Friends,
I was in Boston a year ago today. My heart was beating outside of my body.
From half a world away, I was hit with frantic texts and news alerts that Hamas was rampaging through the homes of my friends and family in southern Israel. My birthplace was evacuated when Hezbollah joined the attack. My son was immediately called up for reserve duty.
Days later, I landed in a country I did not recognize. Deeply wounded, grappling with trauma, reckoning with grief.
Mine is just one story among millions of lives that were upended by that day and every day since. They include thousands of grieving survivors who remain displaced; families of hostages still haunted by the unknown; over a million people in Gaza who remain homeless, desperate and struggling to survive.
Today, as we mark the first painful anniversary of October 7, we share with you below several powerful reflections from those touched by that horrific day. From survivors and hostage families and rabbis and peace advocates and the diaspora, they are stories of pain and resilience – a call to remain engaged, to tell the stories that need to be told, and to advocate for an end to this nightmare.
Thank you, sincerely, for your support this past year. I hope your connection with our community has brought you the measure of comfort it has brought me.
May we be inspired by stories of courage. May we remain committed to the cause of peace. May we stand firm in our humanity, even as forces of terror try to strip it from us.
Nadav Tamir
Executive Director, J Street Israel
Hope and Resilience: Reflections One Year On
Israeli peace advocate Maoz Inon lost both his parents to the horrific attack on October 7, but his commitment to peace remains unwavering. “Alongside that pain, a determination has emerged: To dedicate my life to reconciliation and peace,” he writes. “The work of peace cannot wait until after the guns fall silent. It begins now – with every conversation.” Read and share Maoz’s story.
Naama Weinberg, whose cousin Itai was murdered by Hamas, is part of a movement of hostage families relentlessly campaigning for their freedom. The fight to bring the hostages home is a “fight for the soul of our society” and a “fight for us to remain a society that values life more than revenge," she writes. Read and share Naama’s story here.
Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, who worked 15 hours straight in the emergency room of southern Israel’s Soroka Hospital on October 7, reflects on what it will take to ensure the horrors of that day are never repeated.
“It’s been almost a year, and this is an opportunity to remind ourselves that the only thing that has ever brought safety and security to the region is peace agreements and political settlements,” she writes. “We must go back to the basics and commit to equality and freedom. No one will be safe as long as we are not all safe, free and equal to each other – from the river to the sea.” Read and share Dr. Fraiha’s story here.
Efrat Machikawa, whose 80-year-old uncle Gadi Moses is still held in Gaza, shares the story of her family and the collective fight for Israel's future and the release of the hostages.
“One out of four people from the 400-member Nir Oz community was either brutally murdered or violently kidnapped,” she writes. “Six of our immediate family members were taken. Four came back in the November 2023 exchange deal. One was murdered. Gadi and 28 more Nir Oz members are among the 101 kidnapped who are still in Gaza today. A nightmare we still struggle to believe is our reality.” Read and share Efrat’s story here.
Longtime J Streeter and national community leader Rabbi John Rosove of Los Angeles shares his profound concerns over what the future holds.
“I worry about the diminishing good name of the State of Israel throughout the world, the rise of antisemitism everywhere, and that so many – Jews and our enemies – have lost their moral compass,” he writes. “Despite the worry and angst I feel, I’m inspired by Israel’s civil society, the commitment of so many Israelis to take care of each other, for the strength and constancy of the Diaspora Jewish world.” Read and share Rabbi Rosove’s reflections here.
Long time J Streeter Diana Clark grapples with despair. “If you have hope, please, please hope. Hope for us all,” she writes. “I am reconciled to loss, including the loss of hope that Israel will ever be for me what it was meant to be: a place where the rights and dignity of all are acknowledged and upheld.” Read and share Diana’s reflections here.
Rabbi Claudia Kreiman reflects on a year of pain and despair, and the “mandatory” “radical” practice of hope. “Even as we have witnessed the worst of what humanity is capable of, we have also witnessed acts of profound grace and courage,” she writes. “Hope is not a passive state but an active, sacred practice. It requires us to acknowledge our pain without letting it consume us.” Read and share Rabbi Kreiman’s thoughts here.
Born into a family of Holocaust survivors, University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Abby Tolchinsky has been forever sensitive to the historical precarity of Jewish life. “We all face a challenge to stay centered, seek understanding and show compassion,” she writes. “We must find ways to build a better tomorrow and, by doing so, honor the memory of those massacred.” Read and share Abby’s reflections here.
Yonatan Zeigen’s mother, Vivian Silver, was killed in the massacre in Kibbutz Be'eri. In the aftermath, he quit his job as a social worker and dedicated himself to peacebuilding and is currently on tour through the US with Parent Circle – Family Forum.
“Why talk to Americans? Why write this in English?” he asks. “The US is not a passive bystander in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The US actively enabled the status quo up until October 7 and has sponsored this war ever since. They do it with immense resources and unparalleled diplomatic relations. The word of the day is ‘unconditional.’ How can you support someone unconditionally with one hand and wag your finger at them with the other? You can’t.” Read and share Yonatan’s reflections here.
French-Israeli J Streeter Sebastien Levi, who lives with his family in New York, grapples with antisemitism following October 7. “Today, my 12-year-old son does not dare share his Jewish and Israeli identities at school. My Israeli wife is reluctant to read in Hebrew on the subway,” he writes. Still, the weaponization of antisemitism to shut down debate about the Israeli government makes it “all the more poisonous… If everything is antisemitic, then nothing is.” Read and share Sebastien’s thoughts here.
Former local elected official and political columnist Alma Rutgers of Connecticut grapples with the failures of military force alone to keep Isaelis safe and chart a better future for all. “Yes, Israel has an unquestionable right to defend itself, and indeed must do so,” she writes. “But these words have too often justified a deadly Israeli military campaign in Gaza that’s devoid of any long-term vision for the future. Indeed, over the past decade, Israel has launched many operations against Hamas and yet in that time Hamas got stronger not weaker.” Read and share Alma’s reflections here.
Michael Seiden of Arizona shares his reflections on resilience and empathy. “Those of us who feel concern for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are not outcasts to our religion,” he writes. “As a people who have experienced much suffering over the centuries, we can and must sympathize with the suffering of others. It is my deepest hope that, once this cycle of violence and pain finally comes to an end, the resilience of both Israelis and Palestinians walk the path together toward lasting peace.” Read and share Michael’s reflections here.
J Street Israel Director Nadav Tamir has volunteered for almost a year now with hostage family advocacy groups. His message: We must act now.
“The simple facts from the chronicle of this war are clear: eighty hostages have been brought back through a deal with Hamas, while only eight were rescued alive by military operations,” he writes. “Only a deal can save those who have survived for such a long time. The only way to release the hostages is by agreeing to a ceasefire, to end suffering for both Israelis and Palestinians and to prevent a wider regional conflict.” Read and share Nadav’s Times of Israel op-ed.
Paula Weiss of New York writes of the struggle to hold multiple truths, to lift up the work of peacebuilders, and to hold on to the humanity of Israelis and Palestinians – especially on social media. “People have stopped me to say my posts amazed them and helped them through these dark times, and I was glad, but to be honest, I posted mostly for my own grounding,” she writes. Read and share Paula’s reflection here.
