Kevin S. Bright, a producer and co-creator of the hit television series “Friends,” visited communities and sites in southern Israel devastated in the October 7 attack, saying the experience had strengthened his Jewish identity and left him “prouder than before.”
Bright toured Sderot, the site of the Nova music festival massacre and Kibbutz Kfar Aza alongside American producer David Fishof and Sam Grundwerg, world chairman of Keren Hayesod, who is nearing the end of his tenure.
Bright lit a memorial candle
(Photo: Private album )
The three were involved in an initiative that brought 10 survivors of the October 7 attack to a music camp in the United States, intended to help them cope with the trauma they experienced. Their visit was documented in the American film “The Bridge,” which is scheduled to be screened Tuesday at 9 p.m. at Hangar 11 in Tel Aviv.
The delegation began its tour at the Sderot Lookout overlooking the Gaza Strip, before receiving a briefing at the nearby visitors center on the October 7 attack. Videos and audio recordings from the day were shown during the presentation.
The group then traveled to the Nova festival site, where Bright met three October 7 survivors who appear in the documentary: Sagi Arad, Bar Rodaeff and Valery Dvorkin.
(Photo: Private album )
(Photo: Private album )
Bright lit a memorial candle and spoke with one of the Nova festival’s producers, who told him that the survivors continue to dance and live in memory of those who were murdered.
“When you come here, to the Nova site, there is an immense feeling of great sadness, and when you leave here, there is a powerful feeling of immense hope that such a thing will never happen again, as well as hope for the healing and recovery of the families who suffered so much,” Bright said.
Eshkol Regional Council head Michal Uziyahu also spoke to the delegation about the impact of October 7 on the region and the resilience of communities along the Gaza border. She described life there as “99 percent paradise and only one percent fear and terror,” saying the strength of the local communities remained a source of optimism.
The delegation later traveled to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where Orit Tsadikvitz, the daughter of the kibbutz’s founders, guided them through the community and described what residents of Kfar Aza, Be’eri and Nahal Oz endured during the attack. Survivors from the three communities have still not fully returned to their homes.
(Photo: Private album )
(Photo: Private album )
Bright entered homes destroyed during the attack and said the physical remains should be preserved as testimony to what happened.
“Standing here, in this place, seeing it up close is so powerful, and it must be preserved so it continues to be evidence of what happened,” he said. “I feel that October 7 strengthened my Jewish identity, and I am prouder than before, because I need to be proud. Antisemitism in the world is a call for all Jews to be stronger.”