In March 2024, the Israeli government decided to create an annual memorial day to commemorate the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre of 1,200 people and the taking of 240 hostages. Rather than use the date on the Gregorian calendar of the mass slaughter, the government chose a date on the Hebrew calendar as it has for some other national holidays. Because the event occurred on 22 Tishrei during the holiday of Shemini Atzeret-Simchat Torah, which falls on 22-23 Tishrei, the 24th of Tishrei was set as the date to remember the victims. In 2024, that would be October 26.
Ben Sales noted the date was an odd choice given that the “Israeli government that made this decision has done so much to impress the date of October 7 onto the international public consciousness. The vast majority of the world, after all, lives according to the Gregorian calendar, not the Hebrew one — including, largely, non-Jews in Israel, who were also affected by the attack.” Recalling the attack on 22 Tishrei, he added “would mean little to most people.”
If October 7 had been chosen, it would also create conflicts in some years. Sales observed that in 2025, the first day of Sukkot, known in the Jewish liturgy as “the time of our happiness,” falls on that date.
Source: Ben Sales, “Israel establishes an annual commemoration of the Oct. 7 attack — but not on Oct. 7,” JTA, (March 18, 2024).