What a difference a year makes.
Last October, attendees of the New York City benefit sponsored by Americans for Ben-Gurion University sat and swayed to the buttery voice of Jewish rapper and beatboxer Matisyahu in the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan. The singer’s tones resonated through the room, reflecting the ongoing pain Jews throughout the world felt as Israel fought a multifront war and dug deep into the Gaza Strip to find hostages held captive by Hamas and Palestinian terrorists.
This October, a similar 300-plus-strong crowd again filled the Ziegfeld on Oct. 19 for a program titled “Remarkable Resilience and the Way Forward.” The mood had decidedly taken a turn for the better—six days beforehand, the remaining 20 living hostages were freed as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal.
That made the atmosphere cathartic. It made for a feeling of collective levity for perhaps the first time since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The timing was auspicious, too, since the entertainment headliner for the evening gala was American stand-up comedian Alex Edelman.
“It’s important to laugh,” Doug Seserman, outgoing CEO of A4BGU, said as he formally welcomed the attendees.
And laugh they did; Edelman, 36, had everyone in stitches with his appropriately targeted ethnic-themed humor. At several points in his roughly 20-minute monologue, he stopped on the stage to look around, both taking it all in and seemingly giving his audience the hechsher to lighten up.
‘It was a remedy’
The earlier part of the program was more somber, featuring a conversation between Daniel Chamovitz, president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, with Alexander (“Sasha”) Troufanov, a former hostage and an alumnus of the school.
The now 29-year-old was taken on Oct. 7 by terrorists from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the border with Gaza, along with his grandmother, Irena Tati; his mother, Elena Troufanov; and his girlfriend (now fiancée), Sapir Cohen. His father, Vitaly Troufanov, was murdered that day.
At the time, Sasha Troufanov was an electrical engineer working for a subsidiary of Amazon.
Shot in both legs that day trying to lure terrorists away from his family members, he wound up being held in Gaza by Palestinian Islamic Jihad for more than 500 days. The three women were released in earlier deals.
Troufanov came to the stage on crutches after having recently had reconstructive surgery on his legs.
Chamovitz opened the dialogue by saying that “in the past week, we’ve relearned to breathe.” He paused before adding, “we can breathe again,” echoing the oft-repeated phrase in Israel by the younger set in a nod to the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova music festival, “We will dance again.”
Troufanov answered several questions about his ordeal. He made it a point to acknowledge the “love and support” he received upon his release, saying “it was a remedy” for him.
Chamovitz asked: “What gives you hope moving forward?”
“I see how many people are involved, the emotional connection they have with the hostages, the soldiers, Israel,” Troufanov replied. “But for us, it’s not over until the last hostage is back,” referring to the remains of bodies still in the Strip, “so that their families can grieve and pay their respects.”
‘The Negev is the great tomorrow’
Months ago, event organizers couldn’t have realized how timely their program would turn out to be, emphasizing the themes of healing and moving ahead.
“It’s been so emotional,” said Claire Winick, A4BGU director of development for the Philadelphia region and Delaware. Like so many others, she was up at 4 a.m. on Oct. 13, listening to speeches in the Knesset by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, who flew to Israel specifically for the release of the hostages. “Honestly, I didn’t think it would go so smoothly.”
Then again, she said, “it can’t always be bad news.”
Jews, she noted, find community behind tragedy. She linked Israel’s founding father and first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, pragmatist and master of realpolitik, and current efforts to rebuild Israel’s south. It was a goal first pushed by the university’s namesake and has become even more relevant post-Oct. 7.
“The Negev is the great tomorrow for Israel,” said Winick, who has worked to benefit the university for 40 years.
‘Our dream came true’
Speakers included fourth-year BGU medical student Noa Shuker, who, along with her studies, has spent more than 400 days in reserve duty as a casualty officer in the Israel Defense Forces. She talked about the challenges of rehabilitation among young soldiers and the time it will take to heal—physically, mentally and emotionally.
She, too, is engaged to be married. From the stage, with a grin on her face and her fiancé present, she said that they had been waiting for a special guest to attend their wedding—their friend Avinatan Or, 32, also an electrical engineer and fellow BGU graduate, who was released on Oct. 13 as part of the hostage deal.
“Last week, our dream came true, and Avinatan returned alive,” she said.
Still, optimism was tempered by work on the ground.
Professor Reli Hershkovitz, dean of the faculty of health sciences at BGU, reminded those present of the damage done inside Israel as a result of the 12-day war with Iran in mid-June. Ballistic missiles pummeled parts of the south, including hitting Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva on June 19, the teaching hospital for BGU’s med students. Six laboratories and multiple classrooms were wrecked by the impact, with severe structural damage caused to the biggest hospital in the area.
To that end, the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation announced a $2 million matching grant to support BGU’s Joyce and Irving Goldman Medical School. It represents the family’s commitment to rebuilding the school’s damaged academic and research facilities, and to supporting the future of Israeli medicine and its global impact.
In fact, the benefit celebrated the 50th year of the medical school, which was renamed through a gift from Katja Goldman Sonnenfeldt, Dorian Goldman Israelow and Lloyd Goldman, who serves as chairman of BGU’s board of governors, to honor their parents.
In other business, Seserman announced that he is leaving his role as CEO of A4BGU, handing the baton to interim chief financial officer Ian Benjamin, who will serve as interim CEO starting on Nov. 1.
