Heidi Rosen gripped her poster, waiting for the remembrance ceremony to start on the lawn sandwiched between the National Constitution Center and Independence Hall in Philadelphia—a patch of green dotted with paper bags showing the names and faces of the 1,200 people killed by Hamas—more than 40 of them Americans—as a result of the terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israeli flags were inserted inside the bags.
“The fact that we’re here after a year, it’s fast but painful,” said the Center City resident on Sunday shortly before 5 p.m. Her sign showed Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, 21. Next to her was her husband, Stephen Nepa, who came to “stand in solidarity” and held a poster of Shlomo Mantzur, at 86 the oldest of the remaining 101 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip—some alive, some already declared dead by Israeli authorities—365 days later.
That happened to be the name of the memorial and vigil: “365 Days of Hope.” It drew a few hundred attendees of all ages, many wearing “Bring Them Home Now” T-shirts and yellow ribbons, and holding Israeli flags and small yellow and white balloons that also had faces of hostages and the fallen attached to them. Later after the program, a lantern ceremony was to take place to light their way.
A portion of the crowd came directly from a 3 p.m. screening of the documentary film “We Will Dance Again” about the Nova music festival in Re’im, near the border with the Gaza Strip, where terrorists slaughtered 364 people on the morning of Oct. 7. It was shown at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History a block away, which this week (Oct. 6-Oct. 13) is displaying artifacts salvaged from the festival grounds, part of a pop-up exhibit (this one free of charge) that has been traveling in the United States and is currently in Los Angeles through Oct. 20.
Rosen and Nepa went to the exhibit in New York City in June. They saw the film on Paramount+. “What stood out to me is how beautiful and free and loving those young people were—the antithesis to the attack,” said Rosen.
And while they haven’t yet been to Israel, they said it’s at the top of their travel list.
Anne Weiss, also a city resident, displayed a poster of Eitan Horn, 37, who was taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on Oct. 7. He happens to be a close friend—practically family—to the Israeli-American Jewish owners of a kosher restaurant in the Philadelphia suburbs who saw the words “Free Palestine” spray-painted next to their store in March.
Weiss said the hour-and-a-half-long program was “extraordinarily inspiring and comforting,” especially after a year of “not always feeling entirely safe.”
She explained that, saying she has a son who lives in Tel Aviv and got called up into the Israel Defense Forces to fight in the north. At first, she said, everyone was supportive, but fractures soon started showing. The broader social and cultural context in the United States has become complicated.
“It’s so puzzling to me … my heart is breaking that the Jewish community is not entirely cohesive on this, especially with hostages still in Gaza,” she said. At 68, she noted that she has lived through other Israeli wars, and the reactions to this one seem different.
One reason, she offered, is that “people are not identified with institutions” as they have been in the past.
‘Remember these souls not lost to us’
The program began with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and continued with speeches by family members of Israelis killed or kidnapped; the singing of “El Maleh Rahamim,” “Eli, Eli,” “Lema’an Tziyon” and “October Rain”; a prayer for the captives; the blowing of the shofar; a call to action; and “Hatikvah.” Other than a short video message from Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat, saying “I stand with you in Washington, D.C., as your voice,” the event remained free of politics—and protesters.
Dave McCormick, a Republican who is running for the Senate against incumbent Bob Casey, a Democrat, stood in the crowd as an attendee, so quiet as to go for the most part unnoticed by the audience.
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, was credited with arranging to have the Nova objects displayed at the museum after having seen the full installation earlier this year.
Zach Sage Fox, the 20-something who has been spearheading “Facts for Peace,” a social-media initiative combating Hamas propaganda and rising antisemitism, served as the emcee. A Philadelphia-area native, he wanted to be there, he said, for his hometown and his family.
“This city is representative of the American dream,” he told JNS. “It’s a beautiful and appropriate place to bring light to the darkness.”
His grandmother, and other friends and relatives, attended the event, as did his father, Fred Fox, chairman and CEO at Planalytics, and a resident of Chester County, Pa.
“I came to pay testament to what’s happening and to remember these souls that are not lost to us,” he said, pausing slightly before adding, “because that’s what we do.”