Friday, October 16, 2026
More than 50 Long Beach residents and people from neighboring communities gathered at Temple Emanu-El of the South Shore on Oct. 7 for an evening of reflection and remembrance marking the third anniversary of the 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel.
The evening included a screening of “We Will Dance Again,” a documentary available on Paramount+ in which two dozen survivors gave firsthand accounts of the attack at the Nova Music Festival, an outdoor electronic music festival in southern Israel.
“We are here to remember, to bear witness and to stand together as a community to honor the lives taken and those that were changed,” Yvette Oppenheim, Temple Emanu-El’s president said as she opened the evening.
Rabbi Jack Zanerhaft, an Oklahoma native, said he met his wife Maryann for the first time on Oct. 7, 2019 in Manhattan. The attacks in 2023, Zanerhaft said, made the day bittersweet.
Despite that, he made it known that the night would not be political.
“I know that issues around the state of Israel can be polarizing,” he said, referring to more than 1,000 casualties and over 250 hostages in Hamas-led attacks. “Tonight is about remembering them, their families, and those that were injured and continue to suffer.”
Lisa Arian, a Woodmere resident and past president of the South Shore Jewish Center — which consolidated with Temple Emanu-El of Long Beach to become Temple Emanu-El of the South Shore — said she attended to gain a deeper understanding of the day’s events.
Growing up in Pittsburgh, Arian said she and her twin brother, whose name she declined to share, were the only Jewish children in the school they attended. She noted that they encountered antisemitism at school.
Arian said she was working for the New York City Board of Education and United Federation of Teachers when news of the attacks broke. She said the events have made her hesitant to attend large Jewish gatherings, worrying for her own safety.
“It was a great shock,” she said. “Young people who were supposed to be celebrating a holiday — natives of Israel or not — their lives were cut short. And then it prompted a horrible response from both countries.”
The evening included two musical performances by local musician Benjamin Metzger of Studio Noir, including “We Will Dance Again,” a song by Boy George.
As Zanerhaft looked toward the future, he brought up the documentary once more. He recounted how Long Beach rallied in response to other events, such as Sept. 11, 2001.
“The idea of watching this documentary [was] to shake us into action,” he said. “We have a sacred obligation to work together in an affirmative way to stop violence against other humans.”
