Courtesy of The Associated
With the approaching second anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel that sent shockwaves through the global Jewish community, The Associated and its network have been coordinating several upcoming activities on Oct. 5 to commemorate the tragedy.
The organization is coordinating three main events for the community, with a Run for Their Lives march in support of the hostages, a commemoration ceremony and a short film screening.
The first two events will be held at Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation and take place at 9 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., respectively. The screening of the film “Not in Our School” will be held at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts at 5 p.m.
“This is such an incredibly difficult moment for our community, partly because of the war and the hostages, partly because of the rise of antisemitism that we’re experiencing, partly because communication about Israel in so many circles is incredibly fraught,” said Kate McDonald, the director of Israel and Jewish Advocacy for the Baltimore Jewish Council. “We understand that people need to come together in community to be with one another, to honor those whose lives have been lost, to remember the hostages and continue to call for their release.”
The march for the hostages has been an ongoing weekly gathering at HSOSC for nearly two years. The organizers have long hoped for this gathering to no longer be necessary due to the release of all the hostages, but that dream has yet to be realized.
McDonald said they’re encouraging people to come out and support the march, adding that no one envisioned that, two years into the conflict, they would still be calling and praying for the hostages to be released.
The second event in the HSOSC series is the indoor commemoration ceremony. McDonald said that, while people are going through security to enter, there will be a slideshow playing that contains information about fallen soldiers, some heroes from Oct. 7 and artwork that has been produced in the time since.
McDonald added that, once the ceremony begins, there will be several speakers, including HSOSC’s Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, several community members and BJC Executive Director Howard Libit.
“It’s not going to be terribly long, but we are hoping that that can be a time for everyone to gather together in prayer and hope for a better future for Israelis and for all of us,” McDonald said.
The evening event, the screening of “Not in Our School,” will introduce the community to the stories of bereaved mothers who lost their children during or after Oct. 7.
The short film portrays a video therapy group of mothers sharing their stories. Melissa Seltzer, senior director of arts and culture at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore, said it will put a face to the news coming from Israel.
“So often we see numbers on the news, and we see 77 soldiers were killed here. There was a bombing in this place, and we needed to bring some more humanity to it. And so really, seeing the people who we lost, seeing the families, understanding that it didn’t just happen on Oct. 7 — it’s a process that’s still going on and on and on. And then the impact of that, the ripple effect on everyone in Israel and everyone worldwide, is really the reason we wanted to do this event,” Seltzer said.
Seltzer said that the organizers would be adding ribbons, words and messages on the walls where they would be showing the film, similar to what you might see in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
Adding to the personalization, there will be three speakers after the event. That group includes a person from the film school that created the film, one of the bereaved mothers and a sister of a fallen soldier.
Seltzer said that the film will bring those stories to the Baltimore community and will be a way to show support.
“As a Jewish people, we experience loss together and support one another, and it feels like a natural way to commemorate something hard, to do it together, especially in the Baltimore community, how we support one another and our relationship to Ashkelon and Israel. There’s a real bond there,” Seltzer said.
Seltzer added that the organizers don’t want the community to get the impression that this is a sad event, but instead one that has a serious and important tone.
“It’s a serious event and an important event, and we hope it’s also uplifting to feel the warmth of community and gathering together, not only as Jewish people, but in an inclusive, diverse community at this time,” Seltzer said.
