of these soldiers were among the first victims, brutally killed during the initial Hamas attack on October 7.

 Katz also highlighted the vast network of Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza, questioning whether Israel should have acted earlier to destroy them, as proposed by then-Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman in 2018. The Israeli cabinet, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ultimately rejected Lieberman’s proposal, prompting Lieberman’s resignation.

 He explored the impact of Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms in 2023 and the widespread protests that followed, events that in Katz’s view, as a nation divided, left Israel more vulnerable to Hamas and other enemies. A significant number of senior officers and reservists joined the protests, with some threatening to refuse military service in opposition to the reforms. Katz also described the chaos within the Kirya, Israel’s defense headquarters, as the events of October 7 unfolded, noting Netanyahu’s hesitation to use force and the absence of an operational plan for Gaza—both before 2023 and for the “day after” the attacks. 

 An engaging and commanding speaker, Katz does not mince words. His conversational style with David Brand captured the audience’s attention.  Katz clearly stated that Netanyahu prioritized his political future over Israel’s security needs. Both Katz and co-author Bohbot challenged accusations from human rights organizations and the international community that the IDF has been indifferent to Palestinian civilian casualties, when in fact, in Katz’s view, the larger story is the tragedy of Gaza itself—a place where Hamas embedded itself in every home, built tunnels beneath schools and hospitals, radicalized and terrorized the civilian population, and held the hostages (men, women, and children) in its tunnels. He shared that Hamas’s strategy of using human shields is a deliberate tactic intended to increase civilian casualties and provoke a backlash against Israel. 

 During the question and answer period, two questions stood out. The first concerned Katz’s view on U.S.-Israel relations. “When the United States is seen as strong and engaged with Israel, then Israel is strong,” he replied. Katz responded to the second question, “What keeps you up at night?” with “the future of a strong Israel depends on intelligence and military reform as identified during the initial 10/7 attack and during the war, a robust U.S.-Israel alliance, improved public diplomacy, a clear exit strategy for Gaza, and the strengthening of national unity and resilience.”

To learn more about UJFT’s Jewish Community Relations Council, Simon Family JCC, all area synagogues, and Community Partners’ 15th Annual Israel Today Series, visit JewishVA.org/IsraelToday or contact Nofar Trem, UJFT’s Israel Engagement manager at NTrem@ujft.org. 

To learn more about United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival, which continues through December 11, visit JewishVA.org/BookFest.

Barbara Dudley is chair, Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

 The Conservative congregation hung a “Bring Them Home Now” sign out front on behalf of the hostages. Rabbi Jesse Olitzky added the Acheinu prayer for redeeming captives to the weekly Shabbat service, and each week read the biography of a hostage. As the war raged on, the congregation sang songs of peace. 

At Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk, the congregation sang the Mi Chamocha prayer to the tune of Hatikvah.

 There and elsewhere, congregants wore yellow hostage ribbons and pins on their lapels, and dog tags with the names of the missing. Some families lit extra candles on Shabbat. Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh would eventually be listed among the dead in Gaza, popularized the wearing of a piece of masking tape on which she wrote the number of days since the hostages were taken.  

 Now, as the last 20 living hostages were returned to Israel as part of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, many Jews are relieved to be ending these rituals — even as they question whether it is right to do so and wonder how to channel their prayers and practices toward whatever comes next. Deceased hostages are still believed to be in Gaza, and even as soldiers return home and Gazans reclaim what’s left of their former lives, an enduring peace seems far away. 

 At Beth El, the Acheinu and lawn sign will stay in place until all the bodies are returned. In the meantime, at the celebration of Simchat Torah, there was a chance to experience a sense of relief members haven’t felt in two years.

 “Like so many we haven’t been able as a people to move forward and get to Oct. 8 until the hostages came home,” Olitzky says, hours after Hamas released the living hostages. “And now there is a sense of being able to exhale and breathe and, God willing, to move forward, to rebuild, and for all Israeli citizens and for Palestinians to have opportunities to build peace.”

 When Israeli pop star Yoni Bloch made a video in January imagining an end to the war and showing Israelis pulling down “Bring Them Home” posters and cutting yellow ribbons off their car doors, the idea seemed to many too distant to believe. Now, rabbis and Jews in the pews are asking if it is time to move forward.

 Rabbi Yael Ridberg, the recently retired spiritual leader of Congregation Dor Hadash in San Diego, says she would remove the ribbon and dog tag she wears when the bodies of the deceased hostages are returned. 

 “I look forward to tucking them away, but not disposing of them,” she wrote in response to a journalist’s query. “I will stop wearing them when all the deceased hostages are returned. These are keepsakes of a time worth remembering, as hard as it has been for the last two years.”

 Ronit Wolff Hanan, the former music director at Congregation Beth Sholom in Teaneck, New Jersey, says she is not sure what to do with the ribbon pin and dog tags she’s worn for most of the past two years. She’s torn between “this unbelievable release and relief and joy,” and sadness about the 24 bodies yet to be returned.

