Members of the University of Mississippi Hillel, a Jewish campus organization, held candles and offered prayers for Israelis, Palestinians and peace in a vigil held at the Paris-Yates Chapel on Thursday, Oct 12.
“We are all mourning right now. We are all in shock that this is going on. We have had anti-Semitic threats around campus,” President of UM Hillel Isabella Gadberry said. “We are just trying to stick together and show that we care throughout this very tough time. We are praying for both Israel and Palestine and the people affected.”
Two university police officers provided security for the event. The candlelight vigil comes on the heels of an unprecedented attack against Israel from Hamas, a Palestinian military organization that the United States and much of the international community has designated as a terrorist organization.
Hamas fighters killed over 1,200 people, and Israel’s bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip in retaliation has killed a total of 1,537 people, including 447 children. Israel’s military says that it is preparing for a potential ground assault in Gaza to, in the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “crush and destroy” Hamas.
Hamas also took at least 64 Israeli hostages.
“I’m praying for their safety, and hoping and praying for them to come home. It is a scary time and I can’t imagine what they’re going through,” Gadberry said.
Jason Solinger is an associate professor of English and the faculty adviser for UM Hillel.
“A lot of people are hurting right now. Watching the news and reading the newspaper is hard. Our vigil was an opportunity to come together as a community and share our pain,” Solinger said.
Gadberry read a prayer from the Evangelical Christian nonprofit organization World Relief alongside a protection prayer for Israel in wartime and the Mi Shebeirach, a traditional Hebrew prayer for healing.
“We read a Hebrew prayer of healing and an English prayer for the safety and well-being of people in Israel and Gaza. It was really moving.” Solinger said. “People cried together, and I think that’s important for our students, many of whom are far from home — not only from all parts of the United States but from all over the world, including Israel.”
Gil Meron, a junior finance major, is one such student. Born in Jerusalem, Meron has served in the Israeli Defense Forces, and he has many friends currently enlisted in the IDF and family members living in Israel.
“It’s easier to process everything when you share the pain with other people,” Meron said. “It’s hard as a Jew outside of Israel, because there’s not always going to be a community. If you’re in New York, New Jersey or California, you’ll find a community very easily, but not so much in places like this (Oxford).”
Meron shared his concern for the safety of his friends on the front line and the importance of hosting the vigil.
“Now, we are entering a state of war, which is a different struggle because you constantly worry about your friends on the front line, and not so much about your family,” Meron said. “We have to keep educating others. We have to keep talking about it and be vocal. We cannot hide. That’s why it’s really important that we come together.”
Abigail Meisel, an instructor in writing and rhetoric at UM, urged people to remove politics from the process of honoring and mourning the dead.
“You can mourn for the Jews who were slaughtered without feeling that you are compromising your allegiance to anyone else,” Meisel said.
