The Jewish Community Needs You to Grieve with Us

Thursday, after a despicable propaganda ceremony in Gaza, Hamas terrorists returned the bodies of Oded Lifshitz, kidnapped at 85 years old and murdered in captivity, and Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were just four and nine months old when they too were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023. In a cruel act, the fourth body promised to be that of Ariel and Kfir’s mom, Shiri Bibas, did not match her DNA or that of any known hostage. Shiri’s remains were finally returned on Friday.

Forever burned in the minds and hearts of everyone who watched the video is the image of Shiri, holding her two babies in her arms, surrounded by armed terrorists – fear and confusion on her face. The youngest hostages, each with bright red hair, clinging to their mom. A pacifier in Ariel’s mouth. Kidnapped separately, Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband, was released earlier this month after 483 days in hell.

In the months since Oct. 7, Jewish communities have had to face dual traumas – the impact of the attacks themselves and then the isolation and hurt that stemmed from the justification and even outright denial of them, even though Oct. 7 is among the most well-documented terrorist attacks in history, recorded by the terrorists themselves. Not only do most American Jews have direct connections with people who were injured, murdered or kidnapped, we are also experiencing an unprecedented surge in antisemitism. There have also been more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in the year since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. This is the highest number of incidents ever recorded in any single year period since ADL started tracking in 1979, representing an over 200% increase compared to the incidents reported to us during the same period a year before.