Responding to an invitation from JEWISHcolorado, 2,000 people arrived at Temple Emanuel on the evening of October 7, 2024, carrying the somber weight of a year of death, disruption, war, and grief.
Ninety minutes later, those same 2,000 people left Temple Emanuel with renewed hope that after the darkness of 365 days, there can also be a future with light.
“What a moving, meaningful, heart-wrenching and uplifting ceremony of reflection, remembrance, observance,” wrote one of those who attended the event. “Thank you, thank you. It was so beautifully done and so incredibly important for our community.”
Fulfilling its mission to convene the community in times of celebration and in times of mourning, JEWISHcolorado, in partnership with 40 community organizations, brought people together to stand side by side and pay tribute to those who died in moments of terror, those who have died and been wounded in the service of Israel, and those hostages who still remain captive.
“For 76 years, we have bent the arc of Jewish history, not merely toward survival but toward a future where the Jewish state could thrive—a beacon of resilience and hope,” said JEWISHcolorado Board Chair Ben Lusher. “October 7th tore through that hope, reminding us that the scars of our past are not so easily healed, reminding us that the trauma of generations still beats within us, and reminding us that we are part of Jewish people’s ancient struggle for peace, security, and dignity.”
JEWISHcolorado Shlicha Nelly Ben Tal asked groups to stand one by one—stand if they have served in the IDF, stand if they have traveled to Israel or done volunteer work for Israel in the past 12 months, stand if they have fought antisemitism in any way, and finally, stand if they care about Israel.
By the time she finished, everyone in the room was standing.
“Look around you,” Ben Tal said. “Together, we have found strength. October 7 does not define us, but it has changed and shaped us all. It is up to us to decide who we choose to become. Through our actions, we shape the future, and together, we can really make a difference.”
JEWISHcolorado President & CEO Renée Rockford spoke of The Days of Awe that encompass the time leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as a period of contemplation and repentance.
“Author and Rabbi Alan Lew says the real purpose of this annual passage is for us to experience broken-heartedness and then return,” Rockford said. “To go from terror to acceptance, confusion to clarity, doubt to belief, and from complacency to awe.”
Her words and the communal singing of “Hatikvah” that ended the event brought some to tears and encouraged many to thank JEWISHcolorado for its role in bringing people together.
“Last evening was extraordinary,” wrote one. “I just thought it was remarkable with such emotion and then such hope. I was really proud of JEWISHcolorado for pulling all of the Jewish community together. Truly outstanding. Thank you.”
An evening of moments
The evening included many unforgettable moments.
Dekel Shalev, who with her husband and three children, survived the attack by Hamas by hiding in a saferoom in Kibbutz Be’eri while more than a hundred people were killed in homes around them, lit a Be’eri memorial candle. Dekel and her family are now a part of the Colorado community.
In an extraordinary video, Yagel Harush performed a Lamentation for Be’eri.
Several members of the JEWISHcolorado community remembered with simple sentences the horror of October 7, 2023, including memories from JEWISHcolorado’s Shinshinim.
“I remember the moment my siblings put on their uniforms and said goodbye, not knowing when we would see each other again,” said Ori Moryosef.
“I remember that October 7 changed everything,” said Omri Hadad.
Five members of Va’ad/Leadership of Rocky Mountain Rabbis and Cantors, including Rabbi Emily Hyatt, Rabbi Barry Gelman, Cantor Liz Sacks, Rabbi Sarah Shulman, and Rabbi Joshua Ginsberg-Margo, offered Psalm 130, El Maleh Rahamim, and prayers for the Jewish people, for Israel and the hostages, and for unity.
After a moment of silence—with 2,000 people standing—Ben Lusher turned the tone of the program to accomplishments of the past year.
“For all of our sadness, look at what we’ve done by refusing to back down, by standing up for our pride in being Jewish and our need to be safe and secure,” Lusher said. “We’ve found new strength in our collective action, forged new alliances, and enlisted the aid of our elected officials and many in the non-Jewish community.”
Renée Rockford looked to the future.
“Our work is not done,” Rockford said. “We must continue to do what we’ve been doing— donating, lobbying, showing up for lectures and community events, attending safety and security trainings, saying prayers, writing letters, wearing yellow ribbons, lighting candles, hosting the families of hostages, leaving open seats at our holiday tables, remaining open, active and vigilant, and fervently holding fast to those things that show how much we need that piece of our own hearts that was taken from us to be restored.”
To prolonged applause, Jewish Community Relations Council Senior Director Brandon Rattiner recognized the many public officials from both parties that were at the event, despite efforts of some to keep them from attending.
“In the face of this vitriol, our community has stood tall,” Rattiner said. “We have championed compassion and understanding, not hate. While others embrace the politics of division and extreme rhetoric, we seek de-escalation. We have held together despite our own differences. And we have so many victories to show for it. Our opponents are loud—but they are not successful.”
Governor Jared Polis, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, Dr. Noam Weissman
Governor Jared Polis, Colorado’s first Jewish governor, spoke about how the Jewish tradition of mourning is communal, so it was appropriate to gather for this anniversary event.
“In a competition of pain, there are no winners,” he said. “As we mourn the loss of those who have been killed and hostages still in captivity, we hope their memory is forever blessed.
Polis referenced the rise in antisemitism across the country and brought his comments home.
“Hate, violence, and antisemitism have no home in Colorado,” Polis said. “We stand together as Coloradans building an America for all so that every person can safely live their faith tradition and thrive.”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser followed Polis to the podium.
“I understand the instinct to turn away and not look at what happened on October 7,” Weiser said. “That would be a mistake. We must take in the harm that has happened to so many in Israel and the U.S. Together, we can find the courage to bear witness and show up for one another with loving kindness. The essential promise of America is that it is the land of freedom and promise for all. That promise is what brought my grandparents here after they survived the Holocaust. Together, we must honor and fight for it. You don’t have an obligation to repair the world by yourself, but all of us must do our part.”
Dr. Noam Weissman, Executive Vice President of OpenDor Media, served as the main and final speaker. Weissman is a thought leader and innovator in Jewish education. His team produces YouTube videos, TikToks, and countless other educational media through which they reach millions of young Jews. Dr. Weissman hosts the podcast “Unpacked,” which consistently trends as the number one Jewish podcast in America.
He began with a story—a story of playing an innocent pick-up basketball game with his young daughter. The game stopped when she asked, “Who is winning?” She did not mean this game—she meant who is winning in Israel.
“Who is winning?” Weissman asked. “What does it even mean to win in this context?”
From that springboard, he sprinted through millennia of Jewish history.
“After four thousand years, the trauma lives in our genes,” he said. “Existential worry is encoded in our DNA.”
Weissman talked about the importance of education and storytelling for the survival of the Jewish people. From those rich resources, he said to a standing ovation, Jews will not be defined as “Ever Dying” but as “Ever-Living” and “Ever Surviving” and “Ever-Thriving.
“In Colorado alone, the Jewish people are 100,000 strong,” he said. “And if all 100,000 of us know our story, know our truth, know what our ancestors survived, we’ve won. If all 100,000 of us realize that Judaism is so much more than being opposed to antisemitism—that the story of the Jews is so much deeper than the story of those who hate us—we’ve won.
“It is not on you to finish the task – but it is also not for you to walk away from it.
“We are the people of hope. Now let’s go finish this fight.”