Three ways to commemorate two years since Oct. 7 massacre
The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton and its Jewish Community Relations Council will present two programs and a fundraiser to mark two years since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists from Gaza infiltrated Israel, brutally murdered more than 1,200 people there, and took 251 hostages. JTA reports there are now 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza; 20 are presumed to be alive.
Last year, Israel’s government selected the 24th of the Jewish month of Tishri, which coincided with Oct. 7, 2023, as the national remembrance day on which to mark the Hamas massacre each year. This year, 24 Tishri falls on Oct. 16.
Partnership2Gether remembrance
The Jewish Agency’s Partnership2Gether program — which connects Dayton and 16 other Jewish communities across the central United States with Budapest, Hungary and Israel’s Western Galilee region — will host a live one-hour Zoom memorial program at 10:30 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 28. Register here.
Screening of Torn
The JCRC will screen the final documentary in its three-part Israel in Focus series, Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on New York City Streets, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16 at the Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education.
Produced and directed by Nim Shapira, Torn captures the emotional fallout of the Kidnapped poster campaign and the fierce confrontations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian New Yorkers.
The screening and discussion are free, with a grant from the Esther and DeNeal Feldman Jewish Experience Fund of the Dayton Jewish Foundation. The Boonshoft CJCE is located at 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. Register here.
Fundraiser for Holon-based family of hostage
Through Oct. 12, the Jewish Federation is also accepting donations to aid the family of Bar Kupershtein, a 22-year-old medic and security guard who was taken hostage from the Nova music festival Oct. 7, 2023 while he was helping wounded victims. He is believed to still be alive in Gaza.
Kupershtein’s family lives in Holon, Israel, a Dayton Sister City. Since he was 17, He was the main provider for his mother and four younger siblings; his father was in a severe car accident four years ago and suffered multiple surgeries and a stroke, leaving him disabled and unable to walk or speak. Donate to the Kupershtein family here.
Related: Two years after Oct. 7, Dayton Jewish leaders stress civility, learning, dialogue.
To read the complete October 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.
