Hostage Display Spans Suffolk Center

A stark display of tables and empty chairs representing the more than 240 people taken hostage during the attack on Israel by Hamas has been set up across the front of the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge.

Empty Shabbat Table, displays also referred to as the “Saddest Shabbat Table in the World,” originated outside of the Tel Aviv Museum in the days following the October attack that saw terrorists rape, torture, and kill hundreds of innocent victims. They have been replicated numerous times worldwide since then, including in London, Rome, Times Square, the National Mall, numerous other cities across the United States, and on numerous college campuses, according to the Suffolk organizers Sharon Penn and Rona Kugler-Bode, who spent Friday afternoon assembling the exhibit.

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“The purpose of the display is to spread awareness and provide education regarding the hostage situation,” read a statement headed, “Bring them Home Now.” Said Kugler-Bode, “We hope for international pressure to release the hostages so that they may return to their families.” A Shabbat table is a festive dinner table that is set each Friday night in Jewish homes. The family welcomes the Sabbath holiday with a meal and celebration. Shabbat starts at sundown every Friday night and ends at sunset every Saturday night. This empty table shows that 239 people are still missing from their families, she explained. “We cannot enjoy the Sabbath while they are held in captivity.

File Photo

File Photo

Each chair has a name and picture of each hostage in symbolic hope for their safe return. The hostages range in age from nine-month-old Kfir Bibas (now 10 months old), who was taken with his four-year-old brother Ariel, to the oldest at 87. The hostages are citizens from dozens of countries, including the United States. Some of the chairs receive black ribbons indicating the death of the hostage or a note announcing their freedom. While Israel has had Prisoners of War held in the past, they were soldiers. Unique to the October 7 attack, most of the hostages who were abducted and are currently being held as prisoners are civilians.

Prayer services also took place at the site recognizing Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday and Saturday’s Havdalah, with Suffolk’s Jewish Advisory Board Member Allan Richter in attendance, along with family members of some of the hostages.

The organizers enlisted many volunteers from the community to help set up, break down, and explain the display to the public. In support were: the Suffolk-Y JCC, Suffolk Police Asian Jade Society, Suffolk Jewish Advisory Board, Penn Design Group, Helfner Dental Associates, Matos Family, Five Boro Flag, Banner & Sign, Inc., Driftwood Day Camp, Lessing’s Hospitality Group, All American Van Lines Inc., Acer’s Florist and Garden Center, Dix Hills Jewish Center, Chai Center of Dix Hills, Temple Beth Chai of Hauppauge, Mid-Island Party Plus, Preferred Events LI, Inc., and Little Tommy’s Party Rentals, Inc.