On Friday Oct. 27, an “Empty Shabbat Table” with more than 200 seats was set up on 81st Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, adjacent to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
The extremely long table was set for Shabbat just like any normal Shabbat table, complete with plate settings, challah, wine and flowers, and even sippy cups for babies. Except that there was a “kidnapped” sign on each empty seat, representing the hostages held by Hamas whose return the Jewish world so desperately awaits.
The sheer length of the table was shocking, a sentiment shared by Council Member Gale Brewer who represents a district encompassing much of the Upper West Side. As the council member explained to The Jewish Link: “I had the opportunity at Central Synagogue the other day with JCRC to meet quite a few of the families of the [hostages].” Recalling those meetings, and now seeing the long empty table, she remarked: “It’s stronger than a protest in some ways, to me, because you see the length of the table representing the members who have been kidnapped and then behind each one is a very loving family. So it’s not just 200 people, it’s 200 times many.”
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, whose district includes the Upper West Side, was also at the installation. The congressman told The Jewish Link that this is “a terrible time for the hostages, for their families, for all Jews, and for anybody who cares about decency in the world. Hamas is a terrorist group. People forget the fact that its charter is not liberation of the Palestinians; its charter is the destruction of Israel and the murder of all the Jews. It’s a Nazi organization and it must be thoroughly defeated.”
One of the sponsors of the display was the Upper West Side’s Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew. Speaking to The Link, Rev. Lea Matthew of the Church noted: “I think whatever we can do to construct peace, to construct an alternative narrative is where we are supposed to be, it’s where we are meant to be.”
The Upper West Side “Empty Shabbat Table” was sponsored by Bnai Jeshurun, Ansche Chesed, the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, Marlene Myerson JCC Manhattan, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, UJA Federation of New York, Jewish Agency for Israel, and Brewer.
A similar empty Shabbat table set for 224 people was installed in Times Square, the heart of Manhattan, on Oct. 26.
The installation, viewed by thousands, was mounted by the Israeli-American Council (IAC) and other Jewish organizations in order to raise awareness and generate public pressure to secure the release of the hostages. Several relatives of hostages spoke at the installation, demanding that they be freed.
Judith Falk is the creator of the Upper West Side Shtetl Facebook group. You can follow her on instagram @upperwestsideshtetl. She is a lawyer by day and a former legal reporter.
