ASU's Jewish community gathered on Monday evening for a solemn and powerful ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 conflict.
The event was hosted by ASU Hillel, Chabad and Olami, and was held outside the Hillel Jewish Student Center at 5 p.m. The ceremony was the culmination of a day-long series of activities meant to honor the lives lost.
The event began with opening remarks from student leaders and organizers, followed by a candle-lighting closing ceremony. Attendees gathered to listen to prayers for those who were killed and those still being held hostage, while reflecting on the profound impact the conflict has had on the local Jewish community.
"(Oct 7.) was the day where my life as a Jewish college student kind of changed," said Alexander Walter, the Israel chair for the Chabad student board and a senior studying business law and political science.
READ MORE: Jewish students congregated to show support for Israel, honor the fallen
The early hours of the ceremony were dedicated to reflection and mourning, with students reading the names of some who died in the conflict.
"We were reading the names of all the lives that were lost on Oct. 7, but we also were seeing their faces. It was very impactful to take a moment out of our day to just remember it was a tragedy of what happened a year ago," Walter said. "We feel like we've been living with this for this entire time, and for all of us to be together in the morning was very special."
During the afternoon the organizations held "7 Hours For 10/7." Michael Gralnick, a senior studying political science and the president of Hillel, said the afternoon events were more traditional ways of honoring the anniversary of those who died through candle lighting and laying flowers down.
Throughout the seven hours, students were also able to engage in a "processing space" to speak about the anniversary with people who were affected.
"As somebody who has grieved alone and has grieved with the community, I would take grieving with the community 10 times out of 10," Gralnick said.
As the day progressed, the atmosphere shifted toward hope and unity when they began the kite festival.
"As we made kites for peace, which obviously is something that we all want, we were together," Walter said. "We wrote letters to IDF soldiers to show our gratitude, and we were able to sit down and have conversations together and really just process our emotions."
Omer Dai, a junior studying computer information systems and the president of Sun Devils 4 Israel, emphasized the emotional toll the day carried for Israeli students in particular.
"It's the worst day in the history of Israel, my country," Dai said. "I wasn't there...I feel guilty about it. I feel like I want to do more. I want to contribute to my country. I'm doing what I can from here. It's really tough to be so far, but so it's hard on many levels."
As an Israeli student, Dai spoke about the hopes to educate more students on Israel aside from the conflicts.
"I'm trying to do as much to show, even for the non-Jewish community, everything that has to do with Israel, and trying to expose them to Israel. Israel comes up every time there's a war, but maybe there's a little bit more than that," said Dai.
Taylor Silverman, associate director of Hillel at ASU, reflected on the power of starting and ending the day as a collective and the significance of the unity displayed among various student groups.
"It was really beautiful that we started with gathering in community," Silverman said. "It started with much more silence, where it was reading of names, and then tonight culminated in getting to hear stories."
Silverman noted that the event was more than just a memorial — it was a call for unity and strength among the Jewish student body at ASU.
"It's representative of what the Jewish people have been through," Silverman said. "I think this day reminds us of how much resilience we have, that maybe we have faced an atrocity and yet we're more resilient. We come together and persevere."
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One of the key elements of the day was the emphasis on education and pro-Israel advocacy. Walter, who also serves as a fellow for the Israel on Campus Coalition, stressed the importance of such events in building understanding and promoting solidarity.
"I just hope (students) got to learn a little bit," Walter said. "I hope that maybe they saw the face of a hostage, and I hope they humanized us and humanized the people who are in Israel fighting for their existence ... Maybe they checked in on their Jewish friend."
The closing ceremony was marked by the lighting of candles, symbolic of remembrance and hope. As the flames flickered in the twilight, the gathering — of around 100 people — stood together as one, bound by their shared heritage.
"I hope this community can find light in the darkness," Silverman said.
Edited by Alysa Horton, Sophia Ramirez, Tiya Talwar, Alexis Heichman, and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at emuslim@asu.edu.
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Emra is a junior studying political science with a minor in Spanish. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at the League of Women Voters of Arizona, USG-WV, Honors College Council at Barrett and the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict.
