The day both my daughters went out to dance and never came back

Sigal Shteiner Manzuri’s life changed forever on October 7, 2023. That was the day that she went from being a mother of two daughters, a son, and a future son-in-law, to being a mother of one.

The night before the Supernova music festival massacre was Succot Eve. Manzuri had prepared a big Shabbat dinner for her family in Hod Hasharon, where everyone made a toast to the future wedding of Norelle, 25, Manzuri’s eldest, and her boyfriend Amit Cohen, also 25.

The couple and Manzuri’s youngest daughter Roya, 22, left for the festival just before midnight, full of excitement. Manzuri had to call out to Norelle to get her to run back for a farewell embrace and kiss with her mother. “I’m happy I insisted on getting this hug from her,” says Manzuri. At the time, she didn’t know it would be their last.

Norelle and Roya Manzuri with Amit Cohen at a music festival. (Courtesy of Sigal Shteiner Manzuri)[Missing Credit]

Twenty months have passed since that fateful day that began with blaring rocket sirens. Around 100 Hamas operatives infiltrated the outdoor rave where they murdered 378 and kidnapped 44 partygoers in what became the single deadliest terror attack in the Jewish state’s history.

Manzuri remembers the day she lost her daughters and a future son-in-law like it was yesterday.

When she woke up with her husband, Menashe, at 6.29 am to the sound of sirens, she called up her girls right away, who assured her all three of them were staying low, awaiting instructions.

The trio, alongside two others - Manzuri’s nephew Gal Haim, and Noelle’s best friend Noa Ben Artzi - made it to a car to head north. “They texted us, saying: ‘It’s all good. See you at home.’”

As they headed towards Kibbutz Re'im, at around 7am, a barrage of missiles rained down. the group of five made the decision to abandon the car and seek refuge in a bomb shelter. Manzuri lost communication 39 minutes later.

The next few days were agony, spent trying to find out if her daughters and future son-in-law managed to survive the impossible.

She now has the details of her loved ones’ final moments – that Hamas operatives threw almost a dozen grenades into the shelter and fired gunshots, attempting to blow it up and burn all life inside. But it took days to piece together the grisly truth of what happened – days spent between hope and despair.

Menashe travelled down to the south, visiting every hospital, checking every ambulance, in a frantic search for his daughters.

On Monday noon, they were told Amit had died – that he was shot in the head. He was buried that evening at 8pm. At Amit’s funeral, Manzuri met his parents for the first time, in circumstances even her greatest nightmare could have never predicted.

But there was still no sign of the couple’s daughters. “In a way, we were hoping for them to be kidnapped,” says Manzuri. “We realised that would be the best possibility for us to see them alive again.”

The family was “hoping for a miracle”. But all hope was shattered when they received a knock on the door at 8:20am on Wednesday telling them Roya was dead. On Friday night at 7 pm, another knock arrived, bringing news of Norelle’s death.

The shiva for the sisters was long – 12 days instead of seven. “It felt like melting lava was burning everything from the inside, from my head to my toes,” says Manzuri. “It felt like I had nothing left inside.”

Ever since October 2023, Manzuri says she has dedicated every moment to keeping her daughters’ memory alive. “To spread their light, to fulfill their dream, and to try and make a change – to spread light into this dark world that we live in.”

One way Manzuri has kept her daughters’ legacy alive is through building “NoRo's Vision” – a future open-house for at-risk girls and women in crisis, combining the power of therapy and fashion to honour Norelle and Roya’s dreams.

Clothes belonging to Sigal's daughters Norelle and Roya, now used in styling sessions with vulnerable women and girls as part of 'NoRo's Vision'. (Courtesy of Sigal Shteiner Manzuri)[Missing Credit]

Norelle, whose name means “the guardian angel”, was born in Los Angeles in 1998. She was a stylist with hopes of studying psychology, and wanted to harness both of her passions – fashion and science – to a develop a novel mental health treatment for women.

Roya, born in 2001, “radiated warmth and light,” says Manzuri. Her name means “dream”. She had goals of studying jewellery design and film in New York and dreamed of helping people with PTSD through the power of the moving image.

