About 40 people gathered in Rollins Chapel for a memorial service yesterday to commemorate the 22 victims of last week's terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv, Israel.
"This service will honor those killed in the name of Israel, to express our grief at the tragedy and to pray for a true, immediate peace," said Gideon Katz '97, president of Hillel, the College's Jewish student organization.
Shirley Sperling '98 began the service by reciting a poem titled "Every Man has a Name" by the Hebrew poet Zelda.
"When we hear this poem, I want it to remind us that every person who died had a family, a job ... and that every person who died was a real person," she said.
In a speech following the poem, David Gros '95 linked last week's bombing and yesterday's signing of the peace accords between Israel and Jordan.
"Each one was an individual victim," Gros said. "The media likes to lump them as a whole; I want to re-individualize them." Gros, who also read off the names and ages of the 22 victims, received an emotional response from the crowd.
He said "we should not give up but move on. Nothing but a lasting peace will begin to make up for this great loss."
College Rabbi Daniel Seigel concluded the service by reminding the audience of the Jewish belief in "loving peace, pursuing peace and bringing it between two people."
The service ended with a traditional Hebrew prayer and the singing of the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah. It was sponsored by Hillel.
