Penn community gathers to honor victims, hostages on third anniversary of Oct. 7 Hamas attacks

Students gathered on campus Wednesday for the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israel.

Penn Hillel organized the vigil, where around 100 attendees heard speeches and watched a short documentary. Speakers recalled their personal experiences of the attacks and emphasized their lasting impacts.

One student spoke about the gravity of the day and its impact on Penn’s Jewish community, stressing the importance of remembrance. 

“As the rest of the world moves on, we must refuse to let this day be forgotten or denied,” she said. “We gather for the survivors and families who live with Oct. 7 every day, so they know they are not alone.” 

Attendees also heard a statement from Hillel Israel fellow Lihi Sinay, who reflected on the lives of her friends, neighbors, and mentors. Sinay wrote that “life is stronger than everything,” despite the pain her kibbutzim experienced because of the attacks. 

“Three years later, with our hostages back home, we can start to see the light again and rebuild,” Sinay wrote. 

Another student remembered her camp counselor, who attended the Nova music festival and was killed in the attacks. The speaker described her counselor as the “most beautiful soul,” and recalled her as a “well of endless energy, a smile monster, an evil genius, and somehow a role model of such values.”

A former Israel Defense Forces soldier — who is in her first year at the School of Veterinary Medicine — recalled sitting in Hanover, N.H. as an undergraduate student at Dartmouth when she heard of the attacks. She learned that her brother, who was serving in Israel as a soldier in the IDF at the time, was preparing to “tanks for a ground incursion” while the “terrorists were still in Israel.”

“Nearly everyone I know, myself included, has lost people in this war,” she said. “We lost some of our best.”

While the speaker continues to mourn her “ongoing losses,” she said that “acts of kindness and remembrance” since the attacks remind her of the “strength of the Jewish people.”

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