12 | OCTOBER 17 • 2024 J
N

T

he Ann Arbor Jewish community was 
all hands on deck in commemorating 
one year since the Oct. 7 massacre in 
Israel. On Sunday, Oct. 6, supporters gathered at 
the Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann 
Arbor. On Monday, Oct. 7, a daylong event was 
held on the University of Michigan Diag.
Mari Aiudi Pattipati, Director of Cultural 
Arts and Education at the Ann Arbor 
JCC, played a pivotal role in planning and 
delivering both commemorative events.
The Sunday event was filled with art, music, 
film and speakers — and countless ways to 
connect and hold space for all the uncharted 
emotions and experiences of a year at war.
Monday on the U-M Diag was reserved for 
the exhibition “One Year Since.” At 6 p.m. a 
formal community gathering was held that 
presented both in-person speakers as well as 
digital content. The Diag was packed with 
hundreds of people of all ages. Many students 
were in attendance and in visible solidarity 
with one another.
A poignant moment at the assembly was 
when the words were read of Hersh Goldberg-
Polin’s mother, Rachel Goldberg, written 
67 days into her son’s captivity, long before 
he was brutally executed by Hamas. Rachel 
imagined a shared future with a Palestinian 
mother where the two grow old together in 
friendship and in peace and witness their 
children themselves become parents. 
Noa Reuveni and Shay Raz, both Israeli, 

joined both events in person. Shay shared his 
story of the military response to the Oct. 7 
terrorist attack on Israel and the war since. 
Noa shared the story of her best friend and 
his twin brother, Gali and Ziv Berman, who 
are both believed to still be living hostages in 
Gaza. She pleaded at great depth that they not 
be forgotten. 

Correction: In “Together We Rise” (Oct. 10, page 
17), the student president of U-M’s Jewish Resource 
Center should have been identified as Dani Portnoy.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY YEVGENIYA GAZMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

Two Days 
of Reflection in 
Ann Arbor

Hundreds attended 
the ceremony on the 
U-M Diag on Oct. 7.

Noa Reuveni holds 
a poster of twin 
brothers Gali and Ziv 
Berman who remain 
captives in Gaza.

Shay Raz spoke 
of his service in 
the IDF.

