10/07/2026
Today, we as an Adath Israel community reflect and remember.
The horrors of October 7, 2023, continue to cause great pain, with questions of Jewish vulnerability, resurgent antisemitism, and unremitting existential crises and questions that remain unanswered. The fact that even locally, there are celebrations and justifications today only serves to deepen our sense of abandonment as Jews and as long-time communal allies on other important issues. The increasingly brazen anti-Zionist and anti-Israel rhetoric so present at this moment is a thinly-veiled façade for deep-seated antisemitic hatreds and antagonism against all Jews, regardless of our diverse political or religious beliefs. The delegitimization, demonization, and double standards levied against us as Jews and against our rightful claim to our ancestral homeland in Israel churn up historical traumas for so many in our community, and present very real and clear threats to us as proud Jews, nowadays.
Last Shabbat, on Shemini Atzeret, we added a prayer to our Yizkor memorial services for those who were violated murdered on October 7, 2023. That Saturday night, on Simchat Torah, as we concluded the third yahrzeit of those initial victims (though the losses mounted ever since), we showed resilience and determination, while honoring the muted joy that comes from this horrific commemoration: In our fifth hakafah of dancing with the Torah, we slowed the music, noted with strength the call by Nova survivors that “we will dance again,” and mixed reflection with renewed commitment to the call, “Never Again.”
Today, at our lunch and learn, which will meet downtown at the offices of Holland and Knight, with a simulcast at Adath Israel, and accessible by Zoom, we will pause for a commemorative ritual, then use a brief documentary created by teens and young adults from the communities of our Partnership Region in Israel near Gaza, as they reflect on the ongoing emotional impact of war and aggression against our homeland. We will also reflect on a Jewish lens on the mourning process, and how the aftermath of October 7 has collapsed this process and the stages of mourning in damaging ways.
Tonight, Adath Israel will host the community-wide October 7 commemoration, in partnership with the Jewish Federation and the Israel-American Council. Preregistration is required for security reasons, and we hope you will join us.
May we never forget – and more, may our commemoration today redouble our steadfast solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel.
Join us for Lunch & Learn, today at 12:30 PM - https://zoom.us/j/486553187
