October 7, One Year Later

One year ago marked the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. And a year later, the pain of that day has not subsided, in no small part because we are still very much in trauma: hostages are still being held captive, the war is ongoing and expanding on multiple fronts, and innocent lives are still being taken, all while hate and extremism grow here at home.

As we consider the weight of this anniversary – along with the spike in antisemitism in our local communities since that day – it’s easy to feel alone. 

At JCPA, our organizing philosophy is that Jews are safest in a healthy, thriving democracy in which all communities are safe — and that fighting antisemitism, and all forms of hate and extremism, is inherent to protecting our democracy. We know this from our lived experience and we know this from empirical fact.

That is why, over the last year, the most extreme voices have worked overtime to pit our communities against one another and make us feel isolated. It’s not accidental; rather, it’s a deliberate strategy to exploit the pain of this moment to advance their own cynical and dangerous agendas.

As dark and challenging as this past year has often been, our work to advance a different approach has achieved some bright points of light — providing us hope at a time when it’s desperately needed.

In the past year, we have launched JCPA’s new Action Networks to Protect Democracy and to Combat Hate and Bigotry. We have convened Jewish Community Relations Councils and other partners from around the country to organize against antisemitism and hate, and we have built bridges with other marginalized communities. We’ve established strong relationships with officials in the White House and Congress, and we have partnered with leaders across communities to effectively tell the story of the deep interconnection between Jewish safety and inclusive, pluralistic democracy.

This painful anniversary is a reminder of how essential this work is — and how we can’t give up on it despite the most extreme voices telling us to do so. And there is so much more that remains to be done.

So as we look to the year ahead — the second year of this pain and trauma, but also a new Jewish year and all the hope that comes with it — we know what the path forward looks like. And if we continue to work together, to build bridges and coalitions across lines of difference, to tell a different story than the most extreme voices, we will be in a stronger and safer position next October 7th.

In gratitude,

Amy Spitalnick
CEO

Leslie Dannin Rosenthal
Board Chair