Chabad at Rice hosts vigil for Oct. 7 anniversary
Nearly 150 students, staff and faculty gathered at Farnsworth Pavilion for a vigil commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Held up by clothespins, pictures paying tribute to killed Israeli people lined the walls of the room.
The event, hosted by Chabad at Rice and titled “Memorial and Mitzvah Tribute,” hosted two survivors of the Nova Music Festival, where nearly 380 people were killed as part of a Hamas attack.
On Oct. 7, 2023, militant fighters from Hamas — a U.S.-designated terrorist group — breached Israel’s borders in as many as 22 locations and laid siege on nearby towns, taking over 240 civilians hostage. A year later, more than 1,200 Israelis and over 41,600 Palestinians have been killed.
Perry Gilberd, president of Chabad at Rice, opened the vigil by reflecting on his experience being Jewish at Rice.
“The weight of these events doesn’t just stay in the news or in far-off places. It has quietly made its way to campuses like ours in ways that feel more subversive but no less significant,” Gilberd, a McMurtry College senior, said in his speech.
Gilberd, whose parents are Israeli immigrants, said that he feared openly expressing his Jewish identity after fighting broke out last year. However, Gilberd said that he eventually found even greater strength in his faith and hopes to bring the Rice community together.
“My hope for the Rice community is healing,” Gilberd said in an interview with the Thresher. “I think what happened on Oct. 7, and throughout the whole year for both sides, is definitely devastating. I hope, moving forward, that peace comes soon and that the loss of innocent life comes to an end as quickly as possible.”
The vigil continued with prayer and readings from the Torah. Rabbi Shmuli Slonim from Chabad at Rice spoke about the year of violence, followed by Gal Kadmon, an Israeli student who led attendees in a recitation of Psalm 121.
Kadmon’s uncle’s friend was killed in the Nova music festival attacks, she said. She read the words that his wife wrote in his memory.
“This is not living,” Kadmon, a Will Rice College senior, read. “This is a battle to get up every morning and do the most basic things.”
Yasha Zemel, an Israeli student, paid tribute to his two friends who were killed in the past year — one at the Nova music festival, another while serving in the Israeli army.
“By learning about my two friends, we can see how all the people in Israel are so joyful, so committed to life,” Zemel, a Martel College senior, said.
Liron Rokah and his fiancée Zohar Arad, two survivors of the attack, shared their experiences at the vigil. On Oct. 7, 2023, Rokah said that they had just arrived at the music festival and watched part of the sunrise before they heard explosions nearby.
“We look to the sky, and there was no fireworks. There [were] missiles all over the sky,” Arad said.
The pair ran to their car and were some of the first music festival attendees to escape by driving over an open field. Rokah said he later discovered bullet holes in the back of the car. The two sheltered in a nearby stranger’s house for 12 hours before it was safe to return home — Arad has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, she said.
Soon after, Rokah and Arad reported to reserve duty in Israel’s military for 150 days.
“For me, it was a part of the healing of my soul,” Rokah said. “When we were in the fields and we ran away from the terrorists, I never felt so helpless … and [now with a] gun … I could protect myself.”
Following their testimony, Slonim read a story by writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel about the strength of song and joy in the face of grief. He also expressed his own feelings on the events of Oct. 7.
“We cannot allow them to take away our song. And this year, in Simchat Torah, we will dance. We may also be crying while we dance, but we will dance. We will dance stronger than ever before,” Slonim said.
Attendees were encouraged to take a print photograph of an Israeli who was killed in the war. At the end of the event, attendees resolved to complete a mitzvah, or a good deed, in their memory.
“To remember, to mourn. It’s been a year … There’s still a lot of prayer needed, as it’s an ongoing war, and to resolve for the future,” Slonin said in an interview with the Thresher. “More good deeds, bring more light to the world and to pray for the end.”
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