A Personal Journey of Pain, Remembrance, and Hope
A New Day Will Rise: FInding hope in my journey through October 7. Holding onto the light, but never the less a story of pain, but also of resillience. Rising from the shadows, there is a true legacy of October 7. Stories that not to be forgotten: Remembering October 7.
Life goes on, the pain fades into a dull aching pain. It was that day that changed our world forever, in ways I cannot describe. The melody of "New Day Will Rise" carries a heavy truth; history is marked by this day that fractured our lives, into a before and after, and inflicted very deep cuts into our souls. The true legacy of that horrific day is found in a unwavering and true unity.
This is a story of unimaginable pain, but also that of a nation that held onto the light, when the world went dark.
The original song, New Day Will Rise, ( Kol Isha) was Israel's powerful entry for Eurovision 2025, performed by Yuval Raphael who herself is an October 7 survivor of The Super Nova Music Festival. Here is her story
How normal and full of life of all 1,200 before the final moments of the most horrific, cruel and evil attack. On this day, October 7, 2023 thousands of young people gathered to dance under the golden sky, were families in the Kibbutzim getting ready for Simchas Torah.
While families like Yarden and Shiri Bibas and their two little boys still in bed, in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Within hours these ordinary lives became the faces of a golbal tradegy, an terrorist attack. While it is impossible to While it is impossible to fully capture the essence of all 1.200 stories cut short on October 7, I can choose to honor the community by remembering the specific names, families, and the "Tribe of Nova" heroes who shall never been forgotten.
Inside a dark tunnel beneath Gaza, a wounded young man named Hersh Goldberg-Polin kept his spirits alive by repeating a simple truth: He who has a why can bear almost any how. Hersh’s story, alongside hundreds of others from the October 7 attacks, reminded the world of the profound weight of a single human life. Writing about this day is painful, but putting a name to the victims is an act of defiance against forgetfulness. Here are the stories of the lives they lived, and the legacies they left behind.
The Super Nova Music Festival
Anita Barack and her boyfriend Sigv; a young couple from Tel Aviv.
Guy Illouz, who was at the festival and manage to make a final phone call to his father, telling him that he loved him, hiding from the terrorist. He was abducted and died in captivity.
Eynav Levy attended the festival together with her husband Or, Eynav was killed at the site, while Or was abducted into Gaza.
Natalie Sanandaji recalls the initial confusion when intercepted rockets lit up the sky. She evacuated by car but quickly encountered gridlock traffic, forcing her to flee on foot.
"We ran on foot for four hours after rockets and gunshots were heard. We only survived because of a man named Moshe Sati, who bravely drove back and forth to pull fleeing people out of danger and drive them to safety."
Today, Natalie shares her story, and speaking out is a core part of her healing process.
Shir Zohar, attended the festival with her best friend, Ester. When the chaos began, they got into Ester’s car to escape, only to come under direct fire from Hamas militants.
"Our car was hit six times. All the bullets got inside the vehicle, but miraculously, none of them hit us."
They abandoned the car and ran blindly on foot, eventually crossing paths with a festival bartender named Ori Arad, who helped guide them to safety.
Hadar Shave and her friend Shalev also abandoned their car after getting stuck in traffic. They fled back toward the fields and ended up hiding in an orchard for five agonizing hours.
"We were dodging terrorists and bullets. For hours, we just lay there hearing gunshots, RPGs, grenades, missiles, and the screams of people being murdered all around us."
Yehuda Becher memory with the impactfull video, singing "Elokai Neshama" while driving his car. He originally sent the clip to a close friend who was going through a difficult time and needed emotional support and positive energy.
Yehuda singing about HaShem reclaiming his pure soul, filmed before he was killed at a music festival, deeply touched me.
In the wake of his death, his brothers and several musical artists recorded "Elokai Neshama" to honor his life.
The Goldberg- Polin family became the global face of the hostage crisis following the October 7 attacks. Their son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was a 23-year-old American-Israeli who was severely wounded and abducted from the Nova Music Festival. His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, launched a tireless, high-profile international campaign to free him and the other captives, meeting with world leaders, speaking at the United Nations, and addressing the Democratic National Convention.
Hersh traveled to the Supernova festival with his close friends to celebrate his 23rd birthday. When the attack began, he sent two brief WhatsApp messages to his parents: "I love you" and "I'm sorry."
Here is the story of Hersh Goldberg- Polin
1,000 Israeli musicians, singers, and hostage families unite in a heartfelt concert with one sole purpose: to bring the hostages home. 🎗
Testimonies of Returned Hostages from the Nova Festival. Their return was often complex operations, while others via diplomatic ceasefires.
