The Binghamton University Zionist Organization hosted Nadav Elkabets last Thursday, whose sister Sivan and her partner, Naor Hasidim, were killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a community in Southern Israel.

The event, “My Sister Sivan,” was spearheaded by Seth Schlank, a senior majoring in psychology, and co-sponsored by Hillel at Binghamton and the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus. According to Adira Greenwald, the president of BUZO and a senior majoring in business administration, while the talk was originally to be held on campus, it was moved to Zoom to accommodate more community members, like parents and alumni, who wanted to participate.

Following Oct. 7, the couple’s home was turned into an exhibit and experience — called “Sivani’s House” after a family nickname for Sivan — allowing visitors to Kfar Aza to bear witness to the destruction. An interactive exhibit at The Hive at Leichtag Commons in Encinitas, California, was also recently installed, where visitors can view a video of Elkabets’ mother walking through the house’s remains. The display features the couple’s personal items and family text messages from the time of the attacks.

“It is important to bear witness to the atrocities that happened, to hear from survivors and learn about those who perished,” Greenwald wrote. “Tonight, we offer the opportunity to bear witness to another story.”

Nadav said it was difficult in the days following Oct. 7 to realize the full scale of devastation. The time necessary for bodies to be recognized was extended due to the rapidly growing number of deaths. Sivan’s body was recognized six days later with shiva, a seven-day period of mourning in Judaism beginning directly after the funeral.

Greenwald highlighted how the preserved nature of the couple’s home has allowed the family to answer questions about what may have happened that day.

“These objects tell a story — the story of How,” Greenwald wrote. “They fill in the gaps, some gaps to a story Sivan’s family [would] rather not know all the details to, because of how horrible the sight of destruction can lead us all to assume her murder must’ve been.”

Nadav showed several photos over Zoom and played the video on display at the California exhibit, proceeding to point out certain items at the scene and their significance. Another video centering around Sivan and Naor, who were both 23, was shown, describing Sivan as gentle, creative and a good friend and Naor as funny, joyful and a free-thinker.

“I want to give you a glimpse of Sivan and how she was during her life, and also, well tell you the story about our family,” Elkabets said.

Sivan’s house has become a symbol of strength for Israeli Defense Forces soldiers entering and leaving Gaza and for influential diplomatic figures to share Sivan’s story, he added.

Having served three extra years in addition to the mandatory three years for male citizens, Elkabets praised the IDF during his talk. He later referenced military operations in Lebanon, citing reports that thousands of Hezbollah fighters, including high-ranking officials and their replacements, have been killed.

He referenced the September detonation of thousands of Hezbollah members’ handheld pagers, he said the operation managed to kill thousands of terrorists without harming any civilians. According to the BBC, at least 32 people were killed, including two children.

It has been reported that the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has caused 60,000 Israelis to be forced to evacuate their homes in the border region of northern Israel and the displacement of 1.2 million people in Lebanon.

The presentation concluded with a Q&A section, where Elkabets emphasized Jewish solidarity with Israel, implored Jewish people in the United States to feel secure in their identities and denounced Hamas for their crimes against humanity.

“It is important for us to keep hearing these stories and bear witness, no matter how hard it may be, to ensure that Never Again is a promise we can restore and educate the world on what really happened on October 7th,” Greenwald wrote.