Yad Vashem UK is launching a competition for Jewish schoolchildren to design a Sefer Torah cover in memory of the victims of the Hamas attack of October 7.

It was the day of Simchah Torah in Israel when terrorists from Gaza struck, killing more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping more than 200.

The educational charity runs a schools competition every year to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust — but this year will focus on those who lost their lives in the deadliest attack on Jews in a single day since the Shoah.

The contest, which will be open to years 6 to 9, will formally launch on Yom Hashoah — May 6 —and run till May 30.

Yad Vashem said: “Shaken by the failure of the world to fully understand the real implications of racism and antisemitism, we are including the memory of those people who died on the 7th of October and in the weeks after as a result of a new iteration of antisemitism.

“The theme will be Am Yisrael Chai. Just as with the help of God our nation was reborn after 1945, so once again we will emerge even stronger from the current battles. To enshrine this idea in an object we are asking young people to design a cover for a Sefer Torah to be used on Simchat Torah in particular and during all our chagim when we reflect on the remarkable history of our people.”

The cover will be donated to a synagogue or school of the winner’s choice.

The design will need to include the Yad Vashem UK Foundation logo, the words Am YIsrael Chai in Hebrew and English and make reference to the October 7 victims. Full guidelines for entries will be available from the charity.