Hundreds of people participated in the weekly “Run for Their Lives” rally in Central Park on the 100th day since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in January 2024. Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
By Hannah Feuer
June 2, 2025
Almost every Sunday for the past year and a half, Scott Kessler has walked through Westfield, New Jersey, to raise awareness for the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Rain or shine, he joins his local chapter of Run for Their Lives as they walk through town holding posters that show the hostages’ faces, names and ages.
This Sunday was no different — until that evening, when he scrolled through the news. A man had attacked participants at a separate Run for Their Lives event in Boulder, Colorado — throwing Molotov cocktails and wielding a makeshift flamethrower while shouting “Free Palestine.” Eight people were hospitalized, and a Holocaust survivor was reportedly among those injured.
“It’s something that I’ve been very fearful of and concerned about since we started doing this,” Kessler said. “It’s chilling and frightening that could happen in America in 2025 — that Jews have to fear being out in public as a group.”
The attack comes less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., after an American Jewish Committee event to discuss getting humanitarian aid to Gaza took place inside. The suspected gunman said “I did it for Gaza,” according to an eyewitness.
“I’ll be a little scared, not gonna lie. But I’m not going to stop.”
Penny Lee BermanRun for Their Lives participant
The spate of attacks has left Jewish communities grappling with how safe it is to be outwardly Jewish in public, or even to advocate for causes others may interpret as Jewish or pro-Israel. That has left groups such as Run for Their Lives weighing how to continue their activism without putting participants at risk.
Run for Their Lives started in the Bay Area after the Oct. 7 attacks and now has 230 chapters around the world, including in Australia, Africa, Europe and South America. Groups walk or run 1 kilometer, meant to take about 18 minutes (a number associated with the Hebrew word “chai,” which translates to “life”). They wear matching red T-shirts, and carry flags representing the hostages’ countries of origin.
A line on the Run for Their Lives website FAQs now reads as eerily prophetic.
“I’m concerned for my safety,” one question reads.
“That’s a valid concern these days,” the response acknowledges. “Make your best judgment to decide if it’s safe.”
From its start, the group has emphasized its non-political nature. Kessler said the group doesn’t chant slogans when they walk, and organizers welcome people of all political stripes.
“The fact that there are still hostages is a humanitarian issue. It’s not a political issue,” he said. “Some of the reports that I’ve seen in the last 24 hours calling the Run for Their Lives group a protest or pro-Israeli is really wrong. It’s not in any way.”
He added that while police joined Run for Their Lives at the Westfield group’s first few walks, the event has never had formal security. Now, he is reassessing that choice. “It’s really scary,” the 48-year-old attorney said.
Miri Kornfeld, leader of Denver’s Run for Their Lives group, told NewsNation that after the killings earlier this month outside the Capital Jewish Museum, her group hired an armed security guard to accompany them through town.
Now the Denver chapter of Run for Their Lives has cancelled its events for the foreseeable future. Secure Community Network, the consultancy for Jewish groups, has advised groups against canceling events so that attackers won’t be perceived as getting a win. On Monday afternoon it hosted a seminar to review best measures for protecting outdoor events.
Kessler said he won’t be deterred from walking for the hostages. “It’s not going to stop us from continuing to do what we believe is the right thing,” he said.
Penny Lee Berman, a 74-year-old former school teacher in Brooklyn, has attended her local chapter of Run for Their Lives in Sheepshead Bay almost every Sunday since last January. Her group walks with a police escort, and she hadn’t previously felt unsafe — despite the occasional “F— Israel” or “Free Palestine” yelled in the group’s direction.
She, too, wants to keep marching.
“I don’t want anyone getting hurt, but I don’t want terrorists controlling decent people and how we stand up for ourselves,” she said. “But I won’t be terrified. I’ll be a little scared, not gonna lie. But I’m not going to stop.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the timing of the Capital Jewish Museum shooting. It took place after an American Jewish Committee event took place inside, not while it was happening.
