ST.PAUL, Minn. – A former teacher at Talmud Torah School in St. Paul, Noi Marudi, was among 260 people killed by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova open-air concert in Israel three miles from the Gaza border. Rabbi Yosi Gordon, of the school, said he had received a message that Marudi’s body had been identified. “I was shattered and for a couple of hours I couldn’t talk to anybody,” Gordon told a KSTP interviewer. “He died along with his brother-in-law and two of his close, close friends, who were both brothers, and they were all dead, murdered in their car.” Maurdi, 29, had been at Talmud Torah School isix years. He moved to Israel in 2021.
Verbatim
Gordon: “ He was so profoundly good. I have known lots of good people. He was like pure good. The older kids, teenagers, and so on, he was a big brother to all of them, and to all of the kids he was this lovely, caring human being who was so wise and so funny and so energetic.”
Marudi. Slain in a car trying to flee the unfolding carnage after terrorists paraglided into the concert from Gaza.
Supernova: 4,000 people in Israel’s Negev Desert
In the tradition of secret-location raves, fans of electronic, reggae and hip-hop bought tickets to the Supernova concert in advance but didn’t even know where to go until the last minute. The only early tip: “The event will take place in a powerful, natural location full of trees, stunning in its beauty and organized for your convenience about an hour and a quarter south of Tel Aviv.” The mystery was part of the attraction. When told the site online, 4,000 people, who paid $100 each, converged in the desert. They parked along an access road and walked to the performance area. Sixteen DJs from around the world spun the music. There also were big-name performers live. The event was supposed to run 15 hours straight. The event coincided with the end of Sukkot, a week-long Jewish holiday commemorating the October harvest and the Old Testament period after Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. The large open area had multi-colored banners billowing overhead. There was dancing. Music was channeled from banks of speakers on wooden platforms. Trees circled the site. In an eco-friendly spirit, organizers banned plastic but sold bio-degradablen cups for free water. The organizers hired 30 police officers for security. Before dawn Hamas insurgents invaded from all directions. By the hundreds, concert-goers fled the bloodbath to their cars, some several thousand feet away. Many, trapped in traffic jams, were shot and killed in their cars. Then the terrorists disappeared inth night back into Gaza, many with hostages.