Members of the community at the “Sixth Shabbat without our loved ones” demonstration outside of the UO Lillis Business Complex on Nov. 17. (Alex Hernandez/Emerald)

On Friday, Nov. 17, local Jewish organizations Oregon Hillel and the Chabad Jewish Center of Eugene hosted an event on the Memorial Quad lawn to recognize and raise awareness for the 240 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during a raid last month on Oct. 7.

The event consisted of roughly 50 people, with two booths set up for letter writing and religious symbol making. Two police officers were also present, as well as two UOPD vehicles.

Luda Isakharov, former ASUO president and co-chair of the Chabad Board, said there were several goals for the event.

“I think as Jewish students, we’ve been really struggling with a lot of people either knowing someone who was affected in Israel by the war or personally knows someone who knows someone,” she said.

Isakharov said that the purpose of having the event in the middle of campus was to show “students you’re not alone.”

The conflict has prompted numerous student demonstrations in recent weeks, including a UO rally in support of Palestine that took place on Nov. 10.

Rayna Davis, a senior at UO, was attending the event as a member of both Chabad and Hillel. “The goal of the event is just to spread awareness,” Davis said. “This is the sixth Shabbat, which is a Jewish event that happens every Friday without them, and we just want to bring awareness to what’s going on and hopefully to bring them [the Israeli hostages] home safely.”

Davis said that, in addition to the guest speakers, the event has an exhibition aimed at informing people on what is going on and tables where they “have letter writings to soldiers.”

“It’s really meaningful to see everyone coming together and hopefully just have these hostages come home safely,” Davis said.