Members of the West Orange community filled every seat on Monday evening in the Alisa Flatow Sanctuary at Congregation Ohr Torah. Alisa Flatow, z”l, a 20-year-old college student raised in West Orange, was murdered by a suicide bomber in Gaza during the First Intifada in 1995. So it was a fitting venue for this year’s Yom HaZikaron event, featuring Nova Music Festival survivors Shira Cohen, 28, and Eden Shmuel, 32.

Eitan Rubin, co-producer and singer in the Jewish a capella group The Y-Studs, led the packed room in the Star-Spangled Banner and Hatikvah. In attendance were West Orange Mayor Susan McCartney, Council President Bill Rutherford and Councilwoman Michelle Casalino.

“These are such brave young ladies,” Casalino told The Jewish Link. “People need to hear these stories.”

Rabbi Marc Spivak introduced the evening with a dvar Torah, beginning with the poignant words, “On Nov. 29, 1947 Jews all over the world sat by their radios praying to hear the word ‘Yes’ from the United Nations on a vote for a Jewish homeland. Since Oct. 7, Jews all over the world are quickly learning that they cannot rely on the United Nations or anybody else to decide our destiny.”

Aaron Strauss spoke about Evyatar David, the hostage “adopted” by the West Orange community through the MirYam Institute (www.miryaminstitute.org/adopt-a-hostage). Evyatar is described as a calm, empathetic friend, brother and son, and a talented musician.

When Shira and Eden spoke, the crowd fell silent, already in awe of these remarkable young women. They took turns telling their story of the events of Oct. 7. Shira began by saying her story started 30 days earlier: her younger brother Aryeh, 22, died in a motorcycle accident. Shira retreated into a depression. On Oct. 6, in an attempt to draw Shira out of her dark hole, her best friend, Livnat, convinced her to come later that night to the Nova Music Festival.

Five friends — Shira, Eden, Livnat, Maayan and Hadar — arrived at the festival at 2:30 a.m.. “Thousands of people came to celebrate life,” Shira said. “For the first time since my brother passed away, I smiled. And I thought, ‘Livnat was right.’”

But just over four hours later, chaos broke out as rockets filled the air and the DJ screamed, “Red Alert!” The five friends were separated, with Shira searching for Eden in the bathrooms and Livnat rushing to get the car. Eden and Shira reunited; they were told they should find a car and get to shelter. Shira saw a man nearby holding a phone, and on it was a picture of a baby. “I thought, ‘this is a man who will fight for his life to get home to his family. We’re going with him.’”

Once in the car, the chaos persisted. Roads were blocked by police who they later learned were terrorists. They were unable to get into Kibbutz Be’eri (which they later thanked God for). They were forced to squeeze into bomb shelters well over capacity. People started talking about terrorists in Israel. “I didn’t realize the actual danger until a man came running toward the bomb shelter with a gunshot wound in his shoulder,” Eden said. “He was yelling, ‘There are terrorists! It’s not safe in there!’”

“I was thinking, my mother just lost a child,” Shira said. “I can’t die, too.” They made the decision to leave the bomb shelter. Two minutes later, terrorists arrived and threw grenades into the shelter, killing most of the people inside.

Meanwhile, Shira and Eden were back in the car, driving back on Route 232. “It was filled with death,” they said, describing abandoned and burned cars, blood and bodies. “We went to a party as five friends, just to be happy,” Shira said. “And we came back just three.” The Nova massacre resulted in the murder of 364 people, the kidnapping of 40 people and hundreds of injuries.

Surviving came with depression, guilt and many unanswered questions. Finally, they realized that “thoughts don’t create reality; action creates reality. We needed to do something,” Eden said.

Hashem has a plan for them, they both agree. And that plan was to help other survivors. Eden, an attorney and the owner of two e-commerce businesses, and Shira, CEO of a global tourism company, have established a new nonprofit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of the Nova Festival survivors.

“Our mission is to empower these survivors through entrepreneurship, providing personal lectures worldwide, personal and professional development, and igniting their potential to rebuild lives filled with purpose, achievement and joy.”

Support the mission by visiting secure.givelively.org/donate/the-giving-back-fund-inc/nova-community/shira-cohen-0