On Oct. 7, MU Jewish Student Organizations Mizzou Hillel and Chabad at Mizzou held a memorial to recognize the events that began the Israel-Hamas war exactly one year prior
On Oct. 7, MU Jewish student organizations Hillel and Chabad held a memorial to mourn the attacks that took place on Oct. 7, 2023. The memorial was held at Traditions Plaza at 6:30 p.m. and was open for anyone to attend. Speakers shared their personal experiences and ties to the attacks on Israel one year prior.
“[This is] for the lives that were lost and the lives that are continuously being lost, and the hostages [that are] still being held in Israel,” said MU senior and president of Chabad Mizzou, Aaron Alter. “Most of the time when an event happens like this, it’s in [memoriam] that the event has ended. This is a rare occasion where it’s still ongoing, and it’s very difficult to try to plan out how you remember something that’s still actively going on.”
On Oct. 7, 2023, more than 1,200 people were killed by Hamas, and over 250 people were taken hostage in the “largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” according to the U.S. Department of State. This attack struck a war that has now lasted a year.
MU sophomore and Chabad board member Jori Kreiter hands a candle to 9-year-old Mussia Lapine, daughter of Rabbi Lapine, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024 at Traditions Plaza in Columbia. “We are remembering all the lives lost on October 7th last year and this was just very beautiful seeing everyone come together, all the Jews on campus, just seeing the community come together is great,” Kreiter said.
Hillel and Chabad hosted the memorial to “invite the Jewish community to come together in solidarity for a memorial of remembrance and unity,” according to a joint Instagram post. They encouraged attendees to reflect on the Oct. 7 attack and “move forward stronger,” they said in the post.
“We wanted to provide a space where people could come and mourn and remember,” said Jeanne Snodgrass, the executive director of Mizzou Hillel. “It was really important to students that it be as representative as possible of the Jewish community.”
At the event, organizers passed out candles that were lit to symbolize those affected by the Hamas attack.
“This day is still one of the saddest occasions in my life,” Alter said. “I was up late on that night that Hamas first attacked … It was a traumatic event to see my people being unlawfully slaughtered by a terrorist organization.”
Alter said he hopes to use his platform to bring the community together.
“The Jewish community is very tight-knit, and when one of us gets hurt, we all suffer,” Alter said. “It’s a very traumatic event for me to experience and move on. I make my mission at Chabad, and I make my mission around campus to share their light since they’re not here to do that themselves.”
Rabbi Avraham Lapine speaks with UM System President Mun Choi before the memorial on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024 at Traditions Plaza in Columbia. The memorial was organized by Chabad at Mizzou and Mizzou Hillel and included attendees from various MU Jewish student groups.
Rabbis, community members and students read personal stories and readings from the the Tanakh during the memorial service, sharing prayers, songs and personal experiences. Some students said the memorial was an opportunity to feel supported by others in the Jewish community.
“I personally thought it was really important to have a memorial for Oct. 7,” Hayley Lerner, sophomore at MU and a member of Hillel said. “I remember Oct. 7 last year, and that was a really difficult day for me and my friends … Me and a couple of other students were like, ‘We need this [a memorial], we need this to happen.’ So facilitating communication and figuring out what everyone wanted was really important so that it encompasses as many people as we possibly could.”
As the Israel-Hamas war continues, Chabad and Hillel leaders said they want to continue their support for students and the community as a whole. Snodgrass said that although people have different opinions and perspectives, she still wants them to come together and recognize that they all want everyone to be safe.
“People might have different ideas,” Snodgrass said. “But we can still come together and recognize that we all want [people held hostage] to be safe [and] to come home. It’s really important to us as a community.”
The Maneater aims to portray the Israel-Hamas war holistically in student response with our coverage. As a newsroom, we aim to platform student voices and emphasize the impact of this international conflict on our campus and community. To do so, The Maneater maintains editorial discretion over the selection of text, photographs and distribution for publication to ensure the conflict is represented to most prominently emphasize the student voice.
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