On Sunday, September 1 a memorial vigil took place in Tenafly in response to the news of the horrific murder of six Israeli hostages, whose bodies were discovered by the IDF in a Rafah tunnel in Gaza on Saturday, August 31. The vigil was organized in conjunction with the Israel department at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum of New York. It was one of many taking place simultaneously in different locations.

The crowd of many hundreds of people came from numerous communities in Northern New Jersey, including Tenafly, Englewood, Teaneck, Bergenfield and New Milford. The vigil mourned the murder of six hostages by Hamas including the American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin have spoken all over the world about the plight of their son and all the hostages. Their hope was that they would all be brought back alive, but the devastating news of his murder and the murder of the five other hostages, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt. Ori Danino, ended their dream and became the terribly heartbreaking news for this Labor Day weekend.

Numerous speakers at the vigil delivered words of pain, anger, frustration and consolation with a demand that the focus of the Israeli government be the return of the remaining hostages. Among the speakers was Englewood mayor and activist member of the Jewish community, Michael J. Wildes.

Wildes spoke as both mayor of Englewood and also in the name of Tenafly Mayor Mark Zinna, who could not attend the vigil. Wildes stated: “The past 10 months have taken a terrible toll on so many people, and the latest tragic loss of six more innocent lives is yet another reminder that these hostilities must come to a swift and permanent end.” He reminded the crowd that the pain is all the more severe with the knowledge that these six hostages were so close to their release and safe return.

Wildes reminded the vigil attendees that the remaining hostages included Tenafly’s own Edan Alexander and we must focus on the hope that among the hostages there are lives that can still be saved.

Additional speakers and participants included noted writer, speaker and Tenafly resident Assi Berman Dayan and Rabbi Yitzchak Gershovitz of Chabad on the Palisades, who recited Shir Ha’maalot from Psalms. Leat Cornine spoke about her relative and hostage Omer Shem Tov.

The event was organized with the help of Mali Oelsner, managing director of the Israel Department at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades and Orly Chen, a Tenafly activist who is on the board of directors of the Kaplen JCC and chair of the Israel Department.