 “My whole thing is, well, what do we do now?” says Wolff Hanan, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen whose son served more than 300 days in the Israeli reserves during the war. “I keep thinking about the long, difficult road all of these hostages and families have ahead of them, and it’s just unimaginable. But also I’m thinking about, when is it really over? We don’t know if this is the dawn of a new era or if we are going to go back to the same old, same old.”  

 On a Facebook page for Jewish women, a number of members spoke of their reluctance to stop lighting extra candles. Some felt that if they did, it would break a kind of spiritual commitment or might suggest that they’ve given up on the freed hostages who will continue to have mental and physical challenges. Some referred to a passage from Talmud (Shabbat 21b) that extends the metaphor of the Hanukkah candles to suggest that someone should always add light, not subtract.     

 By contrast, the comic Periel Aschenbrand wrote that she was eager to take off the button that she’d been wearing in solidarity with Omri Miran, a hostage abducted in front of his wife and two children on Oct. 7. “I can’t wait to be able to take it off tomorrow, and for Omri to be reunited with his daughters and family,” she wrote Sunday, Oct. 12 on Instagram. 

 Alyssa Goldwater, an Orthodox influencer, wrote that she too is “really looking forward” to taking off the yellow ribbon pin she’s worn over the past two years, but that removing doesn’t mean forgetting. 

 “When you remove a pin, the tiny holes never fully go away,” she wrote on Instagram. “They will remain and serve as a reminder that we will never forget what has happened to us over the last two years. We will never forget who stood by us and who stood soundly or against us. The holes will be tiny because we pray that the hostages will be able to eventually heal and live their regular lives again, where the unimaginable travesties they’ve been through won’t even be noticeable in the human eye, but the holes will remain, because this is a part of us now.”

 Long before Oct. 7 led to a torrent of new practices, Jews altered their prayers and rituals in tune with current events, with some changes handed down from rabbis and others bubbling up from the “folk.” 

 Some changes stick — like the Av HaRachamim memorial prayer, composed in the Middle Ages for those who perished in the Crusades — and others fall away. In the 1970s and ’80s, boys and girls celebrating their b’nai mitzvah “twinned” with Soviet Jews unable to emigrate. Adults wore silver bracelets with the name of these refuseniks and put them away when the emigration restrictions fell.  

 The additions and changes that persist usually speak to other events, the way Av HaRachamim has become a weekly reminder of various Jewish tragedies. In general, however, a prayer or ritual that responds to current events “should have a theoretical timestamp for when it exits stage left, even if we cannot always know when that time will come,” Rabbi Ethan Tucker, president and rosh yeshiva of Hadar, explained in a Facebook post discussing the transition away from Oct. 7 practices. “Without that foresight and planning, the addition either straggles on, eventually becoming a kind of exhibit in the gallery of prayer, or it simply fades away when monotony and detachment have gotten the better of it.”

 The Jewish calendar itself seemed to conspire in the spiritual turbulence of many Jews: The hostage release came on the eve of Israelis’ celebration of Simchat Torah — and the second anniversary, on the Hebrew calendar, of the Hamas attacks. 

 The holiday is meant to be a day of unbridled joy. A centerpiece of Simchat Torah is the hakafah, when congregants dance with and around the Torah scrolls.

 Last year, congregations struggled with how to match the happy themes of the holiday with the one-year anniversary of the worst attack in Israel’s history. Olitzky said his congregation began last year’s Simchat Torah festivities with a “solemn” hakafah, where congregants sang Israel’s national anthem and a somber Hebrew song while standing still. Olitzky said he took solace at the time in the words of Goldberg-Polin, who said, “‘There is a time to sob and a time to dance’ and we have to do both right now.”

 And while the release of the hostages is also tinged with sadness — for the lost years, the captives who didn’t make it, the suffering still to come — many will use the holiday as a celebration of deliverance and gratitude.  

 Adat Shalom, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Bethesda, Maryland, used Simchat Torah to celebrate the hostages’ return by ending another common practice since Oct. 7: a chair left empty on the synagogue’s bima, featuring the image of a missing hostage.

 During the dancing on Simchat Torah, the congregation brought the chair and used it to lift up members wedding-style. “We have a lot of people in the community who are really close with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Washington,” says Rabbi Scott Perlo. 

 Adat Shalom rotated in a number of special prayers and readings over the past two years, acknowledging, Perlo says ruefully, that “there’s so much to pray for,” including “the hostages, the safety of our family in Israel, the safety of people in Gaza,” and the state of American democracy. 

 He understands that some congregants may be wary of letting go of the new rites and prayers — perhaps afraid that if they don’t keep up the tradition, the horrors that prompted their prayers will only return. 

 “So what I would say to them is some version of, ‘Yes, don’t let it go completely, but let it transform into something new,’” says Perlo.

