On Sunday July 21, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the New York Board of Rabbis, UJA-Federation of NY and the American Middle East Press Association hosted a presentation by Nova festival survivors Daniel and Neria Sharabi at The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. In attendance was JCRC-NY CEO Mark Treyger, Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Bronx DA Darcel Clarke, State Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz, City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, New York Board of Rabbis EVP Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, HIR’s Rabbi Steven Exler and Israel’s Consul-General Ofir Akunis.
The Sharabi brothers presented a video created for Israel’s Channel 12, based on their experience on October 7. The video details their story of how they attended the festival with their friends, recalling how their friends died and that one is still being held hostage in Gaza.
Neria, 22, recalled how he said to his brother, “There is no chance that I am going home without you. And there is no way you are going home without me.”
In the video, medic Daniel and combat soldier Neria explain how their IDF training helped them find weapons on bodies of fallen IDF soldiers in an abandoned tank. They could identify sounds of specific gunfire and knew which gunfire was not coming from the IDF. They administered first aid to the wounded hiding with them. Daniel located his former IDF commander, who advised them by telephone, saving 30 other Nova attendees.
The brothers recounted how they found an IDF tank and entered the tank to find firearms. Neria searched a fallen soldier’s body for a weapon, apologizing to the dead soldier. The soldier’s gun was full of sand. Neria knew he needed an oil-based substance. One of the women hiding had a small tube of Vaseline. With just a small dap, Neria lubricated the gun and it worked. He compared this to the miracle of Chanukah, how only a small amount of Vaseline was able to do what a large amount of Vaseline was needed for.
Daniel stayed on the phone with his commander, who reassured him that help was on the way. He gave tactical advice to the brothers: how to fight the terrorists and care for the injured until he could arrive in Re’im. The group was rescued later that day by the IDF. In a police station, the brothers were cited as heroes. Their actions saved others from being killed or being taken hostage. They responded, “The real heroes are the ones who are dead today.”
Torres said: “We are living in a world of rapidly growing amnesia of October 7. We need your stories to be heard and told. … I have been struck by a lack of empathy for both Israel and the Jewish people in a post-October 7 world. I am worried [that] … few people understand the overwhelming shock. This affects not only Israel but the Jewish Diaspora worldwide. I find it shocking that most Americans are not even aware of the names of the American hostages.”
Reflecting on his trip to the Nova site in Israel, Torres remarked: “Hearing the words ‘We will dance again’ reminds me that hope is the anthem ‘Hatikvah’. I hope that both the Jewish people and the Jewish state will emerge from the tragedy of October 7, better and stronger, more unified, more resilient than ever before.”
Introducing the Sharabis, Gibson described them as “people who went to the Nova festival to party, to dance, to spend time with their friends and loved ones, not go to the festival to deal with what ultimately became a fateful day. … They did not expect to see their friends murdered, injured, massacred.” Gibson noted, “Somehow, amid all that, they survived. They are our heroes. Thank you for what you did on October 7. Equally important, thank you for what you have done after October 7.”
Anat Barbar, representing UJA-Federation of New York, thanked the Sharabi brothers for sharing their story. “I have spent the past 20 years working with Holocaust survivors, to learn from their strength and resilience, just like being around you and hearing about your strength and resilience. You have impacted all of us here this morning so deeply. I know as you move forward from place to place around this country, you’re going to impact so many others.”
The Sharabi brothers are fundraising for their nonprofit foundation, the Association for Survivors and Wounded, to support Nova survivors, physically, economically and mentally.
