Turning October 7 into a Global Jewish Intergenerational Memory

Every generation’s leaders serve as ‘memory agents’ – they bear responsibility for bridging the inherited past with the future that the next generation will create. These ‘memory agents’ are tasked with making ancient Jewish memory relevant for the current generation in real time and adding on new layers based on the unfolding present story. Today, our Jewish leadership faces a new ‘memory challenge.’

As such, ANU: Museum of the Jewish People and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History convened select Israeli and American Jewish thought leaders to develop insights on two questions; First: what are the principles for transforming a Jewish tragedy into a memory that offers value and meaning for generations?; Second: how can we mark the 1st yahrzeit as a global Jewish people? The thinking group embarked on this task acknowledging that while much of the memory work is for generations to come, the current leadership has to play a role in the present.