The whoops and applause felt more suited to a rock concert than a prayer service. But this was a gathering of survivors from the deadliest terror attack in Israel’s history, and Asaf Oren had just recited the blessing traditionally said after surviving a life-threatening event.

Oren, whose arm was partially paralyzed by a bullet on Oct. 7,  was one of 180 survivors of the massacre at the Nova music festival last year to attend a Shabbat retreat, or Shabbaton, at a Jerusalem hotel organized by Kesher Yehudi, a movement aimed at bridging gaps between haredi Orthodox and secular Israelis and connecting secular Israelis to Jewish heritage. A group of relatives of Israeli hostages also attended.

Two hours earlier, just before candle-lighting  marked the onset of Shabbat, the prominent religious leader Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi delivered a short sermon highlighting the distinction of that Shabbat — the last before the Rosh Hashanah holiday, which would begin a new Jewish year.

“I’m not nervous about Rosh Hashanah this year. Look how many amazing merits we have as a people. When I come to eat the pomegranate, I’ll be thinking of Aner Shapira, who hurled grenade after grenade,” she said, using the Hebrew word—rimon—for both pomegranate and hand grenade.