Marking two years since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, D.C.-area Jewish community organizations are holding commemorative, educational and action-oriented events.
The Edlavitch DCJCC will host a letter-writing campaign from Oct. 1 to 10 as part of its Voices of Israel series. Participants can make greeting cards to send to southern Israel’s Kibbutz Re’im for its upcoming 76th anniversary as residents rebuild their community after Oct. 7.
In Rockville, the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Israeli-American Council will hold a community event titled “Together in Remembrance” on Oct. 4 in partnership with the Bender JCC of Greater Washington and the DMV chapter of Tsav 8, a community organization that supports Israel and the Jewish community. The event will not contain speeches, “just shared reflection, connection and heartfelt embrace,” according to the event listing.
“We want to convey the feelings — the pain and challenges community members went through or are going through,” Tamar Pinto, IAC D.C.’s senior manager of educational content and community engagement, said. “We didn’t want it to be an official [event] with speeches, … but a more personal community event.”
Pinto added that IAC D.C. hosted a similar event last year, which garnered largely positive feedback from attendees who felt that the gathering was touching.
“Middle East expert” Jonathan Schanzer, a member of Congregation B’nai Tzedek, will give a community-wide “Oct. 7 update” at the Potomac synagogue on Oct. 5. Schanzer, the executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, often works with Friends of the IDF to provide briefings on developments in the Middle East.
His talk is titled, “From Iran to Gaza, Where Are We Now?” and will include a chance for attendees to ask him questions.
“We had [Schanzer] come last year and had an enormous turnout,” Danielle Roffman, B’nai Tzedek’s Israel Affairs chair, said. “In the past, we’ve had other speakers [and] other activities, … but we felt this event is most appropriate for the two-year commemoration, especially since many of our congregants care deeply about Israel.”
Roffman added that B’nai Tzedek has “always” hosted educational programs.
“I think our congregants are looking to understand [the current situation in the Middle East] and also ask questions or [voice] concerns about rising antisemitism and Israel and the war,” Roffman said.
On Oct. 5, the Pozez JCC of Northern Virginia will host a community walk with the Northern Virginia chapter of Run for Their Lives, a global movement that calls for the release of the hostages held by Hamas.
“We will walk together to recognize the plight of the remaining hostages and their families and advocate for their immediate release,” the event description read.
Zina Segal, Pozez JCC’s senior director of community impact and engagement, met with community partners in June to brainstorm how the JCC would commemorate Oct. 7 two years after the attacks. They agreed on a community walk that had a clear mission.
“I think the reason that community partners were excited about this opportunity is that bringing hostages back is a nonpolitical goal,” Segal said.
She added that contrary to the organization’s name, this event doesn’t involve running; anyone who can walk for 15 minutes is welcome to join, Segal said.
Also on Oct. 5, Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County in Bethesda will show a screening of “A Letter to David,” a “cinematic letter” to David Cunio, who has been held hostage in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, followed by a discussion with Rabbi Greg Harris.
Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac will commemorate Oct. 7 in the sukkah at its community event titled, “A Circle of Song, Memory and Hope.”
Har Shalom’s Rabbi Adam Raskin felt it was important to recognize the actual date.
“The date of Oct. 7 is seared into our memories,” Raskin said. “We will always, for many, many years to come, have the association of that horrific attack with the date of Oct. 7, so I think it was just unconscionable to allow that date to pass without some kind of pause for remembrance.”
This year, Oct. 7 falls on the holiday of Sukkot, hence the gathering inside the sukkah.
“There’s a beautiful kind of imagery of the sukkah being a canopy of peace that God covers the Jewish people with,” Raskin said. “We’ll draw on that imagery of Sukkot Shalom, and this should be a metaphor that hopefully will deepen the connection between the holiday and Oct. 7.”
Raskin and the Har Shalom community will also set up an empty table to symbolize a seat for each of the remaining hostages in Gaza. The “circle of song” will take place around the empty table.
The Hostages Families and Survivors Forum will erect a Sukkah of Hope, a “powerful public space for memory, solidarity and urgent action,” in front of the White House from Oct. 7 to 10. This initiative is co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, Adas Israel Congregation and the American Jewish Committee.
On Oct. 9, the Jewish Graduate Organization will host Nova music festival survivor Matan Boltax at an event in partnership with B’nai B’rith Connect in D.C. Attendees will hear his personal account of Oct. 7, make cards for Israeli soldiers and gather with fellow graduate students and alumni.
Every afternoon from Oct. 6 to 16, Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church will display “Wrapping Memory,” an exhibition aimed at capturing the beauty of the Gaza Envelope region before Oct. 7.
Other area synagogues, including Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah in Potomac, Temple Micah in D.C. and Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation, will host memorial services on various days throughout the week.
