Former Hostage Omer Shem Tov and Zusha Join Yeshiva University for Moving Oct. 7 Memorial

More than 1,100 students, faculty, staff and friends filled Lamport Auditorium for a standing-room-only evening of Torah, prayer, song and solidarity.

Omer Shem Tov (at right) joins the band Zusha onstage to sing “Hashiveinu.”

Three years after October 7, the Yeshiva University community came together to reflect on the enduring meaning of that day; remembering those who were murdered or taken hostage and to honor the families whose lives were forever changed. Omer Shem Tov, who suffered for 505 days in Gaza, brought a searingly personal presence to the evening, while Zusha’s music gave voice to a gathering that looked back at unimaginable loss while affirming the strength and unity that continue to carry the Jewish people forward.

Addressing Shem Tov directly, Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University, called him “a true hero of Israel” and recalled how the YU community had prayed, performed mitzvot, and advocated for his freedom throughout his captivity. “We stood with you then, and we stand with you now, our brother,” Rabbi Berman told him. “We so appreciate you being here. Thank you, Omer. Thank you for your continued voice.”

Rabbi Berman then spoke about how October 7 awakened in the Jewish people both a shared sense of fate and a renewed sense of mission. “Our task is to show the world who we are—to live Torah with conviction, to speak truth with courage, to act with chesed, to stand proudly with Israel, and to bring the beauty, dignity, moral seriousness, and humanity of Jewish life into the world,” he said. “That is Kiddush Hashem, and that is what Yeshiva University stands for. October 7th changed me. It changed us by reminding us who we are, what we stand for, and what we are here to do. One people, one story, one sacred purpose. Am Yisrael Chai.”

One of the evening’s most memorable moments came when Shem Tov spontaneously joined Zusha onstage for “Hashiveinu.” Before October 7, he had dreamed of becoming a DJ and performing before an audience; now, as he sang alongside the band, the crowd rose to its feet, sang along, and at moments broke into cheers.

Stern College students traveled uptown from the Beren Campus on YU-provided buses to join their peers at Wilf for the evening. The audience listened in rapt silence as the program moved through words of Torah, student and faculty remarks and a deeply personal conversation between Shem Tov and Dr. Erica Brown, Yeshiva University’s Vice Provost for Values and Leadership and Director of the Sacks-Herenstein Center.

Now 23, Shem Tov discussed returning home and the emotion of being reunited with his family. Addressing students, he offered a perspective that made the enormity of his experience immediate. 

“I always knew I would go home,” he said. “I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know if I would be alive, but I always believed I would return. You are my age. You have parents. Love them. Respect them. Appreciate them,” he told the students, invoking Kabed et avicha v’et imecha—“Honor your father and your mother.” “It’s not for nothing. There is nothing in the world like parents.”

Dr. Elad Granot, Undergraduate Dean of the Sy Syms School of Business and a former officer in the Israel Defense Forces, led the Tefillah L’Shlom Medinat Yisrael, the prayer for the State of Israel.

The program also featured a dvar Torah from Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz, Rosh Yeshiva and Abraham Arbesfeld Torah Dean of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, and remarks from Dr. Raizi Chechik, Director of the Pava Center for Women’s Torah Scholarship.

Ishay Ribo, a longtime friend of Yeshiva University, sent a special message from Israel offering words of chizuk to the University community.

Yeshiva University’s memorial was a profound reminder that while the wounds of October 7 remain, so too does the determination to remember, stand together and uphold the faith, purpose, and responsibility that have sustained the Jewish people for millennia.