On Sept. 8, Beth Tfiloh Congregation hosted its Helene and Stanley Z. Penn Lecture, this year featuring journalist and political commentator Douglas Murray and Gadi Moses, a former hostage taken captive on Oct. 7, to benefit American Friends of Nir Oz.
Beth Tfiloh’s senior rabbi, Chai Posner, started the evening by talking about the history of the Helen and Stanley Z. Penn Lecture, as well discussing the Penn family and its legacy.
“[Helen and Stanley Penn’s children] are the sixth generation of Penns here at Beth Tfiloh,” Posner explained. “[Stanley Penn’s] greatest success is here with us this evening. His greatest success is his family.”
Posner shared a story about how he got to know Penn’s children in an Israeli bomb shelter in the middle of the night. Posner stated, “You know, when you hang out with people in bomb shelters in the middle of the night in your pajamas, you get to know them. You may recognize Joe’s [Penn’s son’s] face from my WhatsApp updates. ‘He of the dried fruits’ that were handed out during the time to lift people’s spirits.”
Roughly 1,500 people, a packed house, were in attendance. The night consisted of a question-and-answer-style lecture in which both Murray and Moses shared their personal experiences with Israel, the war and Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Kibbutz Nir Oz’s agricultural fields produce potatoes, avocados, pomegranates and asparagus, according to American Friends of Nir Oz. The kibbutz was described by The Times of Israel as one of the most horrific scenes of Oct. 7, with almost a quarter of the population either kidnapped or murdered.
American Friends of Nir Oz is a United States-based nonprofit organization launched to help rebuild Kibbutz Nir Oz through financial and programmatic support from U.S.-based donors.
Before each guest joined the stage, Beth Tfiloh projected videos introducing each of the speakers and highlighting their impact since Oct. 7.
“When I was asked if I could come this evening, I think it was one of the easiest invitations that I’ve received in a long time,” explained Murray.
Murray was introduced by a video on screen as “one of the most outspoken voices of sanity in the international media when it comes to the extreme accusations” regarding Israel.
“I was aware [that] two things were going to happen,” Murray explained to the audience during his sit-down with Beth Tfiloh’s head rabbi on stage in the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Sanctuary. “One was that the events of the day were going to be passed over. The world was going to move straight onto the issue of ‘What’s Israel going to do in response?’”
Murray spoke on stage for about an hour with Posner.
“I suppose the second thing I thought was that, not only was the world going to pass over what had happened very fast, but we were going to get to a point where they were also going to deny what had happened,” Murray added.
Posner ended his session with Murray by asking, on behalf of the high schoolers who attended the event, what advice he had for them going into college as a Jewish person in today’s political climate.
“[I’ve noticed] among Jews and non-Jews as well, the extent to which many people, in response to this hate, have demonstrated another way [to respond],” Murray said. “For instance, a number of Jewish students, when they might speak or canvass or anything else, are engaging with their heritage and their tradition and their faith more than they were, perhaps, a few years ago. We also have more Jews and non-Jews who realize if this [antisemitism] is what we’re up against, we’ll be prouder and noisier about our Zionism. I think that there’s a real reenergizing that you may sense as well in young Jews and others.”
The second half of the event was focused on Moses and his decision to return to Nir Oz.
When introduced, Moses received a standing ovation from those in the room. The video introducing him described him as a “renowned farmer” and one who built a community that he watched get destroyed on Oct. 7.
Moses said that, if it were up to him, he would not return to Nir Oz, but his family insisted on the importance of rebuilding their community.
