Following the events of Oct. 7th, misinformation and denial have proliferated, particularly on college campuses across the nation. The “Faces of October Seventh” project was created to combat this by bringing first-hand testimonies of what happened on that day, to Jewish communities and campuses across the U.S.
Through their work, “Faces of October Seventh” sends survivors of the attacks into cities to share their stories. This weekend, on Sunday, Feb 18, at Washington University’s Seigle Hall, Gal Cohen-Solal, from Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel, will share his harrowing experience in St. Louis.
Gal Cohen-Solal
Gal Cohen-Solal, 37, is the general manager of a cosmetics company. He and his wife Ayana live at Kibbutz Reim with their three children. On Oct. 7, he was in his house when over 60 terrorists entered the kibbutz. For almost 30 hours, Cohen-Solal and his family hid in a safe room while the terrorists attempted to break into his house and shot at him and his family. During this time, there was an ongoing standoff between the terrorists and security forces right outside his window.
This is just part of the story he will tell Sunday in St. Louis.
“We are excited to bring Mr. Cohen-Solal to campus so that students will be able to meet and interact with a real-life person who survived Hamas’s attacks,” said Eden Yair, Israel Fellow to Chabad at Washington University. “It’s so important that students receive information from accurate sources rather than relying solely on social media platforms.”
Faces of October Seventh
In their mission statement posted online, Faces of October Seventh says it hopes to foster these personal connections between communities and victims to humanize the impact of Oct. 7 beyond mere statistics and challenge the support Hamas gained especially from Generation Z.
“It is very important to bear witness to the inspirational journey of survivors such as Gal Cohen-Solal, which is a testament to personal courage, human resilience and unwavering faith,” said Rabbi Hershey Novak, Co-Director of Chabad at WashU.
What you need to know
What: Survived: The Courageous Story of Gal Cohen-Solal
When: Sunday. Feb. 18 at 6 p.m.
Where: Washington University’s Seigle Hall, Fraternity Way, 63105
The general public and members of the university community are invited to come to this talk to hear his story of survival and faith, and what it means to stand up for being Jewish. The event is free, but registration is required.
For students and members of the university community, you can register online at www.chabadwashu.org/faces. Members of the general community should contact Rabbi Hershey Novack via email at [email protected].
