Sunday, 5 November, 2023 • 7:00 PM Israel Time|12:00 PM EST | 9:00 AM PST
On Saturday, Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023, Israel as we knew it, changed. The murderous surprise attack of the Hamas terrorist organization claimed the lives of 1,400 loved ones, relatives, and dear friends.
This evening at 7 PM, the one-month anniversary of the massacre, corresponding to the Hebrew date of 22 Heshvan, a worldwide memorial ceremony will be held in front of the National Institutions Building in Jerusalem in memory of the murdered and the fallen, and a call will be issued for the immediate release of the hostages from their cruel Hamas captors.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on social networks in Israel and around the world and will be joined by members of the Jewish communities who will appear on screens from dozens of different centers around the world. At the climax of the ceremony, participants in Israel and around the world will light memorial candles in memory of the fallen and murdered.
The memorial service is being organized by the World Zionist Organization, KKL-JNF, Keren Hayesod, and The Jewish Agency for Israel. The heads of Israel’s National Institutions will lay wreaths in memory of the fallen and murdered, together with the representatives of the bereaved families
Doron Libstein, whose brother and nephew were murdered while defending Kfar Aza, will deliver remarks. Libstein’s brother, Ofir Libstein, was the head of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council and was murdered along with his son Nitzan.
A group of immigrant children from Ethiopia from The Jewish Agency’s Ibim Absorption Center near Sderot, will also participate in the ceremony. The absorption center was besieged on October 7 by Hamas terrorists. The absorption center’s musical group changed its name to the Lev Ofir Ibim Band in memory of the beloved head of the Shaar Negev Council, Ofir Libstein, who worked assiduously on behalf of the olim throughout the years.
Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Yaakov Hagoel, will lay a wreath together with his two nephews, in memory of Hagoel’s brother-in-law, Asaf Schlesinger, who served as a part of the medical teams during the terrible massacre and was murdered on October 7.
Major General (res.) Doron Almog, Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency, will lay a wreath together with the parents of the late Gili Adar, The Jewish Agency’s Summer Camp Shlichah, who served as a counselor on Garin Tzabar, a Jewish Agency program that supports immigrant lone soldiers. Gili was murdered at age 24, at the nature festival in Reim.
Ifat Ovadia-Luski, KKL-JNF Chairwoman, will lay a wreath with the mother of the late Capt. Eden Nimri, the commander of the “Sky Riders” drone unit, who was tragically killed in battle at Kibbutz Nahal Oz. They will be joined by the chairman of the KKL-JNF Board of Directors, Robert Tiviaev, a resident of Ofakim who survived the horrors of October 7 and, together with members of the Zaka organization, took part in removing the bodies of his friends.
Keren Hayesod chairman Sam Grundwerg will lay a wreath with a Shaliach of Keren Hayesod, the grandfather of the late Omri Belkin, a lieutenant colonel (res.), who served in a counter-terrorism unit and fell at age 25 in the fierce battles in Kibbutz Be’eri. They will lay the wreath together with the brother of the late Sergeant Nathanel Young, a lone soldier from England, who served in the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade and fell at age 20 in the battles defending the communities near Gaza.