Yizkor for Victims of October 7, 2023

Yizkor for Victims of October 7, 2023

Rabbi Karen Reiss Medwed*

Download PDF Here

Introduction  

This Yizkor for the victims of the Simḥat Torah October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which was also the largest one-day attack on Jews since the Shoah (Holocaust), attempts to capture the personal details of the over 1,230 victims, Jews and Gentiles, killed on this day and who subdied of injuries in its aftermath.

This work relied on two key websites: the first, the Israeli government’s site remembering victims of terror attacks (https://laad.btl.gov.il/Web/He/Default.aspx), and the second, a map of the massacres of the day (https://oct7map.com/). Please note that the locations presented in this Yizkor are not meant to be exhaustive of all the places where the tragedies of October 7 occurred.

The work alludes to the language and some of the verses incorporated into the final day Hoshanot bringing some echoes of the sacred commemoration into conversation with the holiday on our calendar. Finally, a few key phrases from Israeli culture and music used in the aftermath of the massacre were pulled into the Hebrew as well.

This piece has three different sections, which can be used as one whole or an individual element can be used. Additionally, any of these sections can be incorporated into the Eilleh Ezk’rah of Musaf for Yom Kippur if communities wish to keep the focus of Yizkor on individuals’ loved ones. The first piece, “We Remember,” is a detailed list of how we remember the atrocities of October 7th. The second section invokes the liturgy of the Hoshanot, and calls out crying to Adonai remember us. The third section is a specific El Maleh Raḥamim for the victims of October 7th.

To Die

Hannah Szenes

To die, so young to do…. No, no, not I
I love the warm sunny skies,
Lights, songs, shining eyes,
I want no war, no battle cry,
No, no, not I.
But if it must be that I live today
With blood and death on every hand,
Praised be he for the grace, I’ll say
To live, if I should die this day…
Upon your soil, my home, my land.

We Remember

The infant nursing in its mother’s arms                                                                   We Remember

The one sacrificed on the bed                                                                                     We Remember

The families wrapped in each others’ arms in a final embrace at home,

who were killed and set afire                                                                                        We Remember

The life partners who sat and cried a final tear in the safety shelters                  We Remember

The parents killed hiding their children beneath their own bodies                     We Remember

Those who were out for day trips and were murdered on the road                     We Remember

The children and young innocents who were slaughtered before their time     We Remember

The parents murdered in front of their loved ones                                                  We Remember

The innocents dancing their final dance                                                                    We Remember

The peace loving youngsters who were viciously captured, raped, and killed   We Remember

The cyclists on a neverending trip                                                                               We Remember

The vacationers in their tents, in the desert, or on the beach                                We Remember

The foreign workers who remained alongside their elders                                     We Remember

The agricultural workers from around the world                                                      We Remember

The musicians whose music went silent                                                                      We Remember

The elders and founders                                                                                                  We Remember

The artists who works remains forever incomplete                                                  We Remember

The passers-by who encountered evil                                                                          We Remember

The philosophers whose last page will never be written                                          We Remember

The security forces; and the Police; and the town security teams, and the military observers; and the IDF
      Who fought a few against many
      Who stood and delivered Who saved lives
      And who fought till the bitter end ensuring more innocents survived                 We Remember

Hosha Na – Please Remember

El Maleh Raḥamim