On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Ronny Almog awoke and checked Facebook and Israeli news on his computer and quickly realized something was wrong.

“I called my mom in Israel, and I told her, it seems like there is a very intense war,” said Almog, who lives in Hatfield with his husband, Emil Ray. “She said, ‘I’m not allowed to tell you, but Menny died,’ and Menny was my parents’ best friend.”

Not only were Menny and Ayelet Godard killed by Hamas that day on the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel, but Almog’s cousin Chen and three of her children were kidnapped and taken to Gaza as hostages, while Chen’s husband and oldest daughter were killed in the attack. Chen and her other children were eventually freed as part of a hostage deal 50 days later.

Since the war began between Israel and Hamas one year ago, the Pioneer Valley’s Jewish community has been left to grapple with personal loss, heightened fears of antisemitism and divisions over views on the war. Some have continued their support of Israel, while others already sympathetic to the Palestinian cause have furthered their protest and activism.

At the Congregation B’nai Israel synagogue on Monday, 200 people took part in a service honoring those killed one year ago and also to pray for the return of the remaining 101 hostages taken that day. The names of Israeli victims, including Israeli Defense Force police and security forces, killed on or since Oct. 7 were read out loud. A mourner’s kaddish, or Jewish hymn praising God, was performed during the service, as was Hatikvah, the national anthem of Israel.

Almog and Ray attended the service, as did Henia Lewin, an 84-year-old Holocaust survivor whose family had been forced to live in a ghetto in Lithuania by occupying Nazi troops before she was sheltered by a Catholic family. Though Lewin often gives lectures on her own survival experiences and is comfortable talking about it, discussing the current violence in Israel brings a much different story.

“This year has been horrible. I can’t contain my emotions, there’s so much crying,” Lewin said.

Lewin said she worried about reports she had heard of increasing antisemitism at schools as well as for her cousin Shoshana, who lives in Israel in a city outside of Tel Aviv.

“It’s Jewish mothers like me worrying about their children, their families,” Lewin said. “To have people demonstrating against little Israel instead of demonstrating against Hamas ... do you know they are the perpetrators? Their people are suffering because of them.”

Elsewhere, other Jewish residents have instead joined in numerous protests against Israel, condemning the more than 40,000 Palestinian lives lost since the start of the war and blaming the Israeli government and leaders like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the bloodshed. Organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports solidarity with Palestinians, have held numerous protests in the Pioneer Valley since the start of the war.

Maddie Zayeet, a Northampton resident and longtime member of Jewish Voice for Peace who has visited Israel and Palestinian territories many times in the past, said the current war and Israel’s escalation of violence has further solidified her beliefs.

“I’m more committed than ever in the struggle for Palestinian freedom, for security and justice,” Zayeet said.

Zayeet said it was her values as a Jewish woman that drove her to condemn Israel’s war in Gaza.

“As a Jew, this goes against the Jewish values of justice, of sanctity of life, and we just have to say as strongly as possible, ‘Not in our name,’” Zayeet said. “We cannot conflate antisemitism with criticism of the Israeli apartheid regime.”

For Almog and Ray, the attacks on Oct. 7 are less about politics and more about grieving over personal loss.

“Sometimes it feels like people are twisting everything, and it seems like the world has evolved into extremes, extreme rights and extreme lefts,” Ray said. “They seem to think they are correct and opposing each other, but sometimes it feels like they’re on the same team, all throwing fuel in the fire.”

Throughout their time, Almog and Ray said they’ve taken comfort in the support they’ve received from their local community.

“We moved here two years ago and we were so lonely at the beginning,” Almog said. “It was so important to meet people. We would not have survived otherwise.”

Commemorations like the one in Northampton on Monday were part of more events held locally across North America, with the goal of bringing together Jewish communities, religious leaders and civic leaders, according to the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, which sponsored the gathering in Northampton and a simultaneous one at Temple Beth El in Springfield.

“October 7th was a turning point in modern Jewish history, and it is vital that we come together to remember those we lost and express our unwavering solidarity with our friends and family in Israel,” Nora Gorenstein, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, said in a statement. “The story of the Jewish people is one of overcoming adversity, facing impossible odds and coming out stronger. As we commemorate this painful anniversary, we reaffirm our community’s strength and our commitment to standing united in the face of antisemitism.”

In addition to honoring the memories of those lost in the Oct. 7 attack and to work to bring hostages home, the Jewish Federation said that over the past year, the Jewish community in western Massachusetts has raised $658,843 for the Jewish Federations of North America’s Israel Emergency Fund, which supports first responders, displaced Israelis and critical rebuilding efforts. The community has also organized rallies, car parades, and vigils for the hostages and loved ones in Israel.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.