Jewish community remembers Oct. 7 victims at Squirrel Hill vigil

Rabbi Henoch Rosenfeld of Chabad Young Professionals characterized the Oct. 7 commemoration vigil in Squirrel Hill as “powerful.” 

Members of the Jewish community across the greater Pittsburgh area gathered for a candlelight vigil Monday night, held at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill, to honor the victims of the Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel one year ago. The event, hosted by the Jewish Federation of the Greater Pittsburgh area, featured speakers from the local Jewish community, prayers and songs remembering the victims, and a firsthand account of the Oct. 7 attack.

“Our work is not done,” Jan Levinson, chair of the Pittsburgh Jewish Federation’s board of directors, said. “We must continue to do what we’ve been doing for the past year. Saying prayers, writing letters, raising money, having difficult conversations … and everything else that shows that we will not forget those who were taken from us.”

On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas fighters stormed across the Gazan border into southern Israel in a surprise ambush. They killed at least 1,200 people and captured at least 254. More than 97 hostages are believed to still remain in Gaza. Since then, Israel has engaged in an all-out war on Hamas and its Iran-backed ally, Hezbollah.

Hundreds of people filled the block in front of the JCC on Darlington Road, which was closed off for the event. Speakers stood on a temporary stage, projecting to the crowded street.

“The amount of people that turned out from across the entire Jewish community and beyond was a strong show of support for the Jewish people,” Rosenfeld said.

The keynote speaker at the vigil, Michal Alon, spoke about her and her children’s experience at an Israeli military base at the Gazan border on Oct. 7. While volunteering at the base with her family to provide comfort to the soldiers on Shabbat, Hamas fighters raided the compound, leaving her and other soldiers badly wounded and killing six. 

She recounted how, after a Hamas fighter shot her three times, she tried to show a brave face to her children.

“When [the soldiers] brought me inside [the shelter], I was just thinking about my kids,” Alon said. “I tried smiling so they’d know I was okay.”

Alon said she was to have been suddenly thrown into a warzone.

“In a minute, I don’t know how to explain it. You’re in the middle of a war,” Alon said. “We were ‘wounded.’”

Alon expressed appreciation for all the people who came to Squirrel Hill to hear her story.

“I’m thrilled to see people here in Pittsburgh standing and wanting to hear what happened and to be a part of what’s going on,” Alon said.

Jan Hoffman, an event attendee, said the speakers had a profound impact on her.

“Everybody had sad but wonderful things to say,” Hoffman said. “[It was] very moving.”

Levinson acknowledged that the topics covered at the vigil were heavy, but that they are important to hear, and that the Jewish community must support each other through their ongoing grief.

“We gather to lean on each other for support,” he said. ”We hope that this program creates healing in this very dark time.”

The vigil comes as antisemitic incidents increase across America and in Oakland. Multiple Jewish students have been attacked this year at Pitt.

“Here in Pittsburgh, we continue to grapple with rising antisemitism,” Levinson said. “Resilience is the hallmark of the Pittsburgh Jewish community.”

Rosenfeld expressed pride in the Jewish community for showing up in the face of antisemitism.

“It was very important for the community to come together for an event like this, with so much antisemitism out there and especially with what’s going on on campus,” Rosenfeld said. “Having an event like this really sends a message to the entire city of Pittsburgh that we stand united together against hatred and antisemitism.”

Despite these antisemitic incidents, Rosenfeld said Jews should show no fear in being proudly Jewish.

“The best way that we can continue to show support to the land of Israel and to the people in Israel is by being Jewish, loudly and proudly,” Rosenfeld said. “[That means] one more mitzvah, every single day.”