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19 June 2025
On Wednesday, June 18, the most generous members of the Greater Washington Jewish community gathered for an unforgettable evening at the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Washington, DC—a powerful, immersive tribute honoring the lives lost and the strength of survivors following the October 7 terror attack.
This wasn’t just an event. It was a reckoning. A moment that asked each of us: What will you do with what you now know?
Inside the exhibition—transformed from a site of celebration into sacred ground—we walked through a landscape once alive with music, freedom, and light. The same landscape where, on October 7, thousands of young people were dancing in the desert when terror struck. The attack didn’t just take lives—it targeted joy itself.
But joy, as our community was reminded, is resilient.
Survivors and community leaders took the stage to bear witness—and to ask us to do the same.
Noa Beer, one of the Nova Festival’s original organizers and a survivor of the attack, stood before us and declared: “You are now witnesses.” Her story turned presence into purpose.
Brian Levenson spoke to the strength of our chevra—our sacred circle of trust that shows up in moments that matter. He reminded us that Jewish identity is shaped not just by what we endure, but by what we choose to stand for.
Marla Schulman, incoming chair of Federation’s Community Leadership Council, shared how her trips to Israel were canceled—visits to grantees and leadership programs postponed because of escalating violence. Her family in Tel Aviv continues to live under constant threat. Walking through the exhibit, she imagined her own children among the young people at Nova. “This exhibition,” she said, “tells the story not through headlines, but through the beat that stopped and the lives that were shattered.”
And Mollie Bowman—soon to be a mother, and a third-generation Holocaust survivor—stood in the raw space between grief and hope. “I’m filled with fear for the world my child will inherit,” she said, “and I am also audaciously hopeful that they may change it for the better.”
This evening wasn’t just about remembrance. It was about responsibility.
It wasn’t only for those in the room. It’s for everyone.
Step Into the Story
Stand with our Greater Washington community at Federation Day at the Nova Exhibition—a powerful moment to honor memory, affirm our shared values, and offer collective strength.
Bring a friend. Invite others. Everyone needs to see it.
Bear witness and share the story—on social media, in your circles, and across our community
This is more than an exhibit. It’s a declaration: Joy will not be silenced. Community will not be broken. Truth will not fade.
This is our moment to listen. To act. To carry the light forward.
Stay connected. Stand together. Be a witness.
