By Miriam Gershenson
SAN DIEGO – What started with two women and a shared urgency to speak truth in the face of denial has grown into a national movement of remembrance, resilience, and resistance.
Shortly after the October 7th Hamas terror attacks in Israel, Shoshana Rice and Dar Halevy Feldman, two women deeply connected to college students through their work at Hillel, realized they were uniquely positioned to respond. Dar, who had stayed the previous summer in Sha’ar HaNegev, San Diego’s sister city near the Gaza border, found herself at the center of a growing need.
Shoshana, whose own network through Hillel provided helpful connections, became a natural partner. Together they launched what would become the first speaking engagement—at Columbia University, in partnership with Hillel. It was a powerful beginning. Events quickly followed at various campuses and beyond, many of them open not only to Jewish audiences but to the wider public. One notable event took place at Harvard University to a mixed audience.
When asked how the idea was born, Dar said, “The demand was overwhelming.”
The mission soon took shape:
- Combat misinformation surrounding October 7th
- Inspire resilience within the Jewish community
- Support survivors by giving them a platform—and the resources to use it.
The need was urgent. Jewish students on campuses across the country were facing a wave of hostility and silencing. Faces of October 7 became both a shield and a megaphone—bringing truth, bearing witness, and offering strength.
To launch the initiative, Dar invested $10,000 of her personal savings. But as word spread and the impact became clear, donations began coming in. Volunteers stepped up to help manage logistics. Eventually, it became clear that a nonprofit structure was necessary to keep pace with the demand and ensure sustainability.
Since its inception, Faces of October 7 has:
- Hosted about 650 events
- Traveled to 40 states
- Featured 20 survivor speakers
- And in October 2024 alone, facilitated meetings between survivors and over 10,000 people
Each survivor is carefully vetted by a psychologist, herself a survivor of October 7th, who ensures that participation supports their healing and does not retraumatize them. Many survivors report that speaking helps them process what happened. For some, the opportunity to share their story in the U.S. also provides temporary relief from the ongoing trauma of living in a war zone.
Dar recalls a story from Stanford University. A Jewish student, too afraid to speak out amid rampant antisemitism, attended a survivor talk. Afterward, she told Dar, “If he can speak about surviving October 7th, then I can at least make a post on social media.”
This kind of courage is exactly what Faces of October 7 aims to cultivate, not just among students, but throughout the Jewish community.
Looking ahead, the organization continues to evolve. Shoshana and Dar are currently launching a new initiative called “L’Daber” (“to speak” in Hebrew), a program designed to help adults articulate all Israel- related discourse that comes up around them. The goal isn’t to turn people into advocates, but to empower them to speak confidently and accurately when mass media spreads misinformation.
They also created a new internship program, currently involving four college students—three Jewish and one non-Jewish. The interns are helping design future tours, provide insight into current campus climates, and build programming that’s relevant and responsive.
When telling me about the internship program, Shoshana said, “We want students to really get their hands dirty. They bring a firsthand understanding of what’s happening on campus, and that helps shape everything we do.”
Though national in reach, Faces of October 7 is rooted locally. Both Dar and Shoshana are based in San Diego and want the community to know: this organization stems from here, and it’s something we can all be part of.
There are multiple ways to get involved:
- Volunteer
- Donate
- Host a speaking event for your community
- Sign up for a L’Daber course
- Or simply show up with your presence and your voice
To learn more, get involved, or support the work of Faces of October 7, visit www.facesofoct7.com.
*
Miriam Gershenson, an Israeli-American, is a freelance writer based in Escondido.