By Matan Schneider, Staff Writer
Two years after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel — which killed about 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage — the conflict’s legacy continues to shape Jewish life worldwide. While all surviving hostages have been released after prolonged negotiations, others remain missing, and debates over the war’s aftermath persist on college campuses and in Jewish communities globally. For three Yeshiva University students who were in Israel that day, those memories still inform how they view Jewish identity, activism, and unity in 2025.
Moshe Lachs (SSSB ‘27), who spent that year studying at Torat Shraga in Jerusalem, remembers when the news first broke. “For us, all we knew was Israel was at war,” he told the YU Observer. At first, he and his friends didn’t grasp how serious the situation was. “We didn’t really believe it,” he said. But once Yom Tov ended and the scope of the attack became clear, fear and confusion replaced disbelief. The yeshiva went into lockdown as rabbis reassured students, even as some packed to leave, unsure what would come next.
For Moises Tache (YC ‘28), a Jerusalem morning of hakafot with his family turned into chaos when sirens sounded. “They were about to start hakafot… soon enough somebody said in the synagogue there was an attack,” he recalled. He tried to comfort his mother and prayed with her. Despite his family’s concerns, he remained committed to staying in Israel. “My parents were very nervous for me to stay in Israel, but I felt determined to stay,” he said.
At Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yaakov Suldan (YC ‘27) was in the beit midrash when a siren interrupted prayers. “Even before Shabbat was over, many of the chayalim [soldiers] had already been called back … something serious had happened,” he told the YU Observer. The yeshiva gathered to recite Tehillim (Psalms), their prayers mixed with confusion and fear for classmates suddenly at war.
Daily life changed instantly. Lachs recalled how the tone at his yeshiva shifted from lighthearted to solemn: “We understood that even though we couldn’t fight, we had to learn better and volunteer as much as we could.” He watched friends and rabbis prepare to leave for the front lines, some packing their bags with uncertain futures.
Tache found purpose in volunteer work through his yeshiva, Orayta. “They took us on many chessed opportunities … we cleaned hotel kitchens for displaced families, played soccer with kids who experienced atrocities, packed food, toiletries, and vests for soldiers,” he said. That work helped him feel rooted in the Israeli community.
Suldan’s campus grew emptier as more Israelis were called up. “A large percentage of the Israelis in the yeshiva had been called back to reserves,” he said. “A yeshiva usually dominated by an Israeli presence now felt a lot more American.” Seeing friends who had once studied beside him now fall in combat, he said, was heartbreaking: “Seeing someone in the Beit Midrash learning one day, and then attending his funeral a few months later is incredibly painful.”
Two years later, those memories still shape how the students see the world around them. On Yeshiva University’s campus today, rising global antisemitism and campus protests over Israel have brought a new urgency to lessons learned after Oct. 7.
Lachs said he’s carried that sense of mission back to New York — balancing classes with volunteer efforts for charitable groups supporting soldiers and displaced families. “I still feel that responsibility — even if I’m not in Israel, I can still help,” he said.
Tache said his faith and activism have deepened since returning. “It’s hard when you see news of more protests or people denying what happened,” he said. “But instead of arguing, I try to educate others and do what I can to represent Am Yisrael with pride.” On campus, he stays engaged by talking with peers about Israel, volunteering with Jewish organizations, and finding ways to support those affected by the war.
Suldan, now back at YU after completing his studies in Israel, said that the experiences of 2023 shaped his long-term goals. “It’s not something that fades,” he said. “I still want to make aliyah one day. What I saw back then reminds me that Jewish unity isn’t just a slogan — it’s something we have to live every day.”
Each student agrees that the challenges facing Jewish communities since the war have kept those early lessons alive. Lachs sees a connection between the solidarity he witnessed in Israel and the activism spreading across Jewish campuses today. “People are standing up — whether through rallies, learning, or volunteering — because they learned how important it is not to stay silent,” he said.
Tache added that faith remains a source of strength amid tension. “Prayer and learning are still what keep me centered,” he said. “They connect me to people who are still healing, and to the bigger picture of what we’re trying to protect.”
For Suldan, those connections have made the current climate of debate and division especially personal. “People can really come together and bond over tragedies such as this,” he said. “Even now, when disagreements over the war are everywhere, I still think unity is what keeps us strong.”
The pain of Oct. 7 remains, but for these students, its legacy is action — a call to live with pride, empathy, and purpose. Two years on, they see the events that once defined their youth as a continuing responsibility: to learn, to serve and to strengthen the bonds that hold their people together.
Photo Credit: Ethan Ableman on Flickr