Last week, in the gym of the Yorktown Community & Cultural Center, community members gathered to commemorate two years since the Oct. 7 massacre.
It was my second year organizing this memorial. After bringing Nova Music Festival survivor Atir Vinnikov’s story to Yorktown last year, I hoped to again create a space where people had the chance to bear witness to the horrors of October 7th, and feel safe mourning and honoring the lives lost that day.
I knew this year would be different. The topics of Israel, and even October 7th, have somehow become more controversial. Sentiment about the war in Gaza has changed as more lives have been lost and not all of the hostages have returned. The Jewish community has been divided by politics in Israel and in the States.
This year’s memorial was different. But not in the ways I expected it would be.
We were joined by more than 200 Jewish and non-Jewish community members from across the religious and political spectrum. They all came together to remember and to listen to survivor Oria Ness Berlin and American lone soldier Yoni Asayag share their stories.
Oria, 21, shared her experience hiding for 12 hours in her safe room as terrorists murdered, raped and abducted her peers and friends on the Re’im base and other bases along the Gaza border.
Yoni, 23, spoke about learning about the horrors as they unfolded from his home in New York, and being called back to the IDF just a few hours later.
We honored the memories of the victims, the strength and resilience of survivors like Oria, the heroism of soldiers like Yoni, and stood together in hope for peace and the return of the remaining hostages.
Before we sang Avinu Malkeinu, a song which asks God for compassion, forgiveness and blessings in the New Year, I heard chants like “Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea” coming from protesters outside. When I first realized people were protesting an apolitical memorial to remember innocent people murdered and taken hostage, my heart dropped. While I didn’t acknowledge the protesters during the event, I know that audience members – who simply came to mourn, to remember, and to learn – shared my disappointment and anger.
But as I stood on stage next to high schoolers from Yorktown, Haldane, John Jay and Somers, while the audience sang along to Avinu Malkeinu, I was filled with hope and pride. At that moment, it didn’t matter what was going on outside, and how disgraceful and offensive it was, because we were together. And the love we all shared for one another, for Israel, and for the souls lost on October 7th, was stronger than any amount of hate we could feel toward the protesters.
As Yoni said, in Israel they say “ביחד ננצח,” or “together we will win.” I am proud of the Yorktown community and grateful to those who joined us for coming together to remember the lives lost, those abducted and affected that day.
May the memories of those lost forever be a blessing and may this year bring peaceful days and the return of all 48 of our hostages.
Talia Pierson is a senior at Yorktown High School.
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