Ofri Reiner was at the Nova music festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded, killing about 400 concertgoers, injuring others and forcefully taking hostages back to Gaza. The 21-year-old – who has experienced so much pain at such a young age – is now sharing her story with the Jewish world.
On Thursday, Sept. 5, from 7-9:30 p.m., she will be in conversation with Lya Frank, a Holocaust survivor, at a Jewish National Fund-USA event in West Hollywood called “Embrace the Spirit of Israel.” Despite their experiences being 80 years apart, they will talk about their similarities and the tragic antisemitism they witnessed.
“In my healing process, I insist on filling my life with the meaning I want to give it,” said Reiner. “Since Oct. 7, I have been walking with a strong belief that I must bring a bit of Israel to the diaspora. I gain empowerment from acknowledging that even on the other side of the world, efforts are being made, and people care and pray for our wellbeing. The upcoming gathering will give me the opportunity to see the light amidst the shared fracture and continue the long journey toward a deeper understanding of modern Zionism.”
“In my healing process, I insist on filling my life with the meaning I want to give it.” – Ofri Reiner
Reiner is an artist whose work captures the agony of loss and the glimmers of hope that emerge from darkness, while Frank is a Dutch-born Holocaust survivor. At only seven years old, she was separated from her parents and sister and forced into hiding; she lost her mother and father when they were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz. Frank was hidden in the Netherlands with a Christian doctor’s family, Dr. Hugo and Katie Broers. They were later honored by Yad Vashem as “Righteous Among the Nations.” After the war ended, Frank’s uncle located her and her sister and reunited them. Frank trained at the University of Judaism, where she became a peer counselor and volunteered at the Senior Center in Santa Monica.
“For me, this historical event is to place on the timeline two Jewish women, each of whom faced different horrors of the Jewish people—carrying the fate of their lives with bravery—and to examine at every point in time the development of the Jewish narrative that continues to be written,” said Reiner. “I want people to leave this event with glistening eyes and one deep, shared understanding: there is hope.”
Rabbi Nicole Guzik, senior rabbi at Sinai Temple, will be moderating the talk with Reiner and Frank, and funds raised will be used to support the immediate and future needs of people living in Israel. Tickets are $180 for JNFuture members and $360 for general admission. The event chairs include Susie Satzman Toczek, Flora Glouberman and Tiffany Lu.
Louis Rosenberg, Jewish National Fund-USA’s executive director, Greater Los Angeles suggested that Frank speak after he heard her story. Reiner previously spoke at a Jewish National Fund-USA event in San Diego.
“[I hope] that the younger generation has a deeper appreciation for the survival stories of those who experienced the Holocaust, and all attending understand what resilience really means and how the spirit of Israel will never be broken,” Rosenberg said. “’Never Again’ was meant to be Never Again, and then Oct. 7 happened. There are not many Holocaust survivors left, so we must always hear from them to keep that story alive so that future generations know what has happened to their ancestors.”
Both Frank and Reiner have seen the worst of humanity; the latter is optimistic that somehow, light can come from the darkness.
“I believe that by examining my own private event under a microscope, my choice to take the fracture and create something beautiful from it, we can reflect on an entire nation,” she said. “Post-traumatic growth is an entire range in the spectrum of trauma coping that isn’t talked about enough. I’m here to change that.”
To register for “Embrace the Spirit of Israel,” visit jnf.org/embraceisrael
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