On April 21, Hillel at Dartmouth and the Rohr Chabad Center co-hosted a vigil on the Green for Yom HaZikaron, an Israeli national holiday that remembers victims of terror attacks and fallen soldiers. Approximately 30 people attended, according to Dartmouth Safety and Security officer Don White.
This year marked the third observance of Yom HaziKaron since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people and began the Israel-Hamas war, in which at least 70,000 people — Palestinian and Israeli — have died. The Israeli counterattack on the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and the West Bank has resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 Israeli security personnel.
The vigil began with a speech by Chabad president Emily Salzhauer ’27 about the meaning of Yom HaZakiron “in Israel and around the world.”
“Across Israel, this day is marked by the sounding of a siren, one at the end of the day, another in the morning,” Salzhauer said. “And when the siren sounds, the entire country pauses to remember and honor the lives lost.”
At the end of the vigil, Salzhauer played an audio recording of the sirens that ring in Israel to commemorate the holiday.
In a speech at the vigil, Hillel Rabbi Seth Linfield said Yom HaZakiron honors “those whose sacrifice has made life possible for others.”
“The fallen were sons and daughters, dreamers and creators, people your age who loved animals, helped neighbors, argued about music and wore their uniforms with honor,” Linfield said. “They died so that after 2,000 years of exile and persecution, the Jewish people might stand upright in our homeland.”
Chabad Rabbi Moshe Gray said the creation of the modern state of Israel was “a great miracle” which is sustained through the “blood of our courageous brothers and sisters.”
“We remember tonight that the land was not given freely,” Gray said. “It was built, defended and sustained through the courage and sacrifice of men and women who gave everything.”
Gray added that “one of the greatest values of the Jewish people is responsibility” for each other.
“We are all responsible for one another,” Gray said. “The soldiers we remember tonight lived that value.”
Other speakers at the vigil included Hillel Israel fellow Maya Sakran, Hillel board member Olivia Levine ’29 and David Shapiro ’28, who spoke about the conflict and recited poetry in Hebrew. At the end of the vigil, attendees sang the Israeli national anthem, “Hatvikah.”
In an interview after the vigil, Linfield said Yom HaZikaron recognizes “the risks and investment that the Jewish people have taken for peace.”
The vigil “shows how much our community cares, how much we’re coalescing, how unified we are,” Linfield added.
Attendee and Chabad member Felix Feldman ’26 said that Yom HaZikaron was about celebrating people who had died to “defend the lives of other Jews.”
“It’s a difficult time,” Feldman said. “It’s nice that people are willing to come and to gather in a highly public place.”
Emily Salzhauer formerly wrote for the news section of The Dartmouth. She was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
Jeremiah Rayban is a reporter and editor for The Dartmouth from Wilmington, Del., majoring in economics. Outside of The D, he enjoys reading, art and trivia.
