A massive tent was erected in the field behind the Kaplen Jewish Community Center in Tenafly to create appropriate mourning space for more than 4,000 community members of northern New Jersey communities to mark October 7 together, coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. Representatives from Jewish communities and their allies within the region, from as far away as Hoboken and Wyckoff and as near as Tenafly and Englewood, came by foot and by car, by school bus, shuttle bus, coach, Uber and Lyft, to sit together and consider how all of our lives, and the lives of our entire Jewish generation, were changed by the events of that fateful day one year ago.

It was fitting, said the JCC’s CEO, Steve Rogers, that the most deadly attack against Jews since the Holocaust was marked by the largest gathering the JCC had ever hosted in its more than 70-year history.

Shoulder to shoulder on the chilly evening, the assembled group heard voices of two community rabbis and institutional leaders from Jewish Federation, the Israeli American Council and the Kaplen JCC; as well as guest speakers including Inbal Rahaf, a 17-year-old survivor from Kibbutz Mefalsim in the south; an IDF reservist named Zin Rahamim who has been serving this year in Gaza and Lebanon as part of Duvdevan, the elite counterterrorism unit; and Yael Alexander, the mother of Tenafly native Edan Alexander, 20, a member of the IDF’s elite Golani Brigade still held hostage in Gaza.

With a beautiful rendering of “Acheinu” led by Chazan Netanel Hershtik, the group sang and davened, many with tears in their eyes. The group soberly marked the loss of close to 1,200 people on October 7, 2023, young people attending the Nova music festival, and the hundreds of residents, primarily civilians, of the kibbutzim that are part of the Gaza envelope, young and old, including a baby and multiple Holocaust survivors, noting that 101 hostages still remain in Gaza, their whereabouts unknown.

As if these losses and suffering were not enough, Jewish Federation CEO Jason Shames also commented on the stratospheric resurgence of antisemitic tropes and popularized anti-Israel viewpoints by pro-Hamas individuals who have characterized the October 7 attacks as “resistance” over the last year, which have poisoned college campus life for many Jewish students. Marches against Israel’s war to root out Hamas from Gaza and rescue the hostages have been seen seemingly everywhere this year, including on the streets of Bergen County, and in virtually every large city in America and around the world, leaving many Jews feeling helpless and without allies.

However, many elected leaders were in attendance to show their support and allyship, in particular many mayors of Bergen County towns as well as town and city council members; Also attending were County Sheriff Anthony Cureton, County Executive Jim Tedesco, Teaneck Police Chief Andrew McGurr, Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Andy Kim, as well as other leaders from state and county offices. Jewish Federation President Daniel Herz said relationships are treasured with these leaders who have stood with Jewish communities throughout the last year.

A video pieced together the calm of the October morning and how the Nova music festival attendees were abruptly jolted out of musical reverie by the grotesque sounds of rockets and Kalashnikov fire. As the scenes changed from young people dancing to terrified 20-somethings facing unimaginable horror, difficult moments were viewed, especially for those who had not seen the terrible videos that Hamas themselves filmed of their savagery on GoPro cameras.

Rabbi Beni Krohn, who is president of the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County as well as rabbi of Young Israel of Teaneck, shared his view of our generation’s fight to protect and support Israel. He likened it to the last message in the Torah from Moshe Rabbeinu, given on the last day of Moshe’s life as klal Israel was preparing to go into Israel without their leader. “Every Jew is responsible for every other Jew (kol Israel eravim zeh ba’zeh), a new covenant as a new layer to the first covenant between Hashem and His people, which was ish echad b’lev echad, like one people and one heart, tolerating each other even though we are different.

“We had to build an economy, a society, an army, a state. And to do that, it’s not enough just to tolerate each other. The Jewish people needed to shift from a place of achdut, or unity, to a place of areyvut, of taking responsibility and care of every individual.”

Rabbi Krohn continued: “Last year, we moved from a place of achdut to areyvut; to taking responsibility for each other. In the millions of dollars that were raised, thousands of letters and packages and duffel bags, missions to Israel, advocacy here in the United States, we learned to respond, ‘Shomer achi anochi,’ ‘I am my brother and my sister’s keeper.’”

He added, “We as Jews, not Jews of any particular denomination or observance, just Jews, all are members of one nation, are more ready than ever before, for that sense of areyvut, to care for each other.”

Yael Alexander, mother of Edan, was one of the last speakers, providing a cornerstone to the event speaking as a representative “hostage parent” emotionally and persuasively, about being with Edan just days earlier on the first days of Sukkot, and how he was cheerful as he rejoined his unit in the south a few days later. She thanked the community for its support during this terrible year, and expressed her fervent hope for Edan’s rescue as well as the rescue of the 100 other hostages still remaining in Gaza. She shared the Kohanim’s blessing that her husband traditionally gives to every member of their family as they depart their home, which she said she hopes is keeping Edan safe even today. She shared the prayer together with the community, as her voice was buoyed by 4,000 others who heartfeltly repeated the tefillah.

Zin Rahamim, the IDF reservist from Duvdevan, said that he arrived in New Jersey to be a staff member for the Open Hearts, Open Homes program, which he had participated in as a teen, on October 7, as the news of the tragedy was unfolding. Since he was from the south, he first had to assure family and friends that he was alive and safe, and then desperately tried to book a return flight home to join his unit, which was being called up, but flights were canceled for many days. He was able to return days later on an emergency charter, which was paid for by someone who he had only met via WhatsApp while trying to book passage home. He rejoined his unit and went on close to a dozen missions over the last year. Multiple members of his unit were killed, including his commander, as they tried to infiltrate a booby-trapped tunnel in Gaza. His unit is now fighting in Lebanon.

“The Israeli army is not just fighting for the land of Israel but for Jews all over the world,” Rahamim said. “We cherish life. We will fight for it.”

One of the final of many inspiring speakers was Steve Rogers, CEO of the Kaplen JCC, who effectively synthesized the complex feelings of grief and determination experienced by many over this past year. “If October 7 taught us the importance of confronting genocidal antisemitism, Israel’s determined response has conveyed another lesson: Betting against Israel is a losing proposition.

“Today as we commemorate this tragic anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to stand with Israel. And we reaffirm our commitment to doing everything possible to ensure that peace and security are not just aspirations but realities … The spirit of resilience that defines Israel is not just about surviving, but thriving,” Rogers said.

Several community members shared their thoughts on the event and reflected on the evening. “It was a special opportunity to gather with the larger community to commemorate the unbelievably horrific events of October 7 and what has occurred since,” wrote Yechiel, Nomi and Tova Rotblat of Teaneck. “As Rabbi Krohn articulated so beautifully it is not just the imperative to unite as a community but also to feel and act upon the sense of ‘areyvut,’ of taking responsibility for our brothers and sisters in Israel and the United States, wherever they may be, whatever they look like, and whatever their level of observance or personal affiliations.

“We felt it was particularly important to be there in tribute to and in honor of Edan Alexander, one of our local heroes, and be there to gain chizuk from and provide chizuk to his mother and the rest of his family, and to daven for his and the rest of the hostages’ release. May he and they, b’ezrat Hashem, be returned soon, in good health,” said the Rotblats.

Council member Karen Orgen of Teaneck also added her view that the inclusive and diverse Jewish community marked the day together, along with supporters. “At a time when so many chose to protest the day in the city, it was heartwarming to see the support of our neighbors here.”

The Jewish Federation staff as well as the JCC thanked their many police and law enforcement partners for helping to secure the event. In particular they thanked the Tenafly Police Department, the Cresskill Police Department, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Community Security Service (CSS).