By developing “NoRo’s Vision”, a sanctuary where women and girls will access therapeutic support though engaging with fashion and film, Manzuri is channelling both of her daughter’s goals to honour their memory.

Sigal hopes to transform 'NoRo's Vision' into a permanent open-house for at-risk girls and women in crisis. (Courtesy of Sigal Shteiner Manzuri)[Missing Credit]

The permanent open-house has not been built yet, so right now Manzuri is visiting shelters, donating clothes to the women, and offering them a styling session with a professional using Norelle and Roya’s own clothes – forging a sense of community and contributing towards healing. She shares her story with the women from October 7, “and we give each other strength and hope to keep going and choose life over misery”, she says.

“The sessions are about not giving up – they’re about life, giving each other strength, and the women getting two bags of beautiful clothes that they're unable to buy because they don't have the money. It’s about me trying to be a role model for them - as a mother who lost so much.”

Art has also been therapeutic for Manzuri herself, as she copes with the tragedy that befell her family.

Sigal Shteiner Manzuri photographed for Israeli artist Ifat Peer's 'Eternal Embrace' exhibition. (Courtesy of Ifat Peer)[Missing Credit]

On the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre, a photograph of Manzuri holding a photograph of her daughters Roya and Noelle appeared in an exhibition entitled Eternal Embrace at the United Nations in New York – exploring the grief of 25 mothers who each lost children in the terrorist attack that stole 1,200 lives.

Curated by Israeli artist Ifat Peer, the exhibition features several touching photos, each honouring the powerful bond a mother shares with a child – lasting even through death. Following the massacre, Peer visited each mother amid her insurmountable grief, took their photo and interviewed them about their “last embrace” with their lost children – preserving that transient but special memory forever.

Raaya Aharek's son Omri Aharek was murdered aged 26. She was photographed as part of Israeli artist Ifat Peer's 'Eternal Embrace' exhibition. (Courtesy of Ifat Peer)[Missing Credit]Sheli Meshal-Yogev's daughter Libi Cohen-Meguri was murdered aged 22. She photographed as part of Israeli artist Ifat Peer's 'Eternal Embrace' exhibition. (Courtesy of Ifat Peer)[Missing Credit]

The exhibition, facilitated by the Zionist Council, travelled from New York to Buenos Aires in Argentina, and then to London on June 9 at an event at Western Marble Arch Synagogue. The 25 photographs will continue to migrate around the world, spreading the mothers’ messages.

Now, Manzuri dedicates her time to “NoRo's Vision” and travelling the globe to give public talks about her trauma - spreading the message of unity that she knows her daughters would have wanted her to share.

“This massacre that happened on October 7, it was against humanity - not only against Jewish people,” she says. “We need to be better people, we need to be not so judgmental to others, we need to help each other, we need to get closer to each other and we need to bring our hearts together closer again. I'm a person that believes in love, and I think that love wins eventually. You cannot win with war: you can win only with love.”

When I asked Manzuri about Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, she made it clear that she didn’t want to talk politics, but she said the country’s main priority should be bringing home the remaining 53 hostages still being held captive by Hamas – dead or alive.

“My only hope is for the hostages to come back home. Our first priority as Jewish people – as human beings – is to bring those kids home,” she says.

“They were kidnapped from their beds wearing their pajamas. And some of them were in a festival dancing. It's just unimaginable.”

In early June, the IDF announced that Israeli forces had killed one of the Hamas operatives responsible for storming the Nova festival. Arafat Dhiab was a member of Hamas’s Sheikh Radwan Battalion, who also infiltrated Kibbutz Re’im where the IDF and police forces battled the terrorists for 13 hours.

When asked how the killing of one of October 7’s perpetrators makes her feel, Manzuri is clear.

“It’s a big question,” she says. “But for me, we have already lost in this war - since we lost so many innocent lives. The IDF has to do what it has to do, but from my point of view, I lost as a mother. I lost my girls. It’s not about winning anymore.”