On the twenty-fifth day of the Hebrew month of Tishri (which landed on October 27 on the Gregorian calendar this year), Israel held its second national memorial remembering the 1,200 civilians and soldiers whom Hamas brutally murdered, and the 251 people whom Hamas kidnapped into Gaza. The massacre happened on the sacred Simchat Torah (“Joy of the Torah”) holiday, the last of the Jewish fall holidays. It marks when the public reading in synagogues of the first five books of Moses is finished and a new reading cycle is started again. Simchat Torah is usually a joyful holiday to celebrate when God gave His Word to the Israelites. On this day, religious Jewish people dance around with the Torah scrolls.

The commemoration took place three days after Simchat Torah with flags flying half mast, schools holding ceremonies, and the country taking time to reflect and mourn. In the morning, a ceremony was held at Mount Hertzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem for fallen soldiers and members of the Israeli security forces. In the early afternoon, a second ceremony commemorated the civilian victims of Hamas’ attack. A government press release said the two ceremonies “will be attended by bereaved families, the four symbols of government—the president, the prime minister, the speaker of the Knesset [Israel’s parliamentary body] and the acting president of the Supreme Court, ministers, MKs [members of the Knesset], the heads of the security system and the heads of the rescue organizations.” Members of Kibbutz Nir Oz and Kibbutz Be’eri—the two kibbutzim (collective farming communities) who bore the brunt of Hamas’ brutal killing machine—refused to take part in the state ceremonies.

Please pray for all who are mourning and those desperate to free their loved ones still held hostage in Gaza.