Students Commemorate One Year Since October 7 Attack

by Talia Herbst, SSLI ‘25

One whole year. Today, the Schechter community held a ceremony to commemorate the atrocity of October 7, 2023.

This morning, the upper school joined together in the gym for a school-wide tefila that included myriad multimedia presentations in honor of October 7. Students were asked to wear either blue and white or yellow to show unity and respect.

This morning's program was planned by Israel Club. Senior and president of Israel Club Noah Schor shared, “Ariel Duftler, Sam Palter, and I, the presidents of Israel Club, met with Becky. We looked through and researched prayers and poems that related to today. We then picked students to read these additions to the student body. The ceremony was very meaningful and very well done. I was very happy with the outcome.”

Junior Shir Levenson read the Prayer for the Hostages. She shared, “It's really hard to believe that it's been a year since October 7, last year. It doesn't feel like it at all. It's sad to know that we've now had to do this [program] with school for the second time.”

Yellow ribbons were given out for everyone to wear this morning, symbolizing our hope for the return of the hostages, especially Schechter alumnus and IDF soldier Omer Neutra. The ribbon reads, “7.10.23 #Bringthemhome.”

                                                     

Students received bracelets to wear. (Y. Pedram)

Senior and PPN editor Sasha Chernoff said, “We honored the victims of October 7 and commemorated the tragedy very respectfully.”

Chernoff was also a participant in the ceremony. She read “To Hope Again” by Alden Solovy. This poem is about losing hope and the struggle to try and regain hope. She shared, “It’s really difficult to stay hopeful in these situations, especially when I see pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah protests. There are so many people that support terrorists, and it just doesn’t make any sense to me. However, we need to stay hopeful and strong because if we don’t, they will be louder than us and gain more supporters.”

Sasha Chernoff reading “To Hope Again” By Adler Solovy for the student body. (SSLI Instagram)

The ceremony concluded with Hatikva and the song “Am Yisrael Chai” by Eyal Golan to uplift us and leave us with a sense of hope. 

Levenson concluded with a message of hope for the community. She stated, “I hope and pray for a speedy release of all the hostages and for our soldiers to be safe and protected. I hope that we have peace. I hope Israel can return to a place where it is thriving and a happy place. I hope that we receive besorot tovot (good news) soon, and the next time we gather, it will be for a happy occasion.”

Am Yisrael Chai! Let this be the last ceremony we have that the hostages are still held in captivity. Bring Omer home! Bring them all home now!

Talia Herbst is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since December 2021. Talia is currently a senior at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: therbst25@schechterli.org.