Three years after the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, Beverly Hills gathered Wednesday morning at Rexford Mini Park, across from City Hall, to remember those murdered, honor their families and reaffirm a responsibility to carry their memory forward. Across the street, the city is developing a permanent memorial intended to give that commitment a lasting place in public life.
The October 7, 2026, Moment of Remembrance brought together city officials, Jewish religious and diplomatic leaders, school board members and community members. Deputy City Manager Keith Sterling welcomed those assembled and drew their attention to the future memorial nearby.
Rabbi Jonathan Aaron, senior rabbi of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, speaks at the October 7 remembrance at Rexford Mini Park, honoring the victims of the 2023 terrorist attacks and offering a prayer for peace.
Mayor Craig Corman began by explaining whom the morning was meant to honor.
"Today, we gather to remember what is known simply now as October 7th. And to honor the people who were lost that day, their families and all those whose lives were forever changed."
Corman recalled the murder of more than 1,200 people and the kidnapping of more than 250 during the attacks by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He described the trauma as deeply personal for many in Beverly Hills, where connections to Israel extend through families, friendships and civic relationships.
He pointed to the city's sister city relationship with Herzliya and recalled Beverly Hills' public acts of remembrance after the attacks: a Shabbat table outside City Hall with a place for each hostage and more than 1,200 flags in Beverly Gardens Park representing those murdered.
Those temporary tributes are now being followed by plans for "Light Shared Between Us," a permanent memorial beside the Beverly Hills Public Library, across from the city's 9/11 memorial.
The design calls for victims' names, in their native languages and English transliteration, to be illuminated for 86 minutes on October 7, linking the end of daylight in Israel with the beginning of daylight in Beverly Hills. Corman described the significance of remembering each person individually.
"And we will be reminded, again and again, that behind every one of those names is a story of love and loss."
The city's project page identifies the design as the work of atelier eyster architecture and says the City Council has given conceptual approval. A mockup is being created and project documents are being prepared. Beverly Hills has committed $500,000, with the Beverly Hills Community Charitable Foundation raising additional funds.
Corman asked those gathered to join in a moment of silence for the victims, their families and everyone whose lives were changed.
Ambassador Modi Ephraim, Israel's consul general to the Pacific Southwest, thanked Beverly Hills for continuing to stand with the victims' families and for its efforts on behalf of the hostages. He said the community's presence in the early morning, three years after the attacks, showed Israelis they were not alone.
Ephraim also noted that this year's Rosh Hashanah was the first in three years without hostages in Gaza. Remembrance, he said, remained a shared obligation.
He recalled serving as Israel's ambassador to the Netherlands when the attacks occurred and traveling to Israel with the Dutch foreign minister days later. Visiting one of the attacked kibbutzim, he said, meant confronting destroyed homes where families had lived and hearing accounts of the massacres.
"What we saw there defies the wildest imagination," Ephraim said.
He added:
"And I will never forget what I saw there."
Rabbi Jonathan Aaron, senior rabbi of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, spoke of the people behind the date: residents of kibbutzim, young people at a music festival and those who risked or lost their lives trying to save others, including soldiers, police, ambulance drivers and everyday citizens.
"And it is upon us to keep the light of your souls aglow. And lead us to a time when this memory can serve as a catalyst for never again, truly meaning, never again."
Aaron offered a prayer for those killed and for peace, invoking Isaiah's call to turn swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. His prayer extended from Beverly Hills to Jerusalem and to humanity as a whole.
Officials in attendance included Vice Mayor Mary Wells, Councilmembers Lester Friedman and Rebecca Pynoos, and City Treasurer Howard Fisher. Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education President Judy Manouchehri and Board of Education member Russell Stuart also attended.
Beverly Hills Mayor Craig Corman points toward the planned October 7 memorial site across the street, alongside Israeli Consul General Modi Ephraim, during the city's October 7 Moment of Remembrance at Rexford Mini Park.
Former Mayor and Councilmember John Mirisch, who serves as chief policy officer for the Israeli-American Civic Action Network, or ICAN, spoke in an interview about the personal meaning of returning to the observance after leaving the council.
Mirisch also served on the city's October 7 memorial committee while in office. In the interview, he connected his continuing commitment to his Jewish identity and concern for the Jewish people.
"I'm the chief policy officer for ICAN, the Israeli-American Civic Action Network, and regardless of my role on the council, I'm a Jew, and... and a Zionist, and someone who cares about the Jewish people. And so this is a very emotional moment for me, and as the rabbi and consul general said, Never again must be, never again. It's up to all of us to ensure that that's the case. And it starts by remembering."
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