October 7th: A New Day of Remembrance?

AJA Community Reflects on Commemorating an Ongoing Tragedy

(Editor’s Note: Palette polled 28 AJA High School students for this story, several of which are quoted anonymously below.)

96% of AJA students agree that October 7th should be commemorated annually. The question is just when, and how.

Though “October 7th” has become the colloquial in reference to Hamas’ terror attacks in Israel last year, the day itself does not hold religious significance. The official yahrzeit (Jewish death anniversary) for the 1,200 victims of October 7th is Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, the 22nd of Tishrei. Yet for many, Simchat Torah, a traditionally joyous holiday, feels unfit for a somber commemoration of the massacre, as putting a damper on the holiday would be “giving in to what the [enemy] wants” and “letting them win,” in the words of one AJA student.

With the open wounds of October 7th and as war in Israel continues, the question of when and how to commemorate the tragedy might not be answered anytime soon. “Maybe when we have our hostages back, when we have peace, or at least quiet on all fronts, then we can start the process of healing,” said Director of Program and Events Morah Tali Dan. “Then maybe it becomes a Yom Zikaron (memorial day), something that we look back at and remember.”

For this year, Israeli lawmakers have designated the 25th of Tishrei, three days after Simchat Torah on the Hebrew calendar, as a national day of mourning this year “to mark the anniversary of the October 7th terrorist attack and the ‘Iron Swords’ war,” according to Israeli news outlet Israel Hayom. Israeli flags will be lowered to half-mast and Mount Herzl will host two memorial programs: one for the fallen soldiers and one for civilians and rescue forces.

If established as an annual memorial day, October 7th (or the 25th of Tishrei) would be unique as a commemorative day designated for a specific terror attack. Most attacks and wars in Israeli history are commemorated collectively on Yom HaZikaron, the Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism on the 4th of Iyar. 

“It’s really hard whenever we have to say that one event is more dramatic or meaningful than another,” reflected Morah Tali. “Why would we [single out] October 7th?”

“The question of how to commemorate October 7th also raises the question of whether it should be remembered alongside other historical Jewish tragedies.”

Nevertheless, she does believe that October 7th holds individual significance, meriting “an annual day to take a moment to think about it.” It marks “a point in many of our lives that will change us, change us as individuals, but also change us as a society,” she said.

Some think the line between October 7th and Yom HaZikaron will become less definitive with time. “October 7th is an important date for us to remember now, but it isn’t that different from the start of the Yom Kippur war, which we don’t commemorate in the same way anymore,” reasoned one student. “At some point in the future, October 7th should probably be entirely consumed into Yom Hazikaron;”  but for now, “commemorating October 7th on October 7th should add some meaning in the lives of students for years to come.”

Because the war in Israel is still ongoing, Morah Tali thought it was important that AJA’s commemorative tekes “would not look like Yom HaZikaron,” which she believes “has its own place in the Jewish calendar.”

One polled student agreed, saying that the tekes contained “the right amount of commemoration… considering the fact that we also don’t want to take away from Yom HaZikaron.”

Morah Tali kept the program intentionally brief and included two main portions: a panel discussion of AJA community members who lived and served in Israel on or after October 7th as well as small learning groups about October 7th heroes, antisemitism, unity, and commemoration. She wanted the program to feel close to home with familiar panelists and programming that only included High School students. 

Not all students appreciated the program’s brevity. According to one, the tekes felt powerful yet “rushed.” Another wished the program took place on a larger scale, possibly involving other AJA divisions, to give the day a greater sense of significance.  

Though AJA held its commemorative programming on October 7th itself (a decision that 82.1% of polled students agreed with), that day wasn’t the only option. AJA high schoolers will lead another more joyous program after Simchat Torah, focusing on “this message of strength, this message of hope, of saying you’re not going to take Simchat Torah away from us,” according to Morah Tali.

Religious leaders in Israel generally agree that Simchat Torah itself is not the proper day to commemorate October 7th. Rav Yosef Tzvi Rimon, an Israeli religious posek, believes that the Jewish community should “weep and rise” on Simchat Torah, remembering those who have fallen and supporting bereaved families and evacuees while maintaining Simchat Torah’s joyous tone. “Within the memories of those wonderful people, we should celebrate the holiday itself,” he wrote in one of his halachic responses, “understanding that this is part of the victory.”

Even if official memorial programs are not hosted on Simchat Torah, for many, the day still will not be one of unbridled celebration. “[October 7th] will probably be in the back of my mind all day because for some people, Simchat Torah will never be the same again, and I don’t want to forget them,” expressed one AJA student. This student stressed the challenge of balancing the holiday’s joy with the sorrow post-October 7th.

As the war continues, Morah Tali believes every celebratory holiday, not just Simchat Torah, feels different. “How can we celebrate Chanukah this year in ohr (light) when there is so much choshesh (darkness). How can we celebrate [Pesach], the holiday of freedom, when there are hostages that are not free? How can we celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut when our very existence is at stake?” 

The question of how to commemorate October 7th also raises the question of whether it should be remembered alongside other historical Jewish tragedies.

Tisha B’Av (a Rabbinic fast day on the 9th of Av) mourns the anniversary of the destruction of both the First and Second Temple in Jerusalem, as well as many tragedies that befell the Jewish people since then. Liturgical poems called kinnot recited on Tisha B’Av lament the Crusades, expulsions from Spain, and the Holocaust. 

This past summer, in advance of the ninth of Av, some Jewish thinkers began to wonder if October 7th should join the canon of kinnot and tragedies commemorated on Tisha B’Av. In a podcast with the Tikvah Fund, Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, Senior Scholar at the Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva University, explained that “the ninth of Av has been perceived as a ‘catch-all’ date on which all Jewish tragedies should be commemorated.”

According to Rabbi Schacter, consolidating commemoration on Tisha B’Av offers an “emotionally and psychologically” conscious way to “minimize days of sadness and… emotional depletion” in the Jewish calendar. Nevertheless, he also acknowledged the risk of “flattening” the “radically different” contexts of each tragedy by observing them all in one “subsum[ing]” day.

In this context, Rav Rimon composed October 7th-specific kinnot before this year’s Tisha B’Av. Still, the Knesset’s efforts to establish a legal day of remembrance for October 7th indicate that the tragedy will likely receive its own dedicated day of national observance in Israel.