Three Years Since October 7: “06:29: From Darkness to Light”
The exhibition 06:29: From Darkness to Light at the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem brings together personal testimonies from women across Israeli society. They share what they saw and experienced on that horrific day and its aftermath.
Malki Shem Tov, the father of hostage Omer Shem Tov, curated the exhibition after Hamas abducted Omer from the Nova music festival on October 7 and held him captive for 505 days, until his release in February 2025. Ella Shani, who lost her father, Itzik Shani, that day, leads the exhibition’s narrative.
Three years later, the exhibition remains a place for remembrance and testimony. At the same time, it draws attention to the positive forces that emerged alongside the grief: humanity, mutual responsibility, resilience, and hope.
To commemorate three years since October 7, we share two testimonies from the exhibition, offering a personal and direct account of that day and its lasting impact.
Noam Ben David – Nova Survivor Honors Slain Boyfriend Three Years On
“Hello, my name is Noam Ben David. On October 7, I went to the festival in Re’im with my partner, David Yair Shalom Ne’eman (of blessed memory). We set up a booth for my artwork. Around 6 a.m., we went to the main dance floor to dance with everyone. On the way, a friend shouted, ‘Look, they’re setting off fireworks for us!’ I looked up. They weren’t fireworks. They were interceptions.
Everyone started running in every direction. At one point, David and I found ourselves running across an open field as automatic gunfire erupted behind us and people fell along the way.
We ended up between two dumpsters and hid there with several other people. The gunfire grew closer and closer. There were exploding grenades, RPGs, and an unbearable barrage of noise. We climbed into the dumpster on the left and hid there with several other people, pulling everyone down. Outside, we heard people shouting in Arabic and nonstop gunfire. They came closer and surrounded us, then threw a grenade into the dumpster on the right. For some reason, they kept moving and seemed not to notice us.
After we had been hiding there for some time, one of the girls raised her head and shouted, ‘They spotted me!’ Within a second, David grabbed me and threw me over the garbage bags so I could hide farther inside. I covered myself with cardboard and garbage bags so I couldn’t see the entrance and they couldn’t see me. I curled myself into a ball, and David and I texted each other.
He wrote to me: ‘Baby, God willing, [help will] get here in another 15 minutes. Please stay quiet in the back, support them, help them, stay with them.’ He also asked me to count how many people were with us. I asked everyone to tap the leg of the person next to them. We did it several times and counted 16 people inside the dumpster. I texted David that there were 16 of us, and at that point, he stopped responding.
I heard them entering the dumpster, followed by someone shouting, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ and a burst of gunfire. I heard David trying to breathe, and I realized I couldn’t cry, run to him, or do anything, because they would discover me and shoot me. I curled up and repeated, ‘Shema Yisrael’ over and over.
Then I was shot in the left side of my pelvis.
After several long seconds of automatic gunfire, they left the dumpster. About 40 minutes later, we began hearing coordinated gunfire and realized that our forces were arriving.
Slowly, we began hearing Hebrew, and two people came to rescue us. They pulled us out of the dumpster, together with two soldiers. On the way, I saw David lying on the ground. He was the most beautiful thing in the world. He seemed to have a halo around him, and his blond hair shone in the sunlight.
They evacuated me to Soroka Medical Center, where I underwent two surgeries. I then went through rehabilitation at Beit Loewenstein. I’m on crutches now, and I’m happy that I had David in my life and that he gave me so much light.”
Avital Schindler – Kibbutz Survivor Sheltered With Her Six Children While Husband Fought for His Life
“Hello, I’m Avital Schindler. I’m married to Amichai, and we have six children. We live in Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, a mixed religious and secular community whose unique mission is to live together, find what unites us, and build good relationships with our neighbors.
On October 7, Simchat Torah, we entered our safe room at 6:30 a.m. after hearing the Red Alert. It was me, Amichai, and our six children. We went straight from our beds into the safe room, without any basic supplies to help us manage for the many hours we would spend there.
Around 8 a.m., we briefly came out to get food, water, and other essentials. At the same time, I closed all the windows and doors in the house. Around 10 a.m., we heard noises inside the house and realized we needed to be extremely careful. Amichai went into the safe room, closed the door, and held it shut. A few seconds later, we heard knocking and someone saying, ‘We’re IDF soldiers. Open the door.’ We knew we had to stay alert and did not open it. Amichai shouted, ‘Go away! Get out of here! I’ll shoot you!’
A few seconds later, we heard a huge explosion. They had attached an explosive charge to the outside handle of our safe-room door. Amichai took the full force of the blast. The explosion left him in critical condition. He lost a tremendous amount of blood and could not breathe because his face had been completely shattered. His hand was severed on the spot. We waited for someone to come and rescue us.
I stayed in the safe room with our six children. Thank God, none of them were hurt. I told them, ‘Don’t look.’
Twenty minutes later, the kibbutz security team managed to reach us and enter the safe room. During the battle as they tried to enter our home, two members of the security team—our good friends Amichai Witzen and Yedidya Raziel, of blessed memory—were killed. The rest of the team managed to get into our house, carry Amichai outside, and treat him.
Amichai received treatment on the ground from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., when a helicopter finally arrived and evacuated him to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.
Throughout this entire experience, we choose to focus on the good and on the great miracles that happened to us, alongside the enormous difficulty and pain. We choose to see the good: Thank God, Amichai recovered, and we are once again a united family, part of a united people. We hope that our people will remain as united as we were during the war.
Thank you to everyone who shared their testimonies, and to all the partners who took part in creating and presenting the exhibition.
We will not forget. From darkness to light.”
