150 Gather in Scarsdale for a Vigil for the Bibas Family in Israel

No government officials, political figures or even a rabbi led the Bibas Family Vigil held in Scarsdale Village’s Chase Park on the evening of February 26, 2025. In just 24 hours, community member Michael Levinson organized the event for other like minded locals to come together to express their horror, outrage and sadness over the deaths of Israeli hostages Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, originally taken on October 7, 2023.

In his opening statement Mr. Levinson remarked that this was not a political event and although he held his rabbi in high esteem, this was a time for the community to show each other support and mourn together. He described the event as “participatory, with no leader” and encouraged attendees to come up and share their prayers, poems and feelings. He said “sometimes we need to speak up for ourselves, become our own voice…we gather together as one person with one heart to mourn”.

Vigil attendees did come forward to speak from their hearts. One woman spoke about trained psychologists that support IDF soldiers and hostages stressing that “we are not alone”. Another spoke about how we all “need to shine more brightly in this time of darkness, shine our lights together.” Tomar Sinai, spoke the moving and sad words of Yarden Bibas, the husband and father of the murdered hostages whose bodies were returned to Israel last week. More speakers came forward including an American IDF soldier, a tween and an elderly woman who all expressed their pain and sorrow over this event. The Scarsdale community joined a movement of Bibas Family Vigils that have been happening around the globe.

Pictures of the Bibas family were held up by members of the Run 4 Their Lives Organization, Westchester Chapter (run4lives.org). Attendees were asked to wear orange and many held orange balloons. The color orange has come to represent the advocacy of the Bibas family, most likely due to the bright redheaded hair of the Bibas children.

Commenting on the vigil the following day, organizer Michael Levinson said, "“I am immensely grateful to everyone in the community who showed up at the height of rush hour, some clad in orange, some with kids in tow, some rushing from the train and weary from a long workday. We were a bit more than 150 people strong – an excellent turnout for a gathering that was planned only 24 hours earlier. It was healing and meaningful not to be alone in our sorrow, and it was particularly heartwarming that many non-Jewish members of the community came to stand by our side and cry with us. Above all, the far-reaching impact of this small gathering has been profound. Many of the participants, including my Israeli husband, and I have sent videos and photos of the gathering to our friends and families in Israel – a nation in mourning. The heartfelt gratitude the recipients of these videos and photos have expressed is as impactful for those who participated in the vigil as the footage was for the Israelis who received it. At a time when so many of us are rendered crestfallen by our news cycle and feel helpless to do anything about it, when words fail us and our resolve is tested and we feel alone – how moving to send love and support halfway around the world; how nourishing for them and for us that we could show them they are not alone, for in our small town, thousands of miles away, a whole community is grief-stricken with them.”

The event closed with the Mourner’s Kaddish and singing of Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem.