A chance breeze blew some of the candles out, but Five College Hillel kept them lit.
Each of the flames, arranged in a Star of David on a table in front of the University of Massachusetts Hillel House on North Pleasant St., symbolized a life lost at the hands of suicide bombers in Israel’s Haifa and Jerusalem last weekend. Each member of Hillel who lit a candle then stood on the steps of the building to further drive home the impact of the attacks.
When all the candles were lit, the steps were full.
Weeping, Talia Schwartz lit the last candle to symbolize her family friend, 51-year-old scientist Barub Zinger, who was killed by gunmen from the Palestinian extremist group Hamas as he drove home from dropping his son off at a military base last weekend.
As part of the ceremony, Schwartz also gave a speech in memory of her friend, in which she emphasized the personal connection between the victims of terrorism in Israel and citizens of the United States.
Schwartz also read a poem entitled “The Diameter of the Bomb was 30 Centimeters.” The theme of the poem, she explained, “is how violence and loss of life can be felt across the oceans. The place where the bomb hits is not the only place that feels destruction.”
Still, Schwartz remarked, though the more than one hundred people gathered at Hillel were united in grief, they were also united in solidarity and friendship.
Also newly united is a Jewish political group, Five College Students for Israel, which was formed out of UMass for Israel. Last night’s vigil marked the first meeting of the group.
“After what happened in Haifa and Jerusalem, we got together and said ‘this is enough’,” explained group member and Hillel resident Daniel Ginsberg. “We need to show some solidarity. We need to express ourselves visually.”
“I think the most important thing about this event is that it brought us together as a community, but tonight we’re also forming a new cultural and political group that will unite the Five College Hillels for peace in Israel,” said Amherst College freshman Leora Maccabee.
“Terrorism is something, as I think we realized on Sept. 11, that doesn’t just happen in Israel,” she added.
Other speakers included Hillel resident Dan Yagudin, who remembered “the Israel of my childhood,” Jen Umis, who spoke of the “deep bond between the US and Israel,” and Kemi George, who spoke about the connections between Anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.
“I am not Jewish – I am Jamaican,” George told the audience. “But I don’t think you need to be Jewish to understand how the people of Israel are feeling.”
George referred to a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his talk. “The Negro people, my friend, have known what it is to suffer under tyrants not of our choosing,” George read.
“Tonight we unite in mourning, and we unite in hope that these victims are the last,” Yagudin concluded.
The vigil’s program also included song. Ginsberg, along with Hillel resident Eran Benedek, recited a psalm in Hebrew and English.
“Traditionally in times of grief as well as times of joy, Jews have reflected on their scripture,” Ginsberg told those gathered.
UMass junior Communications and Psychology double major Jason Moldov sang the Star-Spangled Banner, and UMass student Avi Wolf sang the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikva.”
Ginsberg commented that the Israeli anthem was especially appropriate for last night’s occasion.
“‘Hatikva’ translates as ‘the hope’,” he said.
