The Baltimore Jewish community gathered at Beth El Congregation in Pikesville on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel to commemorate the 1,200 Israelis killed on the worst day of Jewish suffering since the Holocaust.
Around 1,400 community members gathered in the synagogue as doors opened at 6 p.m. and 800 more joined via livestream for the program that contained messages from families of victims and survivors, memorial prayers from local clergy and speeches from Maryland senior elected officials.
The event was the largest of several locally held in the days leading up to and on Oct. 7, and was organized by the Baltimore Israel Connection, The Associated, Baltimore Jewish Council and 29 other community organizations.
“I hope that this evening can be a time for our community to mourn together as well as mark the breadth of ways that we have supported one another and stood united with our friends and families in Israel over these past 12 months,” Kate McDonald, director of Israel and Jewish Advocacy at the BJC, wrote in an email before the event.
The atmosphere of unity was strong from the moment the doors opened and people began coalescing in the Beth El Sanctuary with greetings, hugs and well wishes spreading throughout the room as people saw old friends and family on this important night.
The atmosphere in the building before the program began was representative of the Baltimore Jewish community’s spirit, according to Andrew Cushnir, president and CEO of The Associated.
“There’s a magic in Jewish community life to being together, and so to the extent that tonight represents the whole community, being under one roof, leaning on each other’s shoulders, wiping each other’s tears and really being in community. It’s a beautiful thing and it’s the way Baltimore does Jewish,” Cushnir said.
Attendees took their seats as the program began with a video detailing the devastation that occurred in Israel during the Oct. 7 attack and showing the Israeli community’s resilience during their rebuilding process as the war continues to rage on.
The program was split into three distinct sections with speakers and content to build on the themes of remembrance, unity and hope as the community reflected on the memories of the attack, recognized the support from politicians and interfaith leaders, and looked to the future of rebuilding the region.
Rabbi Dana Saroken of Temple Beth El delivered the opening remarks, detailing the immense pain that the entire Jewish community experienced when they learned of the attacks and the loss of loved ones, a sense of security and so much more.
Saroken emphasized the resilience that the Jewish community showed in the days, weeks and months since the attack and the tireless work that has been done and needs to continue being done to secure a brighter future for all.
“The truth is that we found our strength, and we found it in each other, even in our vulnerability. We stood together, determined. We fought for our people, for our hostages, for our Jewish homeland, for our shared fate, for our shared destiny, for our shared future,” Saroken said at the event. “We fought battles that we never imagined we would be fighting, and we fought evil and hate that still feels inconceivable, and today we remember together the violence and the attacks of Oct. 7 that we don’t want to remember, but that we also can’t forget. They are emblazoned on our minds and in our hearts.”
The emotional remembrance of the attacks continued with a moment of silence and candle lighting, prayers for the fallen, a song performed by the family of an Israel Defense Forces soldier and a poem spoken by a Towson Hillel leader.
One of the most impactful speeches of the night was one delivered by a Baltimore area shinshinit named Yahel, who was in Israel during the attacks and had several loved ones taken hostage, some killed and others released during exchanges in November 2023.
Yahel fought back tears as she described what had happened to the people she cared about, kidnapped from their safe rooms with no word on their status for almost a year, others killed in captivity and some dismembered so badly they couldn’t be identified for weeks.
“I felt as a part of me was taken away, too. It felt like nothing I would do would be complete again until my missing parts had been returned,” Yahel said.
Yahel ended her speech on a message of unity and strength that she took from the wife of one of the murdered hostages, who said at her husband’s shiva that while they may have failed, there is no time to dwell, and all energy must go toward remaining united in a purpose to free the remaining hostages.
“The message we can all take from [her] is that our strength is in our togetherness, and that there is nothing that is more important than for us all to unite together and act to free our captured brothers and sisters,” Yahel said.
As Yahel left to thunderous applause, the program began its unity segment, beginning with Eyal Naor, the minister for Congressional Affairs at the Embassy of Israel, as he described the steadfast partnership between the United States and Israel and the goals of the Israeli government to reestablish peace in the region and bring home the hostages.
“A beacon of light in the midst of all the darkness was the clear understanding from the beginning that the U.S. is standing with us. Our closest and most important ally was there, as it always says, in moments of historic achievements, uplifting success and glory, but more important in times of crisis and uncertainty,” Naor said.
That sentiment of partnership was echoed by Maryland elected officials including Sen. Ben Cardin and Gov. Wes Moore, who reiterated their stance of standing with Israel, the importance of marking this solemn anniversary and pledging to fight hate here in the state.
“As difficult as it is to relive what happened one year ago, it’s our responsibility to do just that during our season of reflection on the High Holy Days. We remember for the survivors and their families, their loved ones will never be the same,” Cardin said.
Moore turned to his Christian faith in his speech, providing interfaith support for the people in the Maryland Jewish community and those who have personally felt loss as they look to heal and come together.
Moore recalled a favorite passage of his grandfather, a minister, taken from the Hebrew Bible that he felt could serve as a sense for clarity in his common mission with the Jewish community.
“‘From the ends of the Earth, I call to you. I call as my heart grows faint, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.’ I believe that must be our clarity call tonight and all the nights that will follow that we must help each other go to the rock that is higher than I,” Moore said.
“I believe we will find it by persevering with the memories of those who we lost, that we will find it by fighting for the immediate return of all the hostages and continue to fight for the pathway to peace. I believe we will find it by rising above our divisions and celebrating our common humanity as we mourn all the innocent lives that have been lost,” Moore added.
The Associated and area synagogues announced the launch of the Ashkelon Resilience Campaign at the end of the unity segment, which is centered around raising money for traumatized Israelis in Ashkelon to receive mental health support in the face of a growing mental health crisis following the attack and subsequent war.
The goal is to raise one million dollars to support Baltimore’s sister city in Israel, and donations will be matched up to $500,000 by The Associated.
The program concluded with the hope segment, with poetry, songs and the Israeli national anthem that the audience joined in on singing to conclude an emotional night of reflection and promise to continue supporting Israel in the future.
“I hope that, as difficult as it may feel at times, we can look forward together with hope and pray for the safety, security and peace of Israel,” McDonald said.
