‘In a competition of pain, there are no winners’: Gov. Shapiro tours exhibit marking anniversary of Oct. 7 attack

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On the first anniversary of the Hamas-led attack in Israel, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro came to Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History to see an exhibition that recreates the aftermath of Oct. 7.

“The Moment Music Stood Still,” which opened Sunday, features artifacts salvaged from the Nova music festival, where 364 concertgoers were killed in the surprise attack. The exhibit includes cars that were destroyed by fire on-site and selfie videos shot by concertgoers while hiding from Hamas soldiers.

“There was darkness on Oct. 7 and we remember that darkness today,” Shapiro said. “But it is also important to find light in the midst of darkness.”

“Moment” is in Philadelphia at the instigation of Shapiro, who wanted it for the anniversary. The exhibition at the Weitzman is a reduced-sized, pop-up version of the full-scale show — about 10 times larger — now on view in Los Angeles.

In the aftermath of the attack, Nova festival producers gathered everything left behind that could be salvaged from the site and turned it into a memorial exhibition.

It features some disturbing videos, including one that appears to be body-worn camera footage of a Hamas soldier firing into the festival’s portable toilets. Many festivalgoers hid in toilets to evade attackers; the actual portable toilets riddled with bullet holes are on display next to the video.

Shapiro came to the exhibition with a message of unity.

“In a competition of pain, there are no winners,” he said. “We can mourn the loss of those who were killed on Oct. 7. We can pray for those who are held hostage to be brought home. We can mourn the loss of life in Gaza. And we can all wish for an end to this war. We can hold all of those emotions together at the same time.”

When asked to comment on the U.S.’s response to the Hamas attack and Israel’s subsequent and ongoing war in Gaza, Shapiro deflected, saying he wanted to keep the focus on memorializing the events of Oct. 7.

“I want to see the Biden administration continue to do everything they are, to try and get these hostages home to end the war and to bring about peace in the Middle East,” he added.

Shapiro was joined by Sigal Manzuri, whose two daughters — Roya, 22, and Norelle, 25 — were killed while attending the Nova festival. Both were American citizens, along with Norelle’s boyfriend, Amit Cohen. She described the tragic events of the day and the agonizing wait to find out what happened to them. It took a week to confirm the deaths of all three.

Manzuri has gone public with the story of her children, delivering a speech Sunday to the United Nations in New York City. Holding a picture of her two daughters dancing together, she asked people to never forget.

“Remember that all those pictures that you will see, forever, of whoever lost their life on this horrible, horrible Oct. 7 massacre. It’s not just a picture,” she said. “There is a family behind this picture. There is a soul behind this picture. There is a name behind this picture. Make sure you remember them, cherish them.”

The pop-up exhibition came together at the Weitzman in just a few weeks, which is unheard of for a museum of its size. CEO Misha Galperin said that when he got the call from the governor, he agreed immediately.

“This is a history museum. Usually we want people to leave the museum smiling, because it is not a Holocaust museum. It is a museum about the history, achievements, contributions and the story of American Jews,” he said. “But history is happening as we speak. American Jews, as well as Jews in Israel and elsewhere, have been affected by this.”

About 3.5 million American Jewish people have experienced some form of antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attack, according to a survey released on the anniversary by the Combat Antisemitism Movement. It shows that 61% of American Jews feel unsafe in America.

“These are staggering figures,” said Galperin, who sits on the board of CAM. “This is about what happened in Israel, but it’s also about what happened in America.”