Hillel and Chabad are holding a vigil on the anniversary of the October 7 attack

On October 7, Hillel at Dartmouth and the Rohr Chabad Center at Dartmouth held a vigil commemorating the Hamas attack on Israel a year earlier. About 100 community members gathered on the Green to honor the lives lost.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 254 hostages. A year later, Hamas and Israel are still locked in a bitter war with no end in sight. In total, around 1,700 Israelis died. The Palestinian death toll is over 41,000.

Participants held candles as students and religious leaders discussed the importance of maintaining community and supporting Israel. Participants also participated in Hebrew prayer.

In an interview after the vigil, Chabad director Rabbi Moshe Leib Gray said Hillel and Chabad organized the event to provide community members a space to grieve.

“For many of us, the pain remains so raw and so real,” Gray said. “We lie awake at night, our hearts heavy with the suffering of our brothers and sisters.”

In the evening’s opening speech, Hillel denominational leader Jonas Rosenthal ’25 spoke about the history of anti-Semitism on college campuses and urged Jewish students to show courage in the face of it.

“The New York Times called anti-Semitism on college campuses last year ‘unprecedented,'” he said. “I don’t agree with that word at all. How could it be unprecedented when this college and others within living memory had anti-Jewish quotas? How could it be unprecedented when this college and others within living memory had fraternities that prohibited the admission of Jews?”

After Rosenthal’s speech, participants sang Shalom Rav – a Hebrew prayer that asks for “abundant peace” – and El Maley Rakhamim, a Hebrew memorial prayer for those who have died. Following the vigil, the Roth Center for Jewish Student Life hosted an open dinner.

In an interview after the vigil, Hillel Rabbi Seth Linfield linked the event to rising anti-Semitism.

“We must confront the rising tide of anti-Semitism with unwavering resolve and forge alliances with all communities and people of good will,” he said. “…We must focus on empowering ourselves and building our community rather than simply defending ourselves against those who seek to bring us down.”

Linfield added that the vigil was made even more significant by Israel’s recent conflict with Iran. On October 1, Iran fired approximately 180 ballistic missiles at Israel; A week later, Israel carried out airstrikes near the Iranian embassy in Syria.

“[The vigil] gives context to everything that is happening in terms of the war with Iran and Iranian proxies,” Linfield said. “But it is also part of an indicator of the number of human victims, of how many people created in the divine image – Jews and Palestinians, Christians, so many in the region – were affected by the events of October 7th .”

Participant and local resident Marla Gordan said she was “grateful” that passers-by were being respectful – adding that some had even joined the call for peace.

“I was nervous about the event because it’s so public, but I was just really grateful that it was so peaceful and everyone who came by just let it happen,” she said. “What makes me hopeful is that everyone I know wants nothing but peace for Israelis and Palestinians. We just want peace.”

Serena Goldstein ’28, who also attended the event, said she found comfort in communal prayer.

“I look around at the circle of people holding their candles and chanting Hatikvah [the Israeli national anthem] was very moving,” Goldstein said.