WEST ORANGE, N.J. (PIX11) – Over 100 people gathered Sunday evening to see the unveiling of a giant milk carton in West Orange with the pictures of hostages held in Gaza.
It was held at the B’nai Shalom synagogue. The exhibit is to raise awareness of the time the hostages have been separated from their families.
"There are still 125 hostages, eight of them are American, mothers, children, grandparents, babies that were just abducted from their homes and the world is forgetting about them," said Moshe Glick, the founder of the Metrowest Israel Action Committee.
"When I was a kid there would be missing children on the sides of the milk cartons, I remember having breakfast and it had such an impact on me," Glick said.
The 9-and-a-half foot milk carton weighing 300 pounds will be displayed strategically by a main road.
"This is telling hundreds of heartbreaking stories, thousands of heartbreaking stories of people whose lives have been shattered of the genocidal attack by Hamas," said Rabbi Moshe Rudin, from the Adath Shalom synagogue in Parsippany.
Jonah Grinberg, 11, wanted to take part in the ceremony by reading some of the hostages' names, saying "I felt empathy for people’s families that don’t have their relatives."
"We want to make sure that kids his age especially are also aware of this because there is so much misinformation being spread," said his mother, Jennifer Grinberg.
During the event, organizers played personal video messages from hostage families pleading for their loved ones to be released.
"The Jewish people we embody hope, and we want them back alive and I hope when people see this they say, 'bring them back and bring them back alive,'" said Rabbi Rudin.
The hope is the hostages will be released soon, but if that’s not the case, then the giant milk carton will remain for about two to three months and before being moved to another location within the vicinity.