A sombre atmosphere was present at the JW3 community centre on Friday morning as an empty Shabbat table was laid out with over 200 seats to represent the hostages who remain in Hamas’ custody in Gaza. Hundreds of people have passed through the building to observe the display.

JW3 Chief Executive Raymond Simonson said that the display, inspired by similar ones from Tel Aviv to Times Square, was to stress that hostages “are people, they are not just numbers”. Simonson also encouraged people to continue lobbying their MPs to prioritise freeing the hostages. The tradition of setting a seat for Jewish prisoners is one which dates back to the 1960s with the campaign to free Soviet Jews.

Empty Shabbat Table chair JW3

An empty chair for hostage Shlomo Mansour (Jonah Lazarus)

Several speakers, including the Chief Rabbi were in attendance when the display was unveiled on Friday morning in a small ceremony. He asked: “What kind of a Shabbat will (the hostages) be having tonight?” as he connected the symbolism of the Shabbat table to the meaning of having a peaceful Shabbat, an idea which Sir Rabbi Mirvis said had been “shattered” three weeks ago, “when a nation was terrorised”.

Another prominent speaker at this morning’s event was Noam Sagi, the son of one of the hostages, 75-year-old Ada, who recounted how the events of the last three weeks had been a form of “psychological warfare” that his family had been dragged into, and “every day is worse”. Ada Sagi was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on the morning of October 7 and has not been heard from since.

Noam called on the British government to take action and demand the release of the hostages. “Be brave [...] and stop this torture,” he said.

Natalie Portner, an educator originally from Holon, near Tel Aviv, was among the visitors. She was flown out by the British embassy on October 15 along with her husband and three children. Having lost two loved ones in the early days of the war, she wanted to “bring some peace and quiet (for her children). We just hope for the best and please, bring them home.”

Empty chairs at the JW3 Empty Shabbat Table

One of two empty chairs for twins Emma and Yuli Cunio, aged three (Jonah Lazarus)

Oliver Marcus, JW3’s director of marketing said that the conflict in Israel is “not in the public domain as much as it was”, emphasising the need to continue to raise awareness of the plight of the hostages. JW3 is expecting the display to attract crowds throughout the weekend.

Visitor Jodie Franks said that the purpose of the table would not only allow the community to express their sorrow but also “to channel our hope that the hostages will, next Friday night, be sitting with their families at their own tables”.