 Rabbi Felipe Goodman of Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas, Nevada planned to incorporate a ritual of release and transformation during Simchat Torah celebrations. He asked congregants to bring their yellow pins and dog tags and place them on an heirloom Torah cover. “This cover will be dedicated as a memorial and displayed at the entrance of our Temple, so that every time we walk through Our Temple’s doors, we will remember what happened on Oct. 7, 2023,” he wrote in a message to members.

 With the release of the living hostages fulfilling two years of prayers, gestures and vigils, many offered new words and actions to mark the transition from war to whatever follows in its place. Hanna Yerushalmi, a rabbi based in Annapolis, Maryland, shared a poem on Instagram, called “Yellow Chairs,” that welcomed the transformation of the fraught symbols of Oct. 7 grief and remembrance. It reads in part:

Empty chairs will be

saved for friends arriving late,

and tape will be

tape again,

and hostage necklaces

will be put away, forgotten in drawers.

and Saturday night will be date night once again.

A Day of Re-membrance for the Victims of the October 7 Hamas Attack on Israel.
In part, it states:

WHEREAS, on October 7, 2023, a tragic and unprecedented act of violence was carried out by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering near Kibbutz Re’im, as well as throughout communities and kibbutzim in Israel; and

WHEREAS, innocent civilians were enjoying a beautiful day in their homes, observing the end of Sukkot, and attending a music festival, only to be brutally attacked, resulting in serious injuries, the horrific murder of 1,200 innocent lives, and the kidnapping of 251 hostages by Hamas terrorists; and

WHEREAS, among the hostages was Israeli American and former Richmonder Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a man who displayed immense courage in prioritizing the safety of his friends and others around him, despite the loss of his arm in a grenade explosion; and

WHEREAS, after eleven months in captivity and just days before the Israel Defense Forces could rescue him, Hersh Goldberg-Polin was murdered by Hamas in a tunnel in Gaza in August 2024, bringing profound sorrow to the Jewish community, his loved ones, and the countless individuals who prayed for his safe return; and 

WHEREAS, the attack on October 7, 2023, and the rise in antisemitism, thereafter, are stark reminders of the ongoing threats and challenges faced by the people of Israel, and the need for continued vigilance and unity in the face of terrorism and hate; and

WHEREAS, Virginians vehemently condemn Hamas and its supporters for their reprehensible actions, which include kidnapping, brutal sexual violence, torture, and the murder of individuals like Hersh Goldberg-Polin; and

WHEREAS, Virginians remain steadfast against relentless evil and stand in solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people, a people who remain a bright light in the darkest of times;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize October 7, 2025, as A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE OCTOBER 7TH HAMAS ATTACK ON ISRAEL in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call for the immediate release of all hostages.

Remembering October 7: A commemoration of loss, strength, and unity at Regent 

By: Nofar Trem

Tidewater’s Shinshinim, Noga Yaniv and Yarden Lahan, and I had the honor of participating in Regent University’s October 7th Commemoration event on Wednesday, Oct. 8. The morning began with a moving flag planting ceremony in memory of the victims of the October 7 attacks. Each flag served as a solemn reminder of a life lost, and the enduring pain still felt by so many.

 Following, the community gathered in Regent’s Library Auditorium for the official commemoration ceremony. The program featured remarks from Regent Dean and former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Mayor Bobby Dyer, former Governor Bob McDonnell, Director of Regent’s Israel Institute Dr. AJ Nolte, Pastor and CUFI Regional Director Todd Woolston, and Shye Klein, an October 7 survivor whose story resonated with everyone in attendance.

 Speakers reflected on the tragic events of that day, the alarming rise in antisemitism that followed, and the critical bond between Jews and Christians in standing together to uphold shared values and defend freedom. Throughout the event, the warmth and hospitality of the Regent community were truly touching.

 It was a powerful morning of remembrance and unity, underscoring the deep friendship and steadfast support the Tidewater Christian community continues to show for Israel and for the local Jewish community. Their compassion and solidarity remind that even in times of pain, shared values and faith can bring people together in strength and purpose.

Virginia Tech commemorates October 7

By: Amanda Herring

Hillel students at Virginia Tech, along with the university’s Israel Fellow, Jules Narinski, created a visual memorial on the campus’ Drillfield to mark October 7.  On the field, 48 yellow balloons and photographs representing the hostages still held in Gaza (at the time), were placed. Signs around the Drillfield instructed students about the massacre and allowed a space for students to reflect and mourn.  The VT Police Department monitored the display throughout the day.

 Simultaneously, Hillel was open with clergy and staff available to light memorial candles, sit with students, and offer comfort with cookies and hot tea. 

Amanda Herring is the executive director at Hillel at Virginia Tech.

UVA hosts vigil for October 7 

By: Annie Weinberg

Hillel at the University of Virginia co-

sponsored an event with Wahoos for Israel to commemorate October 7. Like the organizations have done over the last two years, the vigil was held on the Grounds. Orr Grosman, director of Israel Engagement & Global Jewish Experience, and Hillel’s Israel Education Interns, also created an installation on the Grounds during the day.

Annie Weinberg is executive director of the Brody Jewish Center, Hillel at the University of Virginia.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews united 1,200+ churches to plant more than 1 million Israeli flags to Commemorate October 7 attacks and demonstrate support for Israel and the Jewish People

As the world prepared to mark the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship) announced that more than 1,200 churches, universities, and synagogues, and nearly 1 million congregants from all 50 states planned to plant more than 1 million flags and stand in solidarity with Israel to raise a message of hope as part of its second annual Flags of Fellowship (FOF) campaign.

 The movement, which engaged 220 organizations and more than 90,000 people in prayer during its inaugural campaign last year, aims to unite communities of faith across North America and unwavering support for Israel and the Jewish people as antisemitism continues to increase globally.

  “Flags of Fellowship began as a way to honor the innocent lives lost on that horrific day, and to bring hope and light amidst unimaginable darkness,” says Yael Eckstein, president and Global CEO of The Fellowship. “And at a time when we see others burning Israeli flags, to have 1,200 churches and synagogues plant over 1 million Israeli flags is a bold, beautiful reminder that the Christian community—the silenced majority—continues to stand with Israel and the Jewish people.”

 October 2-8, each participating church, synagogue, and university displayed a field of 1,200 Israeli flags—each representing a life lost on October 7, 2023—as part of Flags of Fellowship services in remembrance of the attacks. 

Leading evangelical churches from around the country participated in the event, including World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Awaken Church, with 20,000 congregants across eight campuses in California; Hope Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Cristo Vive in Miami, Florida; Freedom Life Church in Atglen, Pennsylvania, and more. 

 Regent University in Virginia Beach hosted a campus-wide event, extending the campaign into the academic community. (See article on page 9.)

 To date, The Fellowship has provided more than $250 million in emergency humanitarian aid to those impacted by the October 7 attacks and the war. Flags of Fellowship equips believers across the nation to continue to support Israel, encouraging participants to pray and raise awareness in their local communities. 

To learn more about The Fellowship’s work, visit www.ifcj.org.

October 7 Revisited

Prophet Habakkak’s haunting Biblical

Words come true on a sacred turned scarred 

Day robbed of its joys,

“For a stone shall cry out

From the wall.”

Once loving homes where the

Divine forged an abode turned

Into  blackened stones soaked from

Hatred – filled wells of  blood and fire,

With  walls of witness wailing in silence

Of strewn bodies, young and old bonded

In death as in life, for the land of ubiquitous

Memorials again and again and again,

Till when?

Of snuffed dreams in a hunting field

Where dancing – davening flowers held

Sway till halted singing from deep within

Surging souls yearning to bond across

Man – made borders – barriers to be 

Breached for war or peace,

To yet prevail with heightened cadence 

Of Shalom’s invisible, ever – surviving promise!

Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is the founder of Temple Lev Tikvah and Honorary Senior Rabbi Scholar at Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church, both in Virginia Beach.

The government postponed official remembrances until the day after the Simchat Torah holiday that bookends Sukkot rather than the Gregorian anniversary. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came under fire for initially failing to acknowledge Oct. 7 directly, writing a social media post that read simply “Happy Sukkot.”

The convergence of the festival’s religiously required joy with the memory of mass death set off a broader debate over whether celebration and grief could coexist. Some religious leaders and community groups, including the Reform movement, urged weaving remembrance into holiday rituals — lighting candles, reading names, adding prayers for the fallen — while others argued that Sukkot’s happiness should remain intact, with official mourning deferred.

Some Israelis traveled south to visit sites of the attacks, including at official memorials at some of the kibbutzim that were devastated on Oct. 7. Travel is prohibited on the first day for those who adhere to traditional interpretations of Jewish law.

Even among the bereaved, observance varied. British-Israeli Gaby Young Shalev, whose younger brother Nathanel Young, a soldier, was killed in action on Oct. 7, said her family chose to celebrate the festival with friends and relatives before turning to commemoration.

 “I tried not to think about the fact that it’s Oct. 7. Because I really think it’s important that we don’t let these atrocities of Oct. 7 ruin our chagim,” she said, using the Hebrew word for Jewish festivals.

But once the holiday day ended on Tuesday evening, Young, her parents and sister Miriam went to Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park for the Oct. 7 memorial organized by Kumu (“Rise Up”), an initiative set up by families of victims and hostages as a counterpoint to the official state ceremony.

The event was livestreamed globally and screened simultaneously at Hostages Square. It opened with released hostage Agam Berger performing the theme from Schindler’s List on violin. Between speeches from hostage relatives, bereaved families, and released captives, well-known Israeli musicians performed on a stage that was a tableau of symbols: a burned-out car like those destroyed along the Gaza border, encircled by red crown anemones — the national flower and an emblem of remembrance — a bullet-riddled bomb shelter, and 48 suspended yellow chairs representing each hostage still in Gaza.

Singer Yuval Rafael, who survived the Nova festival massacre and later represented Israel at Eurovision, sang with Daniel Weiss, whose parents were murdered by Hamas. Zvi Zussman, father of Maj. Gen. (res.) Ben Zussman, killed in December 2023, recited the Yizkor prayer, while Elchanan Danino, whose son Ori was kidnapped and later murdered in captivity, recited the Mourner’s Kaddish.

Eurovision contestant Eden Golan addressed the livestream in English, saying the nation “had been holding its breath” for two years and calling for the release of the 48 hostages still held in Gaza. She performed I’m Coming Home as images of hostages filled the screen behind her. The crowd erupted in chants of “Everyone, Now,” the slogan that has become shorthand for demanding their return.

Unlike last year, the memorial was open to the general public and drew an estimated 30,000 people. In 2024, 50,000 tickets had been reserved by the public, but organizers were forced to curtail attendance to the press and victims’ families amid security threats. For Young, the crowd’s size this year conveyed a collective response beyond those most directly affected.

“It’s a reminder that it’s not just about the bereaved families or the families of hostages,” she said. “The whole country is mourning.”

At last year’s memorial, Young told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that it was the first time her brother’s death had truly sunk in. In the months before, she said, her family’s grief had been buffered by “happy” distractions — the birth of her twins, her parents’ aliyah from the United Kingdom, and the flurry of projects created in Nathanel’s memory. But as another year passed and she returned to the same spot this October, the sense of loss felt sharper. The passage of time, she said, had made his absence harder, not easier.

“We realize that Nathanel’s not just on a long holiday, but that he’s not actually coming back,” she said. The release last month of the army’s year-long investigation into what happened on his base that morning, she added, made the loss feel newly immediate. Still, “we live life with a lot of purpose,” she said. “We keep his spirit alive by asking, even in the most everyday situations, what would Nat do?”

Young said she resonated deeply with an image shared on stage by fellow bereaved speaker Tomer Zak, whose parents and younger brother were killed in the attacks. Zak compared herself to a tree that had lost its leaves but whose roots remained strong. For Young, the metaphor captured the tension between devastation and resilience.

“When other people look at it from the outside they’re like, how can this person continue with their lives? But the memory and the light from the person we lost, from Nathanel, makes us keep going, makes us stronger. It gives us these magic powers — you basically want to do all these things for them,” she said.

To that end, the family have set up a memorial fund in his name to support projects for youth at risk, including young people with ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence.

A few miles east in Bnei Brak, the atmosphere was strikingly different. Late at night, Hasidic music blasted from the Beit Hashem synagogue during a simchat beit hashoeva — a Sukkot celebration where worshippers dance and play music late into the night during the holiday’s midweek nights. Men in fur streimels streamed inside while children chased one another through the narrow alleys.

Asked about the tension between celebration and mourning, several attendees said they were unaware the Gregorian anniversary of Oct. 7 had arrived. Down the road, emissaries of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement had erected a roadside sukkah draped with yellow Mashiach flags — contrasting with the yellow hostage ribbons ubiquitous at the Tel Aviv memorial — and were handing cotton candy to children.

Yossi, one of the Chabad volunteers, said the date did not change their message. “We pray every day for the return of the hostages and the safe return of the soldiers. In all our daily prayers and also when we read from the Torah,” he said.

A woman in a tank top said that despite identifying herself as secular, the attack’s timing would fix the memory to the Hebrew calendar. “I can’t separate from the fact that it happened on Shabbat and also such a joyous festival — Simchat Torah. [Hamas] took that from us forever.”

In Holon, south of Tel Aviv, Eyal Golan spent the day at home. His youngest sister Shirel, a Nova festival survivor, died by suicide shortly before the first anniversary of the attacks. He could not bring himself to attend a memorial, he said, but added that looking after his two small daughters, the youngest of whom is a newborn, took precedence.

“The mental is affecting the physical,” he said of the migraines he was suffering. “I felt a sense of emptiness all day and I struggled with my own PTSD just to function.”

As the event in the Yarkon Park wrapped up, the crowd stood to sing Israel’s national anthem. For Young, the moment tied mourning to resolve. “It’s a collective grief but also a collective hope, that’s how I felt at the end of Hatikvah. Yes, we are all grieving, but there’s something with Am Yisrael, with the Jewish people and with Israeli people. We keep going.”

Old Dominion University’s Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding and ODU Hillel will welcome Shye Klein, a photographer and NOVA survivor of October 7, whose work documents the tragedy and aftermath of the attack.

Through his lens, Klein shares a deeply personal perspective on grief, resilience, and memory.

The program is presented in partnership with the Academic Engagement Network and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners’ 15th Annual Israel Today Series.

This event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the 49th Street Stadium Garage. For more information, visit ijiu@odu.edu or contact Dr. Amy Milligan at amilliga@odu.edu.

Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Today, every home in Israel bows its head. We bow our heads over the heavy loss of four of our hostages. We all feel pain mixed with rage. We are all outraged at the Hamas monsters. The four coffins of our dear ones require us, more than ever, to ensure, to swear, that what happened on October 7 never recurs.

“The voice of our dear ones’ blood cries out to us from the ground. It requires us to settle accounts with the depraved murderers — and we will settle accounts with them.”

Quoting a verse from Psalms, he continued, “God of vengeance, Lord God of vengeance, appear.” He added, “We will return all of our hostages. We will destroy the murderers; we will eliminate Hamas. And together, with God’s help, we will ensure our future.”

Isaac Herzog:

On social media, Israel’s president wrote, “Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters. On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”

Later, speaking to CNN, Herzog said Israel should prioritize freeing the rest of the hostages and extending the current ceasefire. “First and foremost, we want to bring all our hostages back home. There are 69 of them out and it is assumed that the majority are still alive. I’m speaking to their families throughout these days. We have to get to the second stage of the deal and complete it and bring them back home whilst making sure that Hamas cannot reign in Gaza,” he said.

Yair Lapid:

In a post above a photo of the four coffins draped in Israeli flags, he wrote, “The heart cannot contain the pain.”

In the United States, leaders condemned Hamas and expressed solidarity with Israel.

House Speaker Mike Johnson:

“It is beyond comprehension that anyone could take the lives of these innocent people—a peace activist, and a young mother and her babies. This is pure evil. America stands with Israel in its fight to eliminate Hamas,” the Louisiana Republican tweeted above photos of the four victims.

Rep. Elise Stefanik:

“The heinous display of Hamas terrorists parading the coffins of murdered Israeli civilians and babies Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz to the cheers of a barbaric pro-Hamas mob is an affront to all of humanity. We mourn the loss of these precious innocent lives and condemn the truly evil actions of these vicious and depraved Hamas terrorists,” tweeted Stefanik, a New York Republican who is awaiting confirmation as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Rep. Steny Hoyer:

“Hamas is depraved – there is no rationalization for their violence, and these murders deserve universal condemnation,” the Maryland Democrat, a former House majority leader, said. “We must continue our work to secure not only the remaining hostages but also Israel’s long-term security. We must never allow October 7 to be repeated or Hamas’ brutal leadership over Gaza to be restored. May the memories of Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz be a blessing.”

Sen. John Fetterman:

“Hamas abducted, tortured and murdered children. Used their remains to free prisoners. This spectacle advances the frontier of utter depravity and reaffirms standing firmly on the side of Israel,” tweeted the Pennsylvania Democrat, an outspoken supporter of Israel.

Messages of mourning and support also came from leaders around the world. An Argentine official announced that the country would declare a day of mourning for Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas, who were Argentine-Israeli citizens.

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights:

“The parading of bodies in the manner seen this morning is abhorrent and cruel, and flies in the face of international law,” the office said, according to the Times of Israel. “We urge that all returns are conducted in privacy, and with respect and care.”

French President Emmanuel Macron:

“Shiri. Kfir. Ariel. Faces of innocence and love. Faces of an eternal humanity that the barbarity of Hamas will never abolish. France, mobilized for the release of all hostages, stands alongside Yarden and the Bibas family. In universal brotherhood,” he tweeted.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz:

“It has become a terrible certainty: Shiri Silbermann-Bibas and her sons Ariel and Kfir are dead. Hamas has brought suffering and death to countless families. I feel for everyone who has to deal with this terrible certainty,” he tweeted.

Argentine lawmaker Sabrina Ajmechet:

“I hope that never again, after this, will I have to hear that what happens in Israel and Gaza is not our business, not the business of all Argentines,” Ajmechet, who also leads the country’s Human Rights Commission, wrote in one of many posts about the Bibas family. “The president [Javier Milei] will declare a day of national mourning for them. Thank you, President, for your commitment to democracy, to freedom, to Western values and to the fight against terrorism. A warm hug to the Bibas family. Today all Argentines are you.”

8 hostages, including 5 Thai nationals, return to Israel following chaotic scenes in Gaza

Philissa Cramer
(JTA) — Eight hostages returned to Israel in two separate releases on Thursday, Jan. 30, following scenes of chaos and intimidation as the terror groups that abducted them handed them over to the Red Cross.

Agam Berger, the last woman soldier remaining in Gaza, was released first, after Hamas forced her to walk across a stage and pose with a certificate. In Israel, she was reunited with her family and was set to be reunited with the four other women soldiers with whom she had been held until their release on Saturday, Feb. 1.

Gadi Mozes and Arbel Yehud, civilians who had been abducted by the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, were released separately. They were made to walk through a dense crowd of Hamas supporters in front of the home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Khan Younis before reaching representatives of the Red Cross.

Additionally, five Thai nationals who were not part of the current ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas also returned to Israel, where Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with the Thai ambassador. Three Thai nationals remain hostages in Gaza, of whom two are known to be dead.

Islamic Jihad released a video of Yehud and Mozes, neighbors from Kibbutz Nir Oz, embracing before their release. According to Israeli media, Yehud’s reunion with Mozes marked the first time she had seen another Israeli since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Mozes, 80, was one of the oldest hostages remaining in Gaza. He had previously been seen alive in a hostage video released by Islamic Jihad in December 2023; another hostage seen on tape that day was later found dead. His partner Efrat was murdered on Oct. 7.

Yehud was abducted with her partner, Ariel Cunio, who remains a hostage in Gaza, as does his brother David, whose wife and children were released in a previous ceasefire in November 2023. Yehud’s brother Dolev was murdered on Oct. 7.

Condemning the chaotic scenes from Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered a delay in the release of the Palestinian security prisoners that Israel had committed to free in exchange for the hostages, until Hamas and mediators could assure him that hostages released in the future would be safe.

In Gadi Mozes, the octogenarian freed from Gaza, Israelis see an icon of their country’s hardy ‘kibbutznik’ spirit

Ben Sales
(JTA) —The chaotic hostage release on Thursday, Jan. 30, which saw a crush of fighters push two captives through a restless crowd, shocked viewers and sparked a crisis in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

It also left Israelis with at least one lasting image: Hostage Gadi Mozes, 80, walking upright among the masked gunmen, with what appeared to be the faintest of smiles on his face.

To many Israelis, the photo symbolized not only the resilience of an elderly hostage after almost 16 months of captivity; it was also a testament to the particular Israeli way of life Mozes embodies.

Several of the posts emphasized that Mozes is a kibbutznik — a resident of the border community of Nir Oz who, before Oct. 7, 2023, was known for his potato farming. But to Israelis, the word “kibbutznik,” especially when applied to an octogenarian, connotes more than just an address.

While Israel’s kibbutz movement has declined over the past 40 years, in the early days of the country — Mozes’ youth — the kibbutz symbolized a pioneering ethos, a hardy work ethic and a communitarian spirit. In past decades, kibbutzniks comprised a disproportionate share of Israel’s military and political leadership.

To some of those who shared the photo of Mozes, that’s the message that came through.

“He’s the salt of the earth, a classic kibbutznik,” one Israeli posted on X.

“Wow Gadi Mozes, 80-year-old kibbutznik, made of humanity’s toughest stuff,” Ram Shefa, a former Israeli lawmaker, posted on Facebook above the photo. “Welcome back to the community of Nir Oz and Israel.”

“We have Gadi Mozes, an 80-year-old alpha male, a strong kibbutznik,” wrote another Israeli on Facebook. “Survived for a year and a half and returned a hero.”

The photo is the latest instance, during this ceasefire, of Israelis turning an image of the hostages’ suffering into a symbol of national pride. First, Mia Schem’s post-release tattoo “We will dance again” became a mantra for survivors of the Nova music festival massacre. Most recently, Emily Damari’s hand — with fingers blown off — was transformed into the “rock on” symbol and was quickly adapted into a variety of graphics. More recently, Jews around the world paid homage to Agam Berger, another hostage released Jan. 30, who braided her fellow captives’ hair ahead of their release.

Mozes’ story had already spread across Israel before his release — how he attempted to negotiate with terrorists to spare his family, and how his longtime partner, Efrat Katz, was killed on Oct. 7. Her daughter and two grandchildren were also taken hostage and released in the November 2023 ceasefire, as was Mozes’ ex-wife.

The Israeli government released footage of Mozes reuniting with his three children, where his smile was replaced by tears as he hugged and kissed them and, according to local reports, learned for the first time that Katz had died on Oct. 7.

But first, the kibbutzik persona shone through. One of the videos shows him sitting on a couch, moments before seeing his children, and saying in a hoarse voice, “I will do everything I can to rehabilitate Nir Oz.”

Keith Siegel, Yarden Bibas, Ofer Kalderon released from Gaza in smooth handovers

JTA staff
(JTA) — The oldest living American-Israeli hostage exited Gaza, one of three Israelis Hamas released on Saturday, Feb. 1 in accordance with the terms of a ceasefire deal.

Keith Siegel, 65, was released after a seaside ceremony in Gaza City where he briefly walked across a stage and waved, a performance that Hamas has required of the hostages it has recently freed. He was wearing a hat and walked on his own, though he appeared to be supported by two Hamas terrorists as he mounted the stage and descended from it.

Viewing her husband via video for the first time since November 2023, when she was released during a previous ceasefire, Aviva Siegel exclaimed, “Here he is! He looks good!” on a video distributed by the Israeli government. She was accompanied by the couple’s son Shai, whose survival when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was unclear to her and her husband while she was a hostage.

Subsequent footage showed Keith Siegel, who moved to Israel as a young adult from his native North Carolina, flashing a thumbs-up sign after being turned over to Israeli troops and embracing his family in the hospital.

Siegel was released shortly after two other hostages, Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon.

Bibas, 35, is the father of the only children who remain in Gaza. He appeared in a hostage video in November 2023 that showed him responding to being told that his wife, Shiri, and sons Ariel and Kfir, had been killed. Israel has never confirmed Hamas’ allegation that the mother and young children were dead but has said there are “grave concerns” about them and did not insist on their release prior to that of living men.

In a video that Israel released, Bibas embraced his parents upon their reunion.

Kalderon, 54, was abducted with two of his children from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Sahar, 17, and Erez, 12, were released during the November 2023 ceasefire after 52 days in captivity. Israel released a video showing Kalderon, who greeted friends outside the hospital where he was taken, embracing all four of his children.

In a change, the handover process on Feb. 1 went smoothly and contained little of the unruly crowds that had characterized other recent hostage releases.

Groups of hostages have been released periodically since the current ceasefire began on Jan. 19. Sagui Dekel-Chen, an American, is on the list to be released during the current ceasefire, while the other American, Edan Alexander, would be released only if the ceasefire is extended.

The four hostages released on Saturday are Daniela Gilboa, Liri Albag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev. All are Israeli soldiers. Before being allowed to return to Israel after nearly 16 months in captivity, they were paraded across a stage in Gaza wearing green fatigues, against a banner with English, Arabic and Hebrew slogans such as “Zionism will not win” and “Palestine — the victory of the oppressed people vs the Nazi Zionism.” They also received gift bags.

The four captives smiled and waved as they walked across the stage in front of a crowd, which, according to Israeli media, was meant to be a show of strength in the face of their captors. The event contrasted with the release of three Israeli women hostages on Sunday, Jan. 19, which came with images of the captives leaving Gaza amid a crowd of Hamas gunmen.

The release on Saturday came amid tensions over the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which is due to last six weeks. Israel had expected the release of Arbel Yehud, a civilian, but she is being held by Islamic Jihad, another Gaza terror group, and did not go free. She is reportedly due to be released next week, along with American Keith Siegel and Agam Berger, another female Israeli soldier.

The other civilian woman still in captivity is Shiri Bibas, who was abducted with her children Kfir and Ariel. Hamas said early in the war that all three of those members of the Bibas family had been killed, but Israel has not confirmed that allegation. Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband and the father of the two boys, is also still in captivity.

In response to Arbel not being released, Israel delayed the return of Palestinians to north Gaza, which was due to begin on Saturday. Israel also released 200 Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for the four hostages, many of whom were serving life sentences for murdering Israelis and other acts of terror.

A total of 90 hostages are still being held in Gaza, dozens of whom have been confirmed to be dead. Hamas was due to provide details as to the condition of some of them, though the extent of that information remains unclear.

Related: These are the hostages to be released (and left behind) in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal’s first phase

The release on Saturday came six days after Hamas released Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher, all civilian women. In exchange, Israel released some 90 Palestinian security prisoners.

The release of the hostages has occasioned celebration and relief across Israel. Most Israelis are in favor of the ceasefire deal, but it has also drawn opposition because it includes the release of convicted Palestinian terrorists and potentially an end to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. President Donald Trump has pushed for the deal but also sounded skeptical about it lasting.

The hostage releases are part of the first stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, which began on Jan. 19 and is due to last six weeks. Over the course of that period, Hamas is to release a total of 33 hostages, most of whom are thought to be alive.

The second stage of the ceasefire, which has yet to be negotiated, would see Israel fully withdraw from Gaza in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages. A third stage would see the rest of the hostages be released as reconstruction of Gaza begins.

President Joe Biden
Today, after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal. This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity.

I laid out the precise contours of this plan on May 31, 2024, after which it was endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council. It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran — but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy. My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.

Even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’ October 7th attack, and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed. It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin. I am also thinking of the American families, three of whom have living hostages in Gaza and four awaiting return of remains after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable. Under this deal, we are determined to bring all of them home.

Jewish Federations of North America
Jewish Federations welcome news of a deal to release dozens of hostages, create a framework for releasing all the hostages, and allow Israel a path forward to protect the safety and security of its citizens.

Every day for over 15 months, our community has held the hostages in our hearts, wept for their plight, prayed for their safe return, and mourned for those who we lost.

We’ve held close our Israeli brothers and sisters who have suffered, been displaced, fought in reserves, struggled to keep their businesses afloat, and worked to keep their families and communities alive.

There is much work to be done and significant uncertainty ahead, but we are hopeful that the first phase of this agreement will pave the way for the remaining hostages to be reunited with their family, for hostilities to end, and for an era of security and rebuilding for both Israel and her neighbors.

We must also thank President Biden and President-elect Trump, for their unprecedented coordination to bring both sides together to get a deal done.