By Emily Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief
When the sun sets every Saturday night, the light of Shabbat fades into the darkness of the week. We say so ourselves in the recitation of Havdalah every motzei Shabbat as Jews around the world declare that God “separates between holy and profane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six working days.”
On Saturday night, August 31, the feeling of darkness that hits every Jew the moment Shabbat ends was felt more intensely than ever. With the news that six Israeli hostages had been murdered in cold blood by ruthless terrorists in Gaza, the Jewish nation left the light of Shabbat behind and entered into yet another state of complete and continuous mourning.
“Halev Nishbar, our hearts are broken,” YU President Ari Berman said, speaking to students and faculty a few days later. “I’m sure you share with me the sense of being physically sickened and emotionally drained during these profoundly sad days of life.”
On September 3, 2024, right in the middle of a busy day of classes, Stern students came together in the Beit Midrash to recite Tehillim in memory of these hostages who were executed: Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Eden Yerushalmi. Students prayed for the safe and speedy return of those who are currently still being held captive by Hamas.
As Dean Shoshana Shechter stated at the beginning of this memorial, the news that we received that motzei Shabbat not only has an individual effect on every Jew, but a communal one as well. “The point of today was really just to spend a few minutes coming together and sharing the pain that each of us is going through, not just individually, but together,” she said. “You have this devastating news in the middle of this joy and just so many different emotions, which, I guess, welcome to the Jewish people.”
Dr. Debra Alper, Assistant Director of the Counseling Center on the YU Beren Campus, stressed that in hard times such as these, the Jewish people must come together in prayer for our nation. For students, that meant calling out to Hashem by reciting the verses written by our ancestor Dovid Hamelech.
“I, of course, like all of you, have been feeling tremendous loss,” Dr. Alper said. “Specifically, coming together in tefillah, I think, is a good reminder, even for ourselves, of who we are; that at our lowest points, the thing we do is we put our voices together, and that’s how we create strength.”
On October 7, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing over 1,200 innocent civilians and taking over 250 people hostage. Amid the joyous holiday of Simchat Torah, Jews around the world were shattered by the horrid news that their homeland had been viciously attacked. Unfortunately, the Jewish nation is no stranger to such atrocities. Time and time again, throughout our history, the Jewish people have faced unimaginable suffering.
“There are no words,” President Berman said as he addressed the crowd, “and when there are no words we turn to Psalms.” After members of the faculty and administration spoke, students recited Tehillim in unison, the seats in the room filled with attendees clasping crumpled white papers with these chapters written on them in their hands.
Students were extremely thankful that YU set aside time during the day for them to come together and process the heartbreaking events of that weekend. “Just like after Simchat Torah, we all needed to be together,” Eliana Diamond (SCW ‘25) told the YU Observer. “It was so crucial to daven together and cry together… It was another great reminder of the uniqueness of the YU community.”
For many students, the fact that so many different people from YU came together as one community was extremely important. “All of us – students, staff, faculty, deans, and president – paused our busy days to gather and share a few heartfelt words and feel the heaviness together,” Naomi Klinghoffer (SCW ‘25) told the YU Observer. “A huge amount of communal healing and support was packed into that half an hour.”
Ever since Oct. 7, a dreadful day in the history of the Jewish people that occurred almost a year ago, the Jewish nation has been in one long state of mourning. Jews around the world continue to pray and advocate for the immediate release of all the hostages and the safe return home of all our brothers and sisters fighting amidst this war.
“Our brothers and sisters, our six hostages who were just murdered, are part of who we are,” President Berman said. “They’re our heart,” he continued, “their lights will never be extinguished, because we will always carry them with us.”
Although we continue to find ourselves in a state of utter sadness, this memorial exemplified how Jews continue to pray and call out to God despite the pain. We plead with Him that one day soon our darkest hours will come to an end and that the light of redemption represented in Shabbat will last eternally.
Photo Caption: President Berman addresses attendees at communal mourning event for the murdered hostages
Photo Credit: Yeshiva University