1,000 days ago, on October 6, 2023, my family and friends told stories in a sukkah, enjoying each other’s company. We did not expect time to tragically stop, for normalcy to become a foreign word, for our faraway family to be torn from us by monsters. 

That same day in Israel at 6:30 AM local time, Hamas and Palestinian factions coordinated a deadly onslaught from the Gaza Strip by land, air, and sea. 251 individuals were taken hostage and 1,200 were murdered by savagery. 

Not by coincidence, the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust took place on Shemini Atzeret, following the seven days of Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret is a meaningful day of rest and connection to the transcendence of God. After this day follows Simchat Torah, a day of joy and celebration when the Torah-reading cycle concludes and restarts. This expected festive transition of laughter, song, and study fractured into disbelief, emptiness, and endless mourning. For 1,000 days,........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)