Following the Oct. 7 attacks, Jewish Club has hosted multiple events to remember the victims killed on Oct. 7 and over the course of Israel-Hamas war, as well as the hostages still in captivity. They organized a commemoration of the victims and hostages from the Oct. 7 attacks and later built a sukkah — a hut built during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, a Jewish holiday —on the lawn outside Rugby.
The commemoration was hosted on the Chalmers Patio by Jewish Club and consisted of poems by Israeli authors read by members of Jewish Club, songs of Israeli freedom and peace and accounts of the individuals lost. Coordinator of Jewish Life Sarah Rapaport and History and Middle East Studies teacher Dror Yaron also both gave speeches during the event.
President Rick Commons said finding a proper way to commemorate those who were killed in the attacks or are still in captivity is a sensitive topic. However, he said the best way to discuss the impact of Oct. 7 has been through the stories of individuals.
“There has been a lot of struggle in figuring out how best to honor the victims and commemorate the horrors without compromising the experience of so many others who have suffered since,” Commons said. “For many of us, individual stories are the most impactful. The more we can tell the stories of those who were victims or who are still suffering, the better.”
Rapaport said cultivating an understanding about Oct. 7 and the individuals lost requires patience and continued learning while always respecting those affected.
“This is an opportunity to gather as a community to bring awareness, commemorate and give space for people to grieve,” Rapaport said. “There’s opportunities through our coursework, history classes to understand more about how this event absolutely shifted and changed the landscape in the Middle East and for Jews globally.”
Following the commemoration event, the Jewish Club organized the construction of a sukkah, a hut built for the Sukkot holiday, which is a weeklong celebration of the sheltering of Israelites from the wilderness and of the fall harvest.
Senior Leader of Jewish Club Maya Karsh ’25 said Jewish Club wanted to demonstrate the importance of happily celebrating Sukkot instead of using it as a holiday to further be affected with grief, providing an opportunity for those suffering to engage in festivities and temporarily step away from the trauma surrounding the conflict.
“We had a photo of the hostages in the sukkah to represent shelter and blessing over them,” Karsh said. “We really wanted to emphasize celebrating the holiday through the lens of purely joy and take a breather from all the pain our community has had to contend with this year.”
