Hillel House Hosts Vigil Honoring Victims of Oct. 7 Attack
Professor of Jewish studies Stephen Stern speaks at the Oct. 7 vigil. (William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
By Nathaniel Swindell, Contributing Writer
On Monday, Oct. 7, Hillel House organized a vigil for the lives lost during the Hamas-led attack on Israel last year. The memorial consisted of various prayers and a reading of the names of those who died. It was primarily focused on how the Jewish communities memorialize those who have been lost, and how future violence like this can be prevented.
“We felt that it was important to do something on the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7, rooted within the Jewish tradition of Yahrzeit,” said Jeremy Garskof, an event organizer and a librarian at Musselman Library. “This, from the Jewish perspective, represents the anniversary of a mass murder of Jews, so that’s why we organized something. We felt the Jewish community at Gettysburg College needed to do something.”
“I hope that students left our vigil with a new or renewed understanding of how Jews memorialize and honor their dead,” said Marisa Conners ’26, another event organizer. “This event reminded me that we should all be committed to ending oppressive forces and I have faith that others felt moved this way as well.”
The event was designed to showcase Jewish traditions and how the Jewish community celebrates them on campus and beyond.
“The final factor we worked on was incorporating Jewish traditions and history into our event and making these traditions accessible to the public by explaining them,” said Conners. “As someone who grew up celebrating Hanukkah and not much else, the Hillel executive board has been a wonderful source of learning and growth for me.”
The event also emphasized what students at Gettysburg can do to learn more about events such as the Oct. 7 attacks. “I’m a librarian, so I encourage all of our students to make use of library resources and engage with people from different backgrounds,” said Garskof. “I think it helps to be able to better understand what your own ideas are by engaging with scholarship, other people and different perspectives.”
The organizers also encouraged students to stand up for others facing any form of discrimination.
“Regular students can speak up when they hear or see hateful language. The primary forms that come to mind after this vigil include violent antisemitism and islamophobia,” said Conners. “My education here at Gettysburg has taught me that all forms and levels of oppression are intrinsically linked. I believe that regular students have a responsibility to address hate in all its forms — racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, xenophobia and more — when it arises.”
Hillel House plans to hold Yom Kippur services Oct. 11-12, with an event for Sukkot to take place the following Wednesday.
A student speaks during the Oct. 7 vigil. (William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
(William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
