LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – In an isolated tune Cantor Jessica Hutchings, a Henderson resident, sang a hymn facing the room of mourners who joined into a chorus—their voices broken only by the sound of weeping.

Members of the Las Vegas Jewish community gathered Monday to honor the lives of six hostages taken while attending a music festival in Israel on October 7. The Israeli Defense Force announced Saturday the hostages’ bodies were recovered from a tunnel under the Gaza city of Rafah and were believed to have been shot Thursday or Friday.

The Israeli American Council (IAC) building inside the renovated Badlands Golf Course Clubhouse hosted over a hundred mourners who gathered within a day’s notice.

“Those hostages were still alive 48 hours ago,” Ofra Etzion, IAC regional director, said. “We as a community organization felt the need from the community to come together to mourn, to cry, to say some prayers, and to send our love to the hostages’ families.”

Etzion cited the exact number of days since the hostages were taken and noted the hostility, she said her community has faced.

“There have been 58 cases of antisemitism in our public schools, and some around our city,” she said. “Law enforcers were by our side, very supportive, answering our calls. The community sometimes felt unsafe since October 7, and we can see it, but we as an organization are trying to do anything we can.”

Standing in front of the crowd of mourners Stefanie Tuzman, CEO and President for Jewish Nevada, hesitated for a moment before speaking in front of the unlit candles and victim’s portraits.

“I’m a mother,” Tuzman said. “I can’t find the words to express the pain of seeing such brutality. How do we comfort ourselves when the world feels so dark? How will I ever explain this to my children? I stand before you with a heart that is shattered.”

Seven candles were lit by members of the Jewish community. Six intended to signify the hostages’ lives and one for all the lives lost amid the conflict.

The peaceful Las Vegas vigil is contrasted by protests in Tel Aviv where some mourners have gathered to protest actions taken by Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid cease-fire negotiations, according to CBS News.

8 News Now asked Tuzman for a reaction amid international criticism of the negotiation process.

“We’re calling for Hamas to lay down their weapons to release our hostages and to put an end to this war,” she said. “It really falls in their hands.”

A memorial and ceremony on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack is planned for Las Vegas City Hall on Oct. 6, according to IAC representatives.

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