Locals joined the rest of the world in mourning the lives lost after Hamas militants Oct. 7 took hostages and killed more than 1,000 people in Israel and Israeli forces retaliated on Gaza killing more than 2,000 Palestinians and injuring nearly 10,000 as of Oct. 15.
At Stetson University, students from Stetson’s Hillel program held a vigil Oct. 11 for the dead in Israel and Palestine. Many of the students, Hillel President Aviv Maddron said, have friends or family in the region.
“No matter the politics, murder is cruel. Hunger is cruel,” Stetson University Chaplain the Rev. Todd Campbell said to the assembled group of students, faculty and other community members. “Let us not forget our humanity in all of this.”
COMING TOGETHER — Stetson University Chaplain the Rev. Todd Campbell speaks to students, faculty and community members at the Stetson Hillel House Oct. 11 as part of a vigil hosted by the Jewish student organization. Hillel President Aviv Maddron said the vigil was planned in a hurry because the students and faculty felt like they had to do something. Maddron was happy, he said, to see non-Jewish faculty attend the vigil, too.
Later that week, on Oct. 13, typical Friday night Shabbat services at Temple Israel in DeLand were anything but typical as the congregation reckoned with the difficult week following the news out of the Middle East. Rabbi Reuven Silverman said many of his congregation who didn’t already have friends and family in Israel made friends during a trip some members of the temple took earlier this year.
“It pains me tonight to turn our Sabbath of joy into a memorial,” Silverman said, “but we really have no choice.”
DeLand Police Chief Jason Umberger and Volusia Sheriff’s Office Chaplain Mark Carroll were guest speakers at the service, each of whom expressed their support for the local Jewish community and their sadness for those who died in Israel.
“I want all of you to know,” Umberger said, “we all stand in solidarity with all of you. We love you.”
Each service ended with the reading of a Kaddish, a traditional Hebrew mourner’s prayer typically heard at funerals.
