BERGEN COUNTY, N.J.—Survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel shared their experiences at Woodcliff Lake’s Temple Emanuel of the Pascack Valley on Thursday, Oct. 8, one day after Rep. Josh Gottheimer joined community leaders and the family of former hostage Edan Alexander in Tenafly to mark the third anniversary of the attacks.
The local commemorations honored those killed, taken hostage and forever changed by the violence, while emphasizing remembrance, resilience and the continuing fight against antisemitism.
Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo attended the Temple Emanuel presentation by Eliya Cohen and his wife, Ziv Abud, who survived the attack on the Nova music festival in southern Israel.
In an Oct. 8 Facebook post, Rendo said Rabbi Loren Monosov invited him to hear the couple recount their experiences.
The commemoration, presented by the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey with Temple Emanuel and other community organizations, featured the recently married couple as guest speakers for an evening of remembrance and reflection.
According to Rendo, Cohen and Abud, then dating, arrived at the festival around 4:45 a.m. and fled when gunfire erupted about 7 a.m. They escaped by car with two of Abud’s 19-year-old cousins and sought refuge in a roadside shelter with dozens of other festivalgoers.
Rendo said Hamas gunmen attacked the shelter, killing Abud’s cousins and many others inside. Cohen was shot in the leg and, despite his injuries, managed to cover Abud with bodies in an effort to protect her.
Cohen was subsequently taken hostage and transported to Gaza, Rendo wrote, where he was assaulted by a crowd before being moved among several locations. After receiving treatment for his gunshot wound, Cohen was taken to an underground holding area approximately 50 meters below ground.
Rendo said Cohen and six other Israeli captives were chained together and initially deprived of adequate food and water. At one point, he wrote, the seven were given a single pita and a bottle of water to share.
Cohen spent 505 days in captivity, uncertain whether Abud or his parents had survived, according to Rendo. He was eventually released in a hostage exchange and reunited with Abud, who had survived the shelter attack.
Rendo said only seven of the 49 people who sought refuge in the shelter survived.
“The story of Eliya and Ziv, is a story of perseverance, the will to live, the love for life, and the fight of good over evil,” Rendo wrote.
The mayor said the couple’s testimony reinforced his support for Israel and his opposition to anti-Israel rhetoric.
“Tonight, I made two friends, two friends that will continue dancing for their friends who are no longer with us,” he wrote. “God bless Eliya and Ziv. I wish them much love in their marriage and and in life!”
Tenafly remembrance, congressional action
A day earlier, Gottheimer, D-5th District, joined Tenafly Mayor Mark Zinna, local officials, religious leaders and the parents of former Hamas hostage Edan Alexander at a ceremony on Edan Alexander Way.
Alexander, a Tenafly High School graduate, was held captive in Gaza for 584 days before his release in May 2025.
His parents, Adi and Yael Alexander, attended the Oct. 7 ceremony, where Gottheimer praised the family’s perseverance and the community’s support throughout their son’s captivity.
“You stood in Huyler Park at five o’clock in the morning to watch him be released – I was there – and you filled these streets by the thousands to welcome Edan home in May of last year. You showed what a town can do when it stands together,” Gottheimer said in remarks prepared for the event.
Gottheimer also announced a bipartisan congressional resolution marking the third anniversary of the attacks, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken into Gaza.
Introduced with Reps. Lois Frankel, D-Fla.; Joe Wilson, R-S.C.; and Young Kim, R-Calif., the resolution honors the victims and hostages, condemns the attacks and supports Israel’s security, a durable ceasefire, humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in Gaza, and the disarmament of Hamas.
The congressman also announced legislation with Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., that would withhold U.S. contributions to the United Nations until the U.N. designates Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.
He renewed support for two previously introduced bipartisan measures: the October 7th Gold Medal Act, recognizing American victims and hostages, and the October 7th Remembrance Education Act, which would direct the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to develop educational materials about the attacks and subsequent antisemitism.
Gottheimer cited Anti-Defamation League figures showing 6,274 antisemitic incidents nationwide in 2025, including 139 in Bergen County, which he said had the highest total in New Jersey.
“We will speak the truth about October 7th. We will stand up to hate, wherever it rears its ugly head. And we will never stop fighting for the day when Hamas lays down its arms for good, and communities can live in peace free from terror,” Gottheimer said.
The congressman also reflected on Alexander’s return and the importance of honoring those who survived captivity while remembering those who did not.