This Saturday, October 7th, 2023, in the midst of religious festivities, a terrorist group called Hamas began a series of coordinated, inhuman attacks against Israeli civilians. Hamas focused its hatred on children, mothers, fathers, grandparents, brothers, and sisters. They acted with hatred towards ordinary human beings just for being Jewish. 

It's time to come together, speak up, and say No. We have to scream at the top of our lungs that we are Jewish and that we will not surrender that easily. Israel is our home, our place in this world, and we will stand by it. Always. It's time to demonstrate that we are a community that shares the same history, strength, passion, and love. This is the time to stand up and say no to Antisemitism, no to hate. It’s time to stop the terror and advocate for peace. 

This is our time to fight and shout at the world, “NEVER AGAIN.” Never again terrorism, never again violence, never again Antisemitism, never again hatred. We want peace in Israel, in our land, the land of our ancestors, and the land of our future descendants. We are Jewish, we are strong, we support each other, and today, more than ever, we are united as one.

I want to share a story about a Rabbi in the Holocaust, Nir Lav. He and his brother, Naftali, were deported to a concentration camp known as “Buchenwald.” Years later, after the war ended, the last night that Naftali stayed in Buchenwald, he told Nir these words: “Before I say goodbye, I want you to never forget something, please listen to me. I want you to repeat these two words that I’m going to say to you: listen carefully, Eretz Israel. There’s a place in this world that’s called “Eretz Israel.” From there, we got expelled, and to that place, we will return. Repeat with me, and never forget those two words. Eretz Israel.”

Eretz Israel is our land, is our home, and like Naftali said that night, we have returned to our land, and we will never let it go. Israel is the only Jewish country in the world, and it’s our responsibility to support and stand by it. We must have hope. We defeated the Roman Empire, and we are still here. We defeated the nazis, and we are still here. We’ve been through hate, terror, and an inexplicable pain, but we are still here, and we will also be here after this.

The Israeli flag will rise again, the Hatikva will be sung again, our story will stay marked in this world, and we, the Jewish people, will get out of this stronger than ever. The lost lives will be honored and remembered; we will pray for the Israeli soldiers and the people who got injured by this catastrophe. We will defend our land together. We will be okay, Israel will be okay, because we want family, not guns. We want happiness, not hate, and we want love, not terror.

It’s our responsibility as young leaders to not let history repeat itself. It’s our responsibility to continue with the legacy that our ancestors left us. The legacy that each of the survivors from the attacks of hatred towards the Jewish people left us. The legacy was handed down to us by our great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents. It’s up to us to change the future. It’s up to us not to let it be forgotten what our people went through and how much they suffered in honor of those who are no longer here, in honor of the Israeli soldiers who died protecting our country. 

For the future Israelis and all the future Jews so that the world never forgets who we are and our history. 

It is up to us. Here and now. For our country, for our story, for our people, for our family, and for the future generations to come. I shout, Am Israel Chai.