Thousands of people participated Monday night in a central Selichot ceremony held at the Western Wall Plaza in memory of those murdered and fallen, since the morning of Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023.
During the ceremony, a unique Torah scroll, written over the past year in memory of the victims of the massacre and war, was dedicated. The Torah scroll was donated by Haim Taib and was written in recent months by bereaved families, hostages, and wounded IDF soldiers at various locations around the country, including the Nova festival compound and kibbutzim and other communities near the Gaza border.
The event was attended by families of hostages, bereaved families whose loved ones fell in battle since October 7th, and IDF reservists.
A particularly emotional moment occurred during the ceremony when the children of Yossi Hershkovitz, Hy”d, who fell in battle in Gaza, and the children of Eitan Naaman, Hy”d, who fell at the start of the war, recited the Kadish (Mourner’s Prayer).
The event was attended by the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Yosef, the Admor of Nadvorna; Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites; Minister of Religious Affairs Rabbi Michael Malchieli; Health Minister Rabbi Uriel Buso; Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon; Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Yehuda Avidan; Director General of the Chief Rabbinate Yehuda Cohen; and Director of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation Mordechai (Suli) Eliav, along with a large crowd.
Those gathered offered prayers for the success of IDF soldiers and security forces fighting on various fronts, for the swift return of the hostages, for the healing of the wounded, and for peace and security in Israel.
At least 1,200 people were slaughtered on October 7, many more were wounded and 251 others were abducted by the invading Hamas-led terrorists who dragged them in Gaza captivity. Since that day, more than 700 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting to free the hostages and eliminate the terrorist threat on Israel’s southern and northern borders once and for all.
The Israel Defense Forces this week published the names of 730 soldiers, officers and reservists, including dozens of local security officers, who have been killed in the Iron Swords War. More than 302 of the dead were killed on October 7, 2023, during clashes with the invading terrorists in areas along Israel’s border with Gaza. At least 348 soldiers have since been killed in the ongoing ground offensive that followed the invasion and slaughter.
Israel Police has also listed 58 officers who were killed confronting the terrorists on that first day. One officer was killed during a subsequent hostage rescue operation in Gaza. Five officers have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and in Judea and Samaria; three other officers were killed during military operations against the terrorists in Judea and Samaria.
