The Things We Remember

Holding my breath, I have been waiting to write to you to acknowledge and memorialize this two-year anniversary of October 7th – now a proper noun/name of an event more than a date. And yet, that date happens every year, and we must acknowledge it. Today, I am filled with fresh hope that this new deal proposed will bring all our hostages home very soon, and put an end to this horrific war and the interminable October 7th.

October 7th, 2023 was the end of the week of Sukkot, Simcha Torah, and this year it falls also during Sukkot. Just one of the tragic elements of that day was how it transformed what should have been a time of great celebration to one of unspeakable grief. And yet, while we must memorialize and remember all those that were lost on that horrific day and in the war ongoing since, we must also still be able to celebrate and remember positive memories from other Sukkot holidays of the past.

While talking to a Nature Israel board member today, he prompted me to think about some of my favorite Sukkot memories. My daughter Ella was in preschool (gan) on Sheinkin street in Tel Aviv, just a few blocks walk from our house. The head of the preschool put out a call before Sukkot asking parents if they could help collect skach, the palm fronds needed for the roof of the Sukkah. The city had recently trimmed some palm trees on my street. You can’t imagine how silly I must have looked lugging, shoving, stuffing and somehow transporting a bunch of very large palm fronds in my very small hatchback car (so small that they don’t sell them in America!). The head of the preschool was so thrilled. She took a picture of me with the fronds and we became fast friends. That memory reminds me of how important it is to hold on to moments of joy, even in the shadow of tragedy.

Sukkot is a holiday of joy, of gathering under the stars in fragile shelters that remind us of both impermanence and divine protection. And yet, this year, the sukkah feels like a vessel for grief too, a place where memory and mourning sit beside celebration.

We must all remember the great losses of October 7th 2023. Among those we lost were members of our own SPNI family. Their names and photos are listed at the end of this letter. We hold their memories close, alongside all the victims of that day and those taken since. Their absence is felt deeply in our work and our community. We take some time to sit in silence or say their names, look at their photos and watch videos to affirm the value of their lives no matter how long or short. We honor their memories and those of all lost that dark day.

For those living in Israel, October 7th is not yet a memory but more of an open wound, part of everyday life. For those of us living outside Israel, we may experience this day differently. We may gather for Sukkot, for community, or in quiet reflection. But however we mark it, we are bound together by the same love of Israel, and the same commitment to memory and resilience. We all hope for the imminent return of the hostages, an end to the war, and for this wound to begin to heal.

I want to wish you a Sukkot sameach. I hope that you get to spend some time outside, eat a meal in a Sukkah, see some stars, and build some new amazing memories, even while you memorialize those we have lost.