The blue carpet rolled out at the Kennedy Center as celebrities, activists and Nova massacre survivors took the stage alongside the National Symphony Orchestra for the Anti-Defamation League’s annual “Concert Against Hate.”
The concert, hosted in the Kennedy Center Opera House on Monday night, honored those fighting antisemitism since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing over 1,200 civilians.
The Levenson Family Defender of Democracy Award honored three college students who defended themselves and their Jewish peers against antisemitism on their campuses, testifying in front of Congress and losing friends along the way.
One of these students was Einav Tsach, an Israeli-American junior at the University of Maryland.
Tsach, who studies journalism and marketing, has spent the last year advocating against campus antisemitism and supporting Israeli students as president of Mishelanu, the Israeli culture club on campus.
In his speech at the ADL dinner before the concert, Tsach focused on UMD’s Jewish community coming together and supporting one another to defeat hate and overcome difficult circumstances.
“There’s not any single person that’s not capable of combating antisemitism or contributing or fighting,” Tsach said in an interview with Mitzpeh following the ceremony. “We all have a role to play, and I think we’re all so capable.”
Tsach expressed gratitude for the other honorees at the event, who were all chosen for their persistence against antisemitism.
“[The concert had] so many people who were so committed to this ideal of living in a world that doesn’t have hate,” Tsach said.
He hopes to continue his advocacy beyond his college career, calling it “a part of who I am.”
Comedian Ben Stiller emceed the event, cracking jokes about the countless Jewish characters he has played and teasing music executive Scooter Braun for his public disputes with Taylor Swift.
Three survivors of the Nova festival introduced Braun, who was honored with the ADL Spotlight Award for bringing the Nova traveling exhibition to the United States.
The exhibition, which premiered in Tel Aviv, was brought to Manhattan in April 2024 and ran for two months. The exhibition recreated the scene of the Nova festival, with direct replicas of burnt cars, shoes found at the festival and a memorial for lives lost and those still being held hostage. Another exhibition opened in Los Angeles, and Braun is opening one in Miami on Dec. 18.
Donned in a white backless gown and accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra, Israeli singer Eden Golan performed “October Rain,” a song about the events of Oct. 7, 2023.
The song, which placed fifth in the Eurovision 2024 song contest, was renamed “Hurricane” after being deemed too political by the European Broadcasting Union.
Golan has now performed the song under its original name for thousands of listeners, including at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. Just a day following Golan’s Eurovision appearance in May, “Hurricane” topped Israel’s charts for weeks on end.
While welcoming her on stage, Stiller noted Golan’s experience performing at Eurovision this year.
“Despite being booed so loudly she couldn’t hear herself sing, she kept her composure,” Stiller said. “That experience lit a fire inside of her.”
The evening concluded with a performance from Sia, who sang her famous song “Titanium” with the National Symphony Orchestra.
