A Look Back at October 7, and Two Years of Balancing Resilience, Grief, and Joy
Adam is a fourth-year student at Case Western Reserve University with majors in Cognitive Science and Economics and minors in Public Policy and Applied Data Science. Adam founded the Jewish Student Union at CWRU, and is the executive chair of the Hillel International Israel Leadership Network.
As we begin a new Jewish and academic year, the Jewish community at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and Cleveland Hillel feels stronger than ever. Every day the building is teeming with students looking for anything from a quick snack to a study session serenaded by a guitar-led singalong or games of pool. The community today is stronger than ever, and constantly fills me with confidence that Jewish life is thriving and growing. This sense of belonging is not accidental — it was shaped through resilience, solidarity, and leadership born out of a moment of tragedy and crisis.
It was at 11:51 p.m. on Friday, October 6, 2023 — barely 22 minutes after the first rockets were launched from Gaza at 6:29 a.m. Israel time — that my grandma texted in my extended family group chat: “Were there sirens where you all are? I heard a faraway boom.” My grandma lives in Ramat Hasharon, just north of Tel Aviv, but my extended family is spread throughout Israel, and my other grandparents live in Ashkelon, just seven miles north of the Gaza border.
I began following live updates to learn more, and soon learned gunfire had been exchanged at the central police station in Sderot. Sitting in my friend’s living room, I reread that line over and over, internalizing what it meant: Hamas had launched a full-scale invasion into Israel.
As the horrifying events of October 7, 2023 unfolded, the first person I contacted outside my family was the Jewish Agency Israel Fellow at my Hillel, Lielle. As we stayed awake that night, I told her how much I feared the repercussions of what, at that moment, felt inevitable — a ground invasion of Gaza and a drawn-out war. I worried such a war, in addition to the events of October 7 itself, would upend the lives of Jews everywhere, and that those of us on college campuses in North America would also be deeply affected.
Even before then, I was very involved in the Jewish and pro-Israel community at CWRU. I led efforts to oppose a BDS resolution in our student government in the fall of 2022, founded the CWRU Jewish Student Union the following spring, and was nominated as Case’s representative to Hillel International’s Israel Leadership Network for the 2023–24 school year. But after seeing the world’s response to October 7, including an immediate and exponential rise in antisemitism, I knew that my community and I would have to step up to support and advocate for ourselves.
In the months after the attacks, I found comfort and belonging by spending my free time at Hillel, speaking Hebrew with my Israel Fellow and surrounding myself with people who understood my grief and worry. I was not alone — as the year went on and the environment on campus grew more tense, more and more Jewish students sought refuge on the couches and beanbags of Cleveland Hillel. Recognizing that our community was a lifeline for many of us, I urged my Hillel to add an extra Bagel Brunch on Thursdays (in addition to Wednesdays), hold Shabbat dinner every week rather than biweekly, and I worked to cultivate an active social culture within the community.
In addition to wanting to support my community from within, I also felt compelled to provide a visible presence on campus as one of CWRU’s few Israeli-American students. I placed a small Israeli flag in my backpack’s side pocket as a reminder that Jews and Israelis are present and belong in our campus community as much as everyone else.
While the 2023–24 school year ended with encampments and protests, the return to campus last fall was much more positive. A large class of passionate first-years arrived eager to get involved in Jewish life. On the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks, I helped organize a joint remembrance event with my Hillel, Chabad, Jewish Student Union, Jewish Law Students Association, and Jewish faculty — an event attended by more than 100 people.
Around the same time, my friends and I began a weekly traditional-egalitarian, student-led Friday night minyan to welcome Shabbat. Others formed the habit of singing karaoke in Hillel after Shabbat dinners. What began as new ideas quickly became beloved traditions.
Now, on the two-year anniversary of October 7, with 48 hostages still held captive and war still raging in Gaza, the continued growth of my Jewish community has strengthened my ability to lead — on campus and as the executive chair of the Hillel International Israel Leadership Network. My commitment to raise awareness, advocate for the release of the hostages, and confront antisemitism and anti-Zionism in the United States has only deepened alongside this sense of communal connection and joy.
Though many challenges remain, I am profoundly grateful that a strong sense of belonging is not one of them. And as we mark two years since the horrific attacks of October 7, I offer this blessing to my friends and fellow students: may we find strength in our communities, courage in our convictions, and joy in the Jewish traditions that sustain us. May this be a year of growth, resilience, and peace for all of us.