Hundreds of Jewish New Yorkers join together in prayer to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“I think that it’s really important for every single person who cares about what’s going on in the Middle East to come out and say that this is inexcusable in the 21st century,” Taryn Fivek, a Jewish New Yorker who attended Thursday’s rally, said.

What You Need To Know

  • Thursday’s rally was led by the group "Rabbis 4 Ceasefire” and co-organized by Jewish Voice for Peace and Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, among others

  • Blocks away from the rally in Columbus Circle was the annual lighting of the world’s largest menorah on Fifth Avenue

  • Hamas killed about 1,200 people during that attack on Oct. 7. An estimated 138 hostages remain in Gaza

  • The United Nations says heavy fighting in Gaza has displaced 80 percent of the population

Dec. 7 marks two months since the Israel-Hamas war began. It’s also the first night of Hanukkah — a holiday which celebrates the perseverance of the Jewish people and the power of miracles.

“The story of Hanukkah is a story of [a] small group, trying [to] liberate themselves from an occupation and the destruction of the temple that was beautiful and loved, and I see a destruction of Gaza,” Daphna Tear, an Israeli mother who attended the rally, said.

Blocks away from the rally in Columbus Circle was the annual lighting of the world’s largest menorah on Fifth Avenue.

“Hanukkah is a reminder of the strength and resiliency and the ability to find light through darkness,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “And if ever in our history of New York we’ve needed to find light after darkness, it is right now.”

Meanwhile, Thursday’s rally was led by the group “Rabbis 4 Ceasefire.” The crowd joined together to light the first candles of their own menorah, singing songs for peace and mourning the thousands of Palestinians and Israelis who have been killed.

“As a mother, there’s nothing that devastated me more than to see another mother crying over her child, or to see a child watch your mother,” Tear said.

Hamas killed about 1,200 people during that attack on Oct. 7. An estimated 138 hostages remain in Gaza. Meanwhile, the United Nations says heavy fighting in Gaza has displaced 80% of the population.

“Oct. 7 events made all of us horrified. I have family in Israel. I grew up in Israel. It was very traumatic but I don’t think the Israeli response to the Hamas attack will end us to any safe or just future,” Amos Laor, an Israeli protestor, said.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, more than 17,000 people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since the war began.