Oct. 7 commemoration encourages community to reflect and ‘live meaningfully’
Although years taken can never be returned, 'what we can do is to choose what we do with ours'
A communitywide commemoration promoted more than memory. Three years after the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, Pittsburghers were asked to “gather and remember together.”
Dean Aseef, community shaliach at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, issued the request to nearly 200 Pittsburghers on Wednesday evening at the Squirrel Hill JCC.
While memorialization is important, it’s also critical to understand a significance beyond figures, he explained.
On Oct. 7, 2023, more than 1,200 people were killed, thousands were injured and 251 were taken hostage, Aseef said. During the past three years, “more than 2,000 Israeli victims, civilians or soldiers have been killed in the war,” he continued. “Behind every number is a person, a life that was cut short.” And although years taken can never be returned, “what we can do is to choose what we do with ours.”
Aseef implored Pittsburghers to maximize their time: Register for various programs and perform kind acts, learn more about Israel and Israelis, “turn memory into hope and action.”
Rabbi Jamie Gibson, chair of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, echoed Aseef’s call.
It’s no coincidence the Hebrew word tikvah, meaning “hope,” stems from the Hebrew word kav, meaning “line,” Gibson said. He urged everyone in attendance to do something not just “for our Israeli brothers, and sisters and cousins, but hold the line here for our community, and the connection our community has with all those in Israel who suffered.”
Too often, a relationship with Israel can be clouded by focus on governments, politics and elections, Beit Kulanu’s Rabbi Dan Fellman explained. “Israel is not political for us. Israel is theological. Israel is about who we are as Jews. Politicians come and go. Israel and our connection to it is permanent.”
The pain experienced on Oct. 7 remains undeniable; still, there’s “something we should hold on to: the feeling of coming together and the knowledge that beneath all of our differences we are one people with one heart,” Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s Chani Altein said after reciting Chapter 133 of Psalms.
Following Altein’s comments, Gibson, Fellman and Congregation Beth Shalom’s Rabbi Seth Adelson joined attendees in reciting the Mourners’ Kaddish. Adelson, guitar in hand, then led the crowd in “The Star-Spangled Banner and “Hatikvah.”
Aseef closed the formal program by thanking organizers and encouraging attendees to make their way through Levinson Hall. Stationed inside the room were placards describing Israeli culture, boards bearing stickers noting the names of fallen Israelis and memorial candles waiting to be lit.
Squirrel Hill resident Yael Arbelly worked her way to the front of the room and lit a candle.
Casting a flame is a way to “think about what happened and the many lives that went away so brutally,” she said.
Arbelly’s daughter, Yara, 16, stood nearby.
The Pittsburgh Allderdice student told the Chronicle she attended the Oct. 7 event with her mother because “it’s important to come out of our homes and recognize what’s actually going on outside of our bubble.” Standing “with other people that you love shows that although we’ve experienced something so hard, we all come together in hard times, and we can help each other persevere.”
Carole Stone, of Duck Hollow, said the Oct. 7 program offered a reminder of “one of the many things we as Jews should never forget.”
McMurray resident Beth Wallach agreed and told the Chronicle she enjoyed each speaker’s comments so much that she took notes.
Wallach reflected the remarks and noted how much she appreciated the sentiments shared.
The words expressed at the event, she said, are a reminder to “live more meaningfully.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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