Dafna Ofer is an Israeli living in America who was instrumental in the organization of an Oct. 7 commemoration in Philadelphia last weekend. For Ofer, the most powerful part of an emotionally taxing night was the blowing of the shofar in memory of the lives that were lost and the hostages still being held. She described what she felt.
“It was almost like the sky opened up for everybody to cry,” she said. “To cry for our pain and for our people.”
The event was held on Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. so that it would be Oct. 7 in Israel when it began. Put on jointly by a number of local organizations and institutions, including Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, the commemoration featured a film, speeches, a lantern lighting, singing, prayer and the comfort of other Jewish Americans looking for answers after a year of turmoil and hurt.
Ofer is not a member of Beth Zion-Beth Israel, or any other synagogue for that matter, but when she was approached by BZBI leadership to help create an event commemorating last year’s atrocities, she said she knew she had to chip in.
“We’re all in this together, and we wanted to have an event that showed no matter where we come from or what our skin color is or how religious we are, we are all Jewish,” she said. “We knew we had to do something big.”
Ofer helped organize the list of speakers. The event featured words from Sharone Trager Hanoch, aunt of a murdered Nova music festival attendee; Josh Schachter, who spoke on behalf of someone with two family members still in captivity; Danielle Gutman, cousin of a hostage; and a handful of figures from the Philadelphia Jewish community, including young people.
Ofer said the words shared Sunday evening were powerful.
“Sharone Trager Hanoch, who lost her nephew, spoke about him while video of him played in the background, and people were very touched,” she said. “She showed a lot of emotion.”
Ofer added that the inclusion of video allowed Hanoch’s nephew, Gal Navon, to come alive to the crowd despite his untimely passing. For the attendees of the event, seeing footage of a lively young man and knowing what his fate was was extremely moving, she said.
About 800 people attended the event. The organizers prepared extensively to make sure that 1,680 paper lanterns were lit in memory of each of the fallen soldiers and civilians from Israel who died between last Oct. 7 and this Oct. 6.
The film screening at the Weitzman — which showed the inspirational “We Will Dance Again” — was crucial to setting the tone, Ofer said.
“People walked out of the movie and were in the right mood for the event,” she said. “They were all thinking about what happened and mourning those who were lost.”
One encouraging sign from the event was that no protesters showed up to speak ill of Israel or those lost in the conflict. Ofer said one man who was walking by the commemoration yelled derogatory slogans about Israel, but that he was ignored and eventually sulked away.
The rest of the non-Jews in attendance were there to help, Ofer said. That meant a lot to the local Jewish community members in the crowd.
“There were some people there who weren’t even Jewish, they were just there to show support,” she said. “That means we’re all mourning, and we’re all in it together.”
As the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks comes and goes, Jews are reminded that we have to lean on each other when it matters most. Ofer said that the strength of the community was beyond what she could have hoped for.
“It surpassed my expectations,” she said.
