A gathering at a home in Silver Spring on Sunday marked nearly one year since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostage. In the year since nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
The gathering was small, intimate and powerful. For those in attendance, it’s a way of dealing with personal and generational grief.
Leila Levi's cousin, 34-year-old Daniel Levy Ludmir, left the safety of a bomb shelter during the Oct. 7 attack. He was a doctor, and he heard that help was needed at a kibbutz clinic, but he died there after it was attacked.
He was remembered at the gathering brought together by the organization Sephardic Heritage International.
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“My preference certainly is that I would never have to talk about this, but I think it’s a Jewish custom to bear witness and we believe it is important to commemorate things annually and the lifecycle of this,” Levi said. “This is our first annual commemoration after a year, and I know that like many other Jewish-Americans, I lean heavily on Jewish loved ones, and it's lovely to be in community.”
As the observance of that sad day approaches, more outpourings and gatherings like this — and hopefully homecomings for those who are still there — are expected.
“To be able to hear the story of someone, their aspirations, what they did, their family,” Afraim Kafka, who attended the gathering, said. “And I think for any of us that are trying to heal and mourning, that’s really what’s at the heart of healing and being able to move forward.”
