Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, and Reverend Dr. A.R. Bernard toured  an exhibition that presents the experience of the survivors and victims of the October 7 attacks in Israel, from the point where they began — the Nova Music Festival.

Displaying tents and other objects collected from the site of the attack, the exhibition tells the story of the beginning of the invasion of Israel from Gaza through numerous interviews with survivors, along with video and audio recordings from survivors, victims, and even footage from Hamas attackers. 

The Nova Music Festival was held in a rural area near Israel’s border with Gaza. At 6:29 a.m. on October 7, the attack began, with festivalgoers killed, injured, and some taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. That time is referred to at the exhibition as “the moment the music stopped.” Footage of the moment is shown as part of the display, wtih organizers telling a performing DJ to stop playing music because of rockets fired nearby, and urging revelers to seek shelter.

Due to to the graphic nature of some of the material, the exhibition is recommended only for young people 16 and above.

“I’m very grateful to Nova and the people here who have arranged this because the whole world is trying to search for some understanding in all of this, and we cannot let these people down. I am reminded of when Pope Benedict visited Auschwitz. When he was done, he said, ‘Perhaps the most appropriate response is silence.’ But then he said, we cannot be silent about this,” Cardinal Dolan said after visiting the exhibition.

“This is the worst kind of nauseating evil that there is. This is intrinsically evil. And the world needs to unite” in its condemnation of the attacks, Cardinal Dolan said.

“I saw a placard the other day that said, ‘We must never stop fighting for peace.’ And it highlights the inherent contradiction between the means and the ends of conflict resolution. It emphasizes the complexity, the challenges that we face in trying to achieve genuine, lasting peace,” Rabbi Potasnik said.

Cardinal Dolan, Rabbi Potsanik, Rev. Bernard, and other New York City religious leaders serve on the Commission of Religious Leaders (CORL), of which Cardinal Dolan is chairman. The group meets around three times annually and focuses on issues such as prison reform, gun violence, homelessness, and the asylum seeker crisis.

In December, members of CORL met with survivors of the October 7 attacks, hearing their stories about how their kibbutz was overrun by terrorists, and how one member of their family was killed defending it.

During his April visit to the Holy Land, Cardinal Dolan found himself under fire in Jerusalem when Iran launched more than 200 attack drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles against Israel overnight April 13-14. Neither he nor anyone in
his delegation was harmed.

The Nova Music Festival Exhibition is expected to continue into June at 35 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. For more information, visit the website.