Around 150 students, faculty and community members gathered near Tommy Trojan Monday night for “USC Remembers: October 7th,” an event commemorating the anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Israel last year, which killed 1,200 people and took approximately 250 people hostage. 

Speakers shared their memories of where they were Oct. 7 and how important the Jewish community at USC has been for them in the past year. The Hillel House Band performed Hebrew songs and a TV screen played testimonies of people who survived the Oct. 7 attacks. USC Hillel, Chabad of USC, the Shoah Foundation, Trojans for Israel, USC Tikvah, Hebrew Union College and the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life hosted the event.

Will Erens, a board member of Trojans for Israel and a senior majoring in political economy, said he attended the event to reflect, celebrate and remember alongside the Jewish community at USC. He said the event was not only for the Israeli hostages but for the hostages of over 40 nationalities that were killed by Hamas Oct. 7. 

Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.

“[We’re here] to come to reflect, to mourn, to grieve, to remember,” Erens said. “[We were] I thought, pretty divided a year ago, and after what happened on October 7 we’ve come together and become a much stronger community,” Erens said.

Dave Cohn, the executive director of USC Hillel, opened the event. He said the space was not only “a house of mourning,” but also one “of memory, of heroism, of resilience, of hope and of transcendence.” He also said that while the past year demanded that Jewish people “stand up for our rights simply to be as Jews,” it had also brought them closer together as a community. 

“We commemorate a year in our own communal and human experience that defies comparison,” Cohen said. “We see and hold the common humanity of those who died on October 7, including Jews and non-Jews … we hold too that the past year has incurred an untold human toll in lost Palestinian lives.”

Matan Yaniv, a junior majoring in cinematic arts, film and television production, shared his perspective as an international student from Israel. He said being in the United States made him feel helpless when he heard about the Oct. 7 attacks, and that when he turned to his friends for help, many gave him the silent treatment, leading him to rely on the community he found at Chabad.

“My friends, look to your right and look to your left,” Yaniv said. “These are the people you want. These are the people we need by our side, especially tonight. Don’t rely too much on anyone else. Rely on your Jewish brothers and sisters … they all know what you’re going through.”

Varun Soni, dean of religious and spiritual life, spoke at the event. He said he had never seen such a “vibrant, engaged [and] passionate” Jewish community on campus, and reminded participants that they were all interconnected to each other, USC and their community. 

“The relationships that formed this year amidst shared struggle will be the ones that ultimately change the world,” Soni said. “Please remember that there is a reason you are all here at USC, and that is to meet each other, to walk alongside each other, to show up for each other, to see yourselves in each other and ultimately, to love each other.” 

Noa Friedland, a senior majoring in business administration, and Elia Groode, a senior majoring in law, history and culture, were two of the student speakers.

After spending a “life changing three months in Tel Aviv,” Friedland said that when she returned to her “home away from home” after the Oct. 7 attacks, it was to an Israel she “no longer [recognized].” 

Groode said her friend’s younger brother had been killed while serving the Israeli military, and that every Israeli she knew had suffered as a result of Oct. 7. 

“There is never a justification for the brutal slaughter of innocent lives, much less taking pride in it,” Groode said. “What hurts the most is seeing some of my own peers, like today’s protesters, chanting slogans of hate that call for genocide of Jews. Unfortunately, the sentiment is all too familiar.” 

“It will never be easy to be Jewish,” Friedland said. “It will never be easy to be a Zionist.”