More than 800 Hadassah households from across the country came together on the eve of the one-year anniversary of October 7 for a special program to honor, mourn and remember.
“This year of heartbreak has brought us back to some core truth about who we are,” said First Lady Michal Herzog of Israel, delivering remarks from Jerusalem. “It has compelled us to reconnect with one another and to show up for one another within Israel and between Israel and our Jewish community abroad.”
Herzog also touched on the ways that Hadassah has shown up for Israel over the past year, sending missions, fortifying its Youth Aliyah villages, speaking out to End the Silence and treating the brave soldiers serving on the front lines, including through the early opening of the Gandel Rehabilitation Center at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus.
“The magic that has gone on there is a true source of inspiration and comfort in these difficult times,” she said.
The program began with a memorial to those killed on October 7 and since, followed by an introduction by emcee Maayan Hoffman, editor-in-chief of ILTV News in Israel and host of the Hadassah On Call podcast.
“Hadassah’s voice as the largest Jewish women’s and women’s Zionist organization — backed by thousands of grassroots activists and actions — has impact,” said Hoffman, speaking from Hadassah’s Gandel Rehabilitation Center.
Hadassah National President Carol Ann Schwartz talked about Hadassah’s immediate response on October 7, treating the critically wounded and caring for displaced youth and families. Schwartz traveled to Israel ahead of the anniversary to represent Hadassah with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
“Your support has been so vital to the incredible lifesaving work taking place at our hospitals and Youth Aliyah villages today. We can’t thank you enough,” Schwartz said. “As we mark this tragic anniversary and honor all the husbands, wives, grandparents, children, friends, civilians, soldiers and hostages who were killed on October 7 and in the year since, and as we continue to advocate and pray for the safe, immediate release of the innocent children, women and men in captivity, we find solace and hope knowing that together we will heal.”
Orna and Daniel Neutra shared the story of their son Omer, who was kidnapped by Hamas while serving on the Gaza border on October 7. Omer, an American citizen, grew up on Long Island and was a camper at Sprout Lake, a Young Judaea camp in upstate New York, before making aliyah and becoming a tank commander in the IDF.
“He’s a person that brings people together and he does it out of the good of his heart,” said his mother, Orna. “This is my child. He’s an American citizen. He was born here. He grew up here, Bring Omer home. Bring all the hostages home now.”
IDF Lieutenant Col. Asaf Ilan, who was shot in the elbow while fighting Hamas on the front lines, talked about his successful surgery at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem and the subsequent care he received in rehabilitation at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus that has now allowed him to return to leading his battalion.
Ilan was one of the first patients at the hospital’s new Gandel Rehabilitation Center, where he received physiological therapy, hydrotherapy, occupational therapy and psychological therapy. “I can’t even describe how much it helped me to do what I do now,” he said.
Einat Reich, chair of the board of Hadassah Neurim, talked about what it was like at Hadassah’s Youth Aliyah villages in the aftermath of October 7.
By early evening on that first day, Hadassah Neurim had taken in 160 refugees from a youth village in the south. They remained there for about five months. The village was also able to renovate its largest bomb shelter with the support of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America.
“The togetherness that we feel in Hadassah Neurim and Israel with the American Jews … with our brothers and sisters from outside Israel and from the Hadassah organization is tremendously important,” Reich said.
The program closed with a moving rendition of “El Maleh Rachamim” by Cantor Shlomo Samowitz, a performance of “Hatikvah” by the Meir Shfeyah Youth Aliyah Choir and Orchestra and a special tribute to the family members of Hadassah staff and the Youth Aliyah village alumni lost over the last year.
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