In Tenafly, empty Shabbat table will offer 220 seats for Hamas hostages, including a local
As the afternoon turns to dusk on Friday, volunteers in Tenafly will set a table to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath for 220 guests, knowing that none of them will show up.
They will put out the challah, or traditional braided bread, a Kiddush cup for the blessing over grape juice or wine, and candlesticks so that candles will be lit to usher in the Sabbath.
On each seat will be a photo of one of the hostages taken captive in Israel in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
The event was inspired by a similar installation last week at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. That gesture has been repeated around the world, including in Rome's Jewish Quarter, on Australia's Bondi Beach and in Beverly Hills. New York's Times Square was set to host its own "Empty Chair, Broken Hearts" display on Thursday night.
Tenafly's Edan Alexander among the missing
The attack by Hamas felt personal in this tightknit community, where the large Jewish population has many close ties to Israel. Among those abducted were 19-year-old Edan Alexander, a Tenafly High School graduate and the son of Israeli parents. He was serving in the Israeli army near Gaza when the attack occurred and has been missing since Oct. 7.
The Hamas attack killed more than 1,400 people and wounded more than 5,400, according to the Israeli government. Israel's airstrikes in Gaza have killed more than 6,500 Palestinians and wounded 17,000, according to the latest tally from Hamas' Health Ministry.
At the Tenafly setting, each seat will bear a photo of one of the hostages, who include both young Israelis and the elderly. Among the vacant seats will be highchairs for babies who were taken.
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Several Jewish organizations, including the Chabad of Tenafly, Kaplen JCC of Tenafly and Temple Sinai, are participating in the event, but the organizers said they hope to draw many of their non-Jewish neighbors to the communal Sabbath service as well.
Four hostages released by Hamas
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-Wyckoff, met with the Alexander family on Monday. Yael Alexander, Edan's mother, told the Bergen County congressman that her son was working on the border near Gaza when Hamas attacked. On Wednesday, his parents traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with officials and push for more action to bring the hostages home.
Gottheimer said in a statement that he has been in "constant contact with the State Department to provide any support that we can to help ensure Edan’s safe return." He said he was working to "spread awareness about Edan’s kidnapping by brutal Hamas terrorists. No family should ever have to experience this unfathomable pain."
Yael Alexander has said she last spoke to her son the morning of Oct. 7, when he was guarding the border near Gaza. He told her, "It's like World War II here," she recalled in an interview with NBC this week.
The Alexanders are holding out hope that their son will be returned to the United States, just as two hostages from Illinois, Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, were last week. Two Israeli women — Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and Nurit Cooper, 79 — were released Tuesday.
"It gave me hope," Edan's 17-year-old sister, Mika, said of the releases.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect security concerns by the organizers of the vigil.
Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: yellin@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Empty Shabbat table in NJ will set 220 seats for Hamas hostages
