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Created through collaboration between the Jewish National Fund and victims’ families, the solemn memorial speaks through simplicity.
Young Israeli children grow up in the shadow of the Holocaust. It’s in the air they breathe, the stories passed down, and arguably the reason their country exists at all. “Never Again” means something very visceral here.
But time creates distance. As the number of Holocaust survivors sadly grow fewer by the day, their experiences of barbarity naturally began feeling like ancient history to many Jews now living without persecution in their biblical homeland.
Then came October 7th, 2023 and that existential threat to Jewish survival that lived mostly in memorial ceremonies and family stories, became all too real.
Like September 1st 1939, it’s a date that will forever be burned into every Jewish person’s soul after Hamas butchered over 1,200 of our brothers and sisters and took hundreds of hostages back to Gaza.
Overnight, Israel transformed.
The faces of the kidnapped appeared everywhere, replacing advertisements on billboards and bus stops, while a dedicated square in Tel Aviv became a rallying point for victims’ families and their supporters.
Conversations at Jerusalem’s fabled cafés shifted from politics and dating to security and grief. Military checkpoints sprouted like mushrooms while IDF reservists vanished from jobs and schools without ceremony.
The Nova Memorial at the Re’im parking lot offers something news reports cannot. Standing where the carnage happened changes you.
Created through collaboration between the Jewish National Fund and victims’ families, the solemn memorial speaks through simplicity.
Photographs of those lost mounted on posts with Israeli flags mark the very ground where young people danced hours before Hamas terrorists arrived and ended the music forever.
Red anemone sculptures catch sunlight near the entrance. Created by artists nationwide in the weeks following the massacre, they reference both the wildflowers of the Re’im forest and nearly 400 lives tragically cut short.
Visitors often fall silent upon entry. Some bring flowers. Others touch photos gently, recognizing faces from news coverage or personal connection. Soldiers come in uniform, standing at attention before moving through the grounds.
Young trees struggle upward, each representing a life cut short. They need support wires now but will one day stand strong. The symbolism isn’t accidental for the nearly 7,000 daily visitors.
Take notice of the “Bring Them Home Now” sign that’s become weathered by sun and rain. Butterfly paintings nearby represent hostages taken that fateful morning, their fates still uncertain months later. The butterflies face different directions, some toward Gaza, others toward home.
For decades, Yad Vashem stood as testament to the Holocaust that necessitated Israel’s birth, now the Nova Memorial bears witness to its violent rebirth.
Send Passover Packages to Needy Israeli Soldiers - Bring Them Joy!
We are honored to thank the young men and women of the IDF who risk their lives every day to protect the citizens of Israel. Soldiers have been in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria for extended periods - many are hoping to come home for Passover.
Join us in sending Passover food packages (and personal notes) to Israeli soldiers and their families.
Many soldiers spend the Passover holiday with needy families back home. The soldiers greatly appreciate your love and concern. Bring them Passover joy!
CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR PACKAGE AND NOTE TO ISRAELI SOLDIERS!
