As Chicago braces for the one-year anniversary of the Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel, local organizations are planning a series of memorials and protests. A candlelight vigil is slated to begin at 10:30 p.m. Sunday at the Northbrook Community Synagogue to honor the more than 1,200 people killed in the initial attacks and the additional 100 people who remain hostages. "This solemn gathering is a time to stand together as a community, reflect on the events of that day, and move forward in collective strength," the Synagogue mentioned in a statement obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Marking the grim convergence of anniversaries that include the Oct. 7 attack and the previous Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Jewish communities are grappling with the residue of past traumas as noted by WGN-TV. The U.S. Palestinian Community Network has scheduled a demonstration on the Magnificent Mile for Saturday, seeking to remember the 42,000 Palestinians killed in the subsequent raids and bombings -- according to Hamas officials -- and to call for a cessation of U.S. military support for Israel. Husam Marajda, co-chair of the Chicago chapter of USPCN, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "We have never seen this kind of intensity of Palestine support organizing in the history of our community’s existence in the U.S."
Meanwhile, Students for Justice in Palestine is organizing walkouts at several universities on Monday, with events also at local synagogues and venues like the Chicago Marriott Magnificent Mile, where MedGlobal will be highlighting the role of medical volunteers in Gaza during their yearly conference. On the subject of support and memorials, Rabbi Seth Adelson, from Pittsburgh's Congregation Beth Shalom, equated the local feeling of vulnerability with attacks on Jews globally, explaining to WGN-TV, "You can’t really separate the trauma of Jews being attacked in Pittsburgh and Jews being attacked in Israel."
In Pittsburgh, a city haunted by the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, already heightened emotions were tested again by news of the attack carried out on another October Sabbath. Rabbi Daniel Yolkut of Congregation Poale Zedeck told WGN-TV of the heartbreaking personal connection to one of the recent conflict's victims, "I remember him just as a small child running around my synagogue." As disputes fester on ideologies concerning Israel's right to defense and the repercussions of war, Rabbi Amy Bardack of Congregation Dor Hadash conveys a message of unity to her members, arguing, "There's only one thing we can control, which is how we treat each other, how we keep loving and kind connections to each other across differences of ideology."