Noa Argamani became one of the most recognized faces of the October 7 abductions after footage been showed to the world, of her being driven away on a motorcycle from the Nova Festival. She was held captive for 738 days alongside women and children before being rescued by Israeli commandos.
Avinatan Or, who was abducted with her at the festival, endured even harsher conditions. He was isolated, chained in cramped tunnel enclosures with meager food, and routinely beaten after a failed escape attempt, before finally being released via a US-mediated ceasefire.
Evyatar David was captured alongside his friend Guy Dal at the festival after traffic forced them into separate escape routes. For two years, his family survived on agonizing glimpses, including a Hamas-published video showing him visibly thin and weak in a dark tunnel. Upon his release and return home, his family shared a statement that encapsulates the long road ahead for survivors:
"After two years of suffering, he is here. Now a new journey of healing will begin for Evyatar and us."
Danielle Waldman (24)
Palo Alto, California / Israel Nova Music Festival
Lior Asulin (43) Tel Aviv, Nova Music Festival
Jake Aaron Marlowe (26),United Kingdom Nova Music Festival
Shani Louk( 22 )Germany / IsraelNova Music Festival
On January 25, 2025, after 477 days in captivity, Naama Levy was freed alongside her fellow observers Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, and Daniella Gilboa as part of a ceasefire-hostage exchange deal. While they survived unimaginable hardship and are undergoing a long rehabilitation process, they are finally home. Others, tragically, like their friend Noa Marciano, were killed in captivity.
Kibbutz Nir Oz
The Silberman family, parents of Shiri Bibas,
The Siman Tov Family, Tamar and Yonatan along withtheir three young children, twins Arbel and Shachar (6), and Omer (2).
Oded Lifshitz,( 84) and his wife Yocheved (85)were taken, but freed early on.
Gad Haggai (73) and his wife Judy Weinstein-Haggai ( 70), were shot while on their morning walk, they died of their wounds.
Kibbutz Be'eri
IlanWeiss (56 )
The Even Family: Parents Hen and Rinat, and their twoteenage sons, Alon (16) and Ido (14), who were all murdered in their home, leaving behind two young surviving boys.
The Hezroni twins ( 12 )Liel and Yanai Hezroni, who were murdered alongside their great-aunt Ayala andgrandfatherAvia, who had stepped in to raise them.
Mila Cohen: A 10-month-old baby girl who was murdered in her home alongside her father and grandfather.
What Happened to the Bibas Family
On the morning of October 7, Yarden tried to heroically defend his family with a handgun. He was overwhelmed, beaten, and abducted separately into Gaza while covered in blood. Shortly after, Shiri, Ariel, and baby Kfir, the youngest person taken hostage that day were kidnapped. While in captivity, Hamas weaponized the family for propaganda. In late November 2023, Hamas released a cruel, coerced video of Yarden, forcing him to react to unverified claims that his wife and children had been killed in an airstrike. Yarden's Release: Following a diplomatic ceasefire agreement, Yarden Bibas was released alive on February 1, 2025, after enduring 484 days in captivity. Tragically, he returned home only to have his worst fears officially confirmed weeks later. The Fate of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir: In late February 2025, a ceasefire deal mandated the return of deceased hostages. The bodies of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were returned to Israel. Forensic investigations shattered Hamas’s claims of an airstrike: The IDF confirmed that the mother and her two little boys had been murdered in cold blood by their captors while in captivity. Intelligence established their official date of death as November 28, 2023.
The Lavaya and Legacy
On February 26, 2025, Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were buried together in a single casket at the Tsoher Cemetery, laid to rest right next to Shiri's parents (who were also murdered on October 7).
At the funeral, Yarden delivered a devastating eulogy, apologizing through tears for his inability to protect them that morning. Today, Yarden survives as the sole member of his immediate family. On what would have been baby Kfir's third birthday, Yarden shared an emotional tribute online, writing: "My beloved Kfir, you didn't get to celebrate this year... I'm sorry for bringing you into such a cruel world... I hope you know how much I love you and how much I miss you." May HaShem be with Yarden
" Their names are now engraved in the heart of our nation. We pleaded, we cried, we begged HaShem, but it wasn't to be. Though their lives were stolen in the darkness, their light remains unextinguished. May the memory of Shiri, Ariel, and baby Kfir be a blessing forever, and may HaShem watch over Yarden, granting him comfort, strength and peace in a fractured world."
Here my journey through October 7th comes to an end. The pain is still there, but there is also hope for better days. For us, for all who have returned home, and for the families from the kibbutzim and the Nova Music Festival who must now live without their loved ones, may HaShem comfort them. We pleaded, we cried, we begged HaShem, but it wasn't to be. May their memory be a blessing and be a comfort."