180 survivors of the Nova music festival joined together this past weekend to spend Shabbat together in a "Shabbaton" event that was organized by the Kesher Yehudi social movement.
The Nova music festival was the site of a brutal Hamas massacre that took place during the October 7 attacks. Survivors from secular and religious backgrounds were brought together at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem. Guest speakers discussed topics ranging from healing after trauma to the need for unity in Israel.
The survivors came from diverse backgrounds, and many of them had never observed Shabbat. According to Kesher Yehudi, despite the wide range of diversity, "a sense of community and mutual connection marked the weekend."
The weekend was opened with a ceremony in memory of those massacred at the Nova Festival. Many of the victims were close friends of the survivors. The ceremony also included prayers for the safe return of the hostages.
“This weekend, we put everything aside - phones, work, the outside world - to focus on that which connects us. This Shabbat, we honor the memory of everyone who fell, those you lit candles for. In our unity and holiness, we will become memorial candles that honor those murdered on October 7," Kesher Yehudi founder Tzili Schneider told the group.
On Friday night, survivors went on a walk through Jerusalem's Old City, followed by a dinner led by speakers who spoke about recovering from trauma and the healing process.
On Saturday, Nova survivors spent time with each other, with many opening up about their experiences and describing that they still feel as though they are "stuck and struggling."
Many survivors did not want to speak about their October 7 ordeal or how they escaped due to the experience still being too raw and painful.
Survivors speak about their experiences
However, sisters Rivkah, Sarah, and Devorah, who survived the Nova massacre, described how they managed to escape separately, “There was no way any of us were prepared for what to do in a situation like this. You had nothing to rely on at all but your gut instinct."
"Your gut told you to hide and wait or run. Your gut said go left or go right… and if you listened to your gut and got it wrong, you were dead. That’s it. It’s that simple. We don’t know why we chose to stop when we did, run when we did, go left, or go right when we did. It means we are here today," they explained.
The only way they could describe the day-to-day reality now was by saying, “It’s hard." However, by remaining close to each other and other survivors of the massacre, they said that they felt a sense of closeness.
Other guest speakers included Merav Berger, mother of hostage Agam Berger held in Hamas captivity, and a special guest Holocaust survivor.
At the end of the event, survivor Yosef Dadon told the Kesher Yehudi organizers, “Thank you for showing us the best side of religion - the one that is open, listens, and welcomes us. It’s not obvious. It’s not a given that you would do any of this for us; a huge thank you from all of us.”