As the “Stand Together” rally was moving from its “pre-event” to main event on Sunday afternoon at Nationals’ stadium in Washington, D.C., a small group of children walked on the Nationals field, stopping every time they saw someone in uniform.

The question was always the same: “Would you like a cookie?”

“We told them, thank you for keeping us safe and being here,” said Yehudis, who is nearly 8, and was giving out cookies with her friend Shifra Cohen, 7, and Shifra’s little brother, Raphael.

The cookies—half of which were homemade and half store-bought—also had stickers on them. Workers at the rally who got the cookies were touched and visibly moved by the gesture.

These acts of kindness and goodwill were among the bright spots in a day that was dark and damp, in actual weather and in subject matter—the ongoing war in Israel and the fate of the hostages.

“We need the entire world to stand with us. We can’t do this alone,” said a hostage’s family member who spoke during the event, pleading for help to “seal the deal” and “bring them home.”

Also speaking was Yarden Gonen, whose sister Romi has been held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023. She vented her frustration with women’s groups the world over who remained silent and refused to champion for the release of the hostages, especially the young women in captivity. Gonen also said that the hate that manifested last year in the terrifying attacks in Israel is “spreading and it can be here soon.”

“If we as a society do not save my sister and the other hostages,” she said, “your loved ones could be next.”

The aftermath of a divisive election season in the United States, the ongoing war in Israel and the November 7 attacks against Israelis attending a soccer match in Amsterdam were on the minds of many of those in attendance.

Several people speaking to The Jewish Link mentioned that by coming to “stand together” after the divisive political season would, as Maryland resident Jen Kramer put it, “bring a little peace.”

Also speaking on the need to come together after the elections was Zev Wood, a Canadian and student at McGill University, who flew in for the rally with a group of 40 others. What is most important, he said, “is for us to be unified as a community after the elections. We are here with the same goal in mind—to advocate for Israel and the hostages.”

The event was divided into two programming blocks—a pre-show and the event. A color guard and the singing of the National Anthem separated the two programs, though most in attendance likely didn’t find much difference in the events as one moved seamlessly into the next.

Organizers, which included the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Federations of North America, said the rally was intended to show “unity, strength and resilience.” As actress Tiffany Haddish, who served as the event’s master of ceremonies said, “Unity isn’t about agreeing on everything, it’s about standing together when it matters most.”

Some lighter moments came through in song with singers Shulem Lemmer, Idan Raichel and John Ondrasik (known as Five for Fighting), who is not Jewish, but has emerged as a leading voice for Israel after October 7.

Despite being sponsored by more than 150 Jewish organizations nationwide, what was missing in large part were attendees, as only a few thousand people took part. This was a dramatic shift from the 200,000 who packed the National Mall one year earlier, just weeks after the October 7 terror attacks.

While organizers could not provide an official tally of those in attendance, pointing out that “thousands registered and tens of thousands watched online,” the indisputable fact was that the stands were empty.

Some in the audience and many others questioned why the event wasn’t more heavily publicized—more than one attendee said they had just heard about the event either that morning or the night before. Others questioned the wisdom of having an event so soon after the holidays. (The timing was chosen to coincide with the annual gathering of leaders from Jewish communities around the country and in Canada for the Jewish Federations of North America’s annual plenary, which was held this year in Washington from November 10-12.)

While there was some representation in the crowd from Jewish community members in Northern New Jersey and the New York City region—in full disclosure, this author traveled to the event on a bus organized by Rabbi James Proops of Synagogue of the Suburban Torah in Livingston—it seemed that the majority of those in attendance were either in Washington, D.C., to attend the annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America or live in Maryland.

Among the latter were the Hollander and Lederman families—Tobie and Pesy Hollander and their son, Ozzie; and Elana and Steve Lederman and their sons, Yona and Ezra—from Kemp Mills and one-time Riverdale, New York residents when they were “young marrieds.” Several of the group wore pieces of black tape with the number “401” on it, representing the number of days the hostages taken into Gaza had been in captivity.

Ozzie, 17, said that the tape had drawn the attention of one of the workers at the event who asked them why they had the date of his son’s birth on their clothing.

Steve said that while the significance of the tape and the number on it is well known in the Jewish world, the larger world is focused on what is happening in Gaza and “not on the hostage situation.”

Which is why, Ozzie said, “it’s good to wear” the tape and keep the hostages “at the forefront of everyone’s mind.”

Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, which had heavily promoted the event, spoke to The Jewish Link toward the end of the afternoon.

He hopes that the message of the afternoon continues to spread after the rally ends. “We need to stand with Israel, and we need to stand up for the Jewish people and remain strong,” he said. “We remain vigorously committed to working together with our many partners.”

Faygie Holt is an award-winning journalist whose articles have been published worldwide and translated into several different languages. She is also the author of two middle-grade book series for Jewish children, “The Achdus Club” and “Layla’s Diaries,” both available from Menucha Publishers. Her next book, “Baylee’s Yellow Party,” is geared to new readers and is set to be released later this year. Learn more at faygieholt.com.