CORRECTION [10/8/2025, 11:50 p.m.]: A previous version of this article misspelled Maya Biton’s last name.
On the lawn below Storke Tower, around 80 people gathered for a vigil marking two years since the attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas on Oct. 7. Organized by Students Supporting Israel, Chabad at UC Santa Barbara, Mishelanu at UCSB and Santa Barbara Hillel, the vigil remembered those lost with eulogies, song and prayer.
SSI held a vigil in remembrance of the victims of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
Shengyu Zhang / Daily Nexus
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, attacked a music festival in Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel responded with airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, displacing most of the 2.3 million population of Gaza and killing over 67,000 Palestinians.
The vigil began around 6:20 p.m. and lasted roughly 40 minutes. A table, covered by a tablecloth with the names of the roughly 1,200 victims, displayed signs with messages such as “Hashem Loves You,” and “Let There Be Light,” as well as flowers with the names of the remaining 48 hostages held by Hamas.
Before the vigil began, a man riding by on a bike shouted, “You all, you all, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.”
A number of attendees wore metal necklaces decorated with yellow ribbon pins, a symbol calling for the release of hostages, with the message “Bring Them Home” written in English and Hebrew.
First to speak was Shay Probstein, the Israel fellow with Santa Barbara Hillel, who stated, “This evening is about life.” Following Probstein, another organizer recited a Bracha, a prayer of faith and unity.
Many SSI members read eulogies, poems and sang songs to honor the victims. Shengyu Zhang / Daily Nexus
Next, organizers sang “Million Stars,” “Shaar Harachamim” and “Ani Ve’ata” and eulogized specific victims of the attacks, some of them friends and family of the speakers. Justin Shirazian, third-year biology major and president of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) at UCSB, shared the story of Maya Biton and Eliran Mizrahi, who were killed at the Nova Music Festival.
“I believe these incredible souls should not be remembered by how they left, but rather, should be remembered by how they left the world,” Shirazian said. “They lived beautiful lives, giving their hearts to those around them, and even now, their deeds live on thousands of miles from Israel.”
Next, second-year English major Maya Kaye read a poem titled “If Tomorrow I Die” by Liran Danino.
“If tomorrow I die, remember not only the pain of my departure, but the blessing of my presence, for love is stronger than death and memory is stronger than silence,” Kaye read.
The vigil ended after all the previous speakers gathered together with their arms over each other’s shoulders to sing the Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. All attendees were then invited to dinner at Chabad.
In an interview with the Nexus, fourth-year physiology major and Mishelanu board member Itai Salomon said the purpose of the vigil was to remember those lost on Oct. 7.
“I’ve seen, while standing back here, a lot of people just riding around, riding on the bike, and just listening and joining maybe,” Salomon said. “I want all of them to kind of grasp all the stories and remember the people we love, and remember that this vigil was not about politics as much as it was about honoring lives.”
Fourth-year biology major and President of Chabad, Yael Pasternak, said she felt Oct. 7 had strengthened and united the Jewish community.
“I think it took that defining moment to bring us back together and to make us such a big community again,” Pasternak said. “I think the more hate we get, the stronger we are and the closer we are to one another.”
Santa Barbara City College student Guy Kedem, who has cousins in Israel, similarly felt the attacks were a unifying event for the Jewish community.
“[Oct. 7 was] a horrible, traumatic terror, but at the same time, what that does is [it] brings people together,” Kedem said. “I think even as awful as it is, it has brought the community together more, and that’s what you’re seeing today.”
The vigil ended after all the previous speakers gathered together with their arms over each other’s shoulders to sing the Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. Shengyu Zhang / Daily Nexus
In March, both the Department of Justice and the Department of Education began investigations into complaints of antisemitism at UCSB and other schools. Shirazian said a friend of his was the victim of antisemitism when someone left a trail of pennies outside his doorway. Despite instances like this, Shirazian said he still feels UCSB is much better compared to many other campuses.
“When I go on the news and I see college campuses around the world, I’m very thankful for the community we have at UCSB,” Shirazian said. “I’m very happy that the majority of students here at UCSB are very kind to us and very warm-hearted, and they see no boundaries. We just see students.”
The nearby “Vigil For Our Martyrs,” held by UCSB Students for Justice in Palestine at the same time as the Oct. 7 vigil, elicited mixed emotions from attendees like Kedem, who felt it could have been held on another day.
“I have a lot of compassion for the Palestinians and for everything that’s happened to them. On the other hand, I think they could have done it on any other day,” Kedem said.
Shirazian said he hopes attendees sympathize with the stories of the victims and continue to stand against antisemitism.
“I hope they connected with any of the stories we talked about,” Shirazian said. “I hope that they understand that antisemitism is real and that we can’t forget this tragedy, because then when we do forget it, it’s bound to happen again.”
A version of this article appeared on p. 1 of the Oct. 9, 2025 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
