To mark the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks, members of Binghamton University’s Jewish community gathered on Thursday to remember the lives lost in Israel while calling for the return of all remaining deceased hostages in Gaza.

Held in the Mandela Room, the vigil was organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton, Hillel, Chabad, the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, MEOR, Stand With Us, the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York and the BU Zionist Organization. Students, faculty, University administrators and Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar were among the attendees. BUZO also held a walkthrough memorial on Oct. 7, 2025 to commemorate the second anniversary of the attacks.

“Two years and nine days ago, our lives changed forever,” Mackenzie Cooper ‘25, BUZO’s vice president and a first-year graduate student studying public administration, said at the vigil. “Oct. 7, 2023 will always be etched in our collective memory as a day of unimaginable pain and loss, the day when thousands of innocent lives were shattered, families torn apart and entire communities left in mourning.”

Last week, Hamas released the 20 remaining living hostages back to Israel as part of the “first phase” of a larger peace deal. Cooper said it represented a “glimmer of hope” and quoted part of a speech made by Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose 23-year-old son, Hersh, was taken hostage and killed in Gaza, where she referenced part of the Tanakh and said “there is a time to sob, and there is a time to dance, and we have to do both right now.”

A moment of silence was held to honor the lives lost and those still waiting for the return of loved ones. After reciting both the American and Israeli national anthems, organizers lit candles symbolizing each Israeli kibbutz that came under attack on Oct. 7.

About 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage during the attacks. Most of the victims were Israeli citizens.

Organizers at the vigil then played a video filmed by the parents of Omer Neutra, a Long Island native who deferred his admission to the University to serve in the Israeli military.

In February 2024, BUZO and Stand With Us, an Israeli nonprofit organization, organized a show of solidarity [HYPERLINK: https://www.bupipedream.com/news/campus-news/at-recent-basketball-game-zionist-organization-led-show-of-solidarity-with-omer-neutra/147826/] with Neutra’s family at a University basketball game.

That December, community members held a memorial service [HYPERLINK: https://www.bupipedream.com/news/community-mourns-accepted-student-omer-neutra/160012/] to grieve his death after the Israel Defense Forces reported that Neutra was killed fighting Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

Two of Neutra’s close friends then lit a candle in his honor.

Angelina Palumbo, the president of BUZO and a senior majoring in Judaic studies, introduced Atir Vinnikov, 25, a survivor of the Nova music festival attack on Oct. 7.

“His incredible story and the return of all living hostages give us all hope for the future as we stand together for the peace and safety of our local Jewish community and of all those [affected] by the past two years of horrific conflict,” Akshar said in a statement to Pipe Dream.

Vinnikov was born in Israel and is currently a graduate student at Reichman University, located in the Tel Aviv District.

He described his experience at the festival in the early morning hours when the initial missile strikes were launched, which he said quickly escalated. After being picked up by two strangers who also attended the music festival, Vinnikov soon left the vehicle as one of the main roads was blocked.

He began to run eastward into the surrounding fields when he ran into other people fleeing. A few miles from the festival site, he and a few others stumbled upon a farm, where Thai workers stood with face coverings to protect against the heat. Fearing they were members of Hamas, the group took a detour to find a place to hide. After initially hiding in the neighboring greenhouse, they went out and met Yunis Alkarnawi, a Bedouin Muslim man who sheltered them inside.

An hour later, Vinnikov and the others hid underneath the building after Alkarnawi warned them that several men with guns were approaching. According to Vinnikov, Alkarnawi told the armed men there was nobody else on the farm with him, and after fifteen minutes of arguing, the men left.

He said his harrowing experience taught him several lessons, including the importance of believing in yourself, making rational decisions and not judging those who might be different.

“That morning, my life was saved by a Muslim Bedouin named Yunis,” Vinnikov said. “A man who, on paper, is completely different from what I am. This man didn’t wake up that morning and tell himself, ‘I’m going to be a hero.’ When it mattered most, he didn’t see me as a stranger.”

Vigil attendees then prayed on behalf of those who lost their lives, the State of Israel and the IDF. A prayer for the return of the remaining deceased hostages was also recited.

In her closing speech, Rivkah Slonim, co-director of Chabad, showed the “Pale Blue Dot,” a famous image taken by the Voyager 1 space probe showing Earth as a small circle in the dark abyss of outer space. She read an excerpt written by astronomer Carl Sagan about the photo where he described that blue dot as being home to “everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was.”

Slonim said that the lives of every hostage matter and told the audience to “live each day to our fullest.”

Earlier in the day, a memorial was set up in the Mandela Room from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nineteen chairs were set up with the photos of the remaining deceased hostages still held in Gaza as of Oct. 16. A memorial table with 1,200 flowers was displayed to remember the lives lost on Oct. 7, 2023.

Another table had photos of Neutra along with a personal remembrance written by a close friend of his who now attends the University. A small tent was set up on the floor with various games, a pair of glasses and shoes to capture what the Nova music festival looked like when the Hamas-led attacks began.

In an interview with Pipe Dream, Cooper said she and many others in the Jewish community have tried to “channel our grief into action” over the last few years.

“It’s kept us going,” Cooper said. “Knowing that when you feel helpless, there is something you can do and there is a fight on campus for us to be had and for us to channel our grief into. Obviously, it’s upsetting that’s what we have to use as our fuel, but it definitely kept us going.”