CAMDEN — Approximately 50 people gathered on the Village Green in Camden on Saturday evening, Oct. 14, 2023, at 5:45 p.m., for a candlelight community vigil for Israel. In statements provided to the vigil by Maine 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Pingree believed that many people would consider October 7, 2023 as “Israel’s own tragic 9/11.”

All were welcome to attend the vigil, and people of all faiths and backgrounds were represented, according to organizer Jordan Cohen. Candles were passed around at the beginning and held throughout the 25 minute vigil.

“Saturday was a beautiful gathering of love,” said Cohen. 

Cohen, a Camden resident who is an Israeli-American, presented opening remarks. 

“I wasn’t able to speak a word for the first days of this tragedy,” he said in his speech. “I was too overwhelmed and crippled by sadness. I’m still crippled with sadness…I am in the same or more pain today than I was yesterday.”

Other speakers at the vigil were Rabbi Lorin Troderman, from Adas Yeshuron in Rockland, and Adam Kohstrom, from Chestnut Street Baptist Church, in Camden.

Pastor Kohlstom read from the book of Ezekiel; a message from Congresswoman Chellie Pingree was read; Rabbi Lorin Troderman delivered remarks and led attendees in singing the Hatikvah ("The Hope") - Israel's national anthem, with attendees receiving Hebrew and transliterations to be able to sing along. The ceremony closed with the singing of Turn, Turn, Turn, from the Byrds.

Afterwards, many lingered with the Rabbi, Pastor, Cohen, and each other to hug, talk, and listen to each other.

Remarks by Jordan Cohen

Before we begin, the Jewish Community Center in Portland sent me this important introductory message to share:

This is a memorial gathering for us.
It is a time for contemplation, care, and support.
If you came here tonight for a debate or an argument, this is not the time and not the place.
Please respect this solemn moment and the tenderness of this community.

Thank you all for coming here tonight, it means the world to me, to the Jewish community in Camden, in Maine, in America, Israel and the world, to all peace loving people in our world.

I wanted to tell you a little about who I am, and why I’m here. My name is Jordan Cohen. I am a dual citizen of the United States and Israel. My mother was born and grew up in a small town called Afula near the Kineret – the lake many of you may know from the Bible as the Sea of Galilee. She met my 3rd generation American Jewish father at a party on a work trip to the States – she teaches Hebrew – they fell in love, and that was that. I’m alive because my courageous Saba and Safta (grandpa and grandma) left Poland for Israel in 1939. At the time they really did not know that they were about to lose their entire families in the Holocaust. My grandfather fought in two wars and my uncle in two as well. I’ve taken solace this past week in knowing that they, and my safta, are all resting in peace. I live every day with gratitude for my Saba and Safta. I live every day knowing that it’s a miracle I am alive, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.

I wasn’t able to speak a word for the first days of this tragedy…I was too overwhelmed and crippled by sadness. I’m still crippled with sadness…I am in the same or more pain today than I was yesterday.

There are so many of us in pain.
You know us. We’ve always been here.
We are your neighbors, your friends, your colleagues.
We’re the people you’ve looked forward to seeing at celebrations, at birthday parties and holiday parties… at weddings, graduations, the births of children and grandchildren.
We have always been there for each other, together.
If so many of us have been quiet, it’s because we can barely sleep, eat, or think. 
We are worried about our families and friends in Israel around the clock who if they are alive, are far from safe, and definitively are not “okay.”
It’s because we are in pain and feel so very much alone in our communities, our workplaces, our country, and in the world.
We haven’t had the time or space and above all any energy to say or do anything… 
We are exhausted. I’ve never been so tired in my life. All my happiness and life energy are gone.
But I know it will come back… I know that good and love will prevail over evil and hate… It always does. It always does.
So now you all know me a little bit more….

Tonight, I am grateful that we are standing here together, in Camden, as a community of friends and loved ones, standing beside each other in one of the most beautiful, peaceful and safest places on Earth... a place that is a gift and miracle that we all are so fortunate to enjoy, and that very few others do...

We are standing here together, in a place of love and to stand for what is right.
There should be no confusion: What happened in Israel seven days ago wasn’t a military operation. It was a massacre that destroyed and desecrated the bodies of more than 1300 innocent men, women, children, and babies.
It was the largest pogrom since the Holocaust. 10 times more Jews were murdered last Saturday than during Kristallnacht -- the infamous ‘night of the broken glass’ that preceded the Holocaust...

This is a defining moment for all of us. THE defining moment. For all of us.
For all of you. Right now... Today, and tomorrow, and for days and weeks to come.
This is our moment to show we are a community of love, a community that stands for what is right, a community that stands against the tyranny of hate, a community that stands for more love than anywhere else on earth right now.

Thank you again for being here, for listening, for holding me and each other.
I will end with the beautiful, strong voice that has been haunting me for decades… The voice of Yitzhak Rabin, whose legacy of love and peace we carry on here tonight and forever: “Enough of blood and tears… Enough!”

Statement from Maine 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree

Good evening. 
 
Please accept my regrets for being unable to attend this important vigil. 
 
Like every one of you, I remain devastated by the events in Israel last Saturday. The scale of violence and cruelty unleashed by Hamas terrorists borders on unimaginable.
 
The deadliest day against the Jewish people since the Holocaust should weigh on all Americans.
 
Tragically, we have lost 27 Americans with still more unaccounted for.
 
It is so important for the House to choose a new Speaker so we can consider a new aid package for Israel. The United States has a responsibility to provide aid to Israel – the only Democracy in the middle east – to protect its people and to secure its borders. 
 
Our relationship with Israel dates back to its beginning, when President Truman recognizing the fledgling Jewish state moments after its birth. Preservation of that bond is essential. I am so proud of President Biden’s words and his leadership. I know the Israeli people are as well. 
 
At the same time, I know the terror of antisemitism stalks the entire world. Last weekend’s terrorist attack has intensified fears of violent antisemitism among Jewish people across the world. We must stand with our neighbors to beat back this hate.
Antisemitism can have no place anywhere. 
 
October 7 may now be known as Israel’s own tragic 9/11. If that is so, I hope the lessons we learned from our experience, positive and negative, can help inform the Israeli government’s response in the coming days, weeks, and months.
 
American support of Israel must be predicated also on preserving humanity and not on perpetuating greater cycles of violence. 
 
Israel must root out terrorists which threaten it. While standing with the Israeli people, we cannot ignore or forget the misery that will be visited upon the Palestinian people in Gaza by a widescale war. Many of Palestinians are politically themselves hostages of Hamas’s violent fanaticism and will be harmed because of what Hamas terrorists have done. 
 
Hamas and its agents are terrorists who have no respect for human life. We should do all we can to aid innocents used as human shields by helping evacuate civilians, save hostages, and provide food, water, and safe shelter to civilians.  

I sincerely believe the best thing our government can do is hasten an end to an already- terrible conflict. 
 
I share your anguish tonight. May the memories of all the loved ones lost in Israel be a blessing.