Public Speaker: Tomar Weiner

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian military groups launched attacks into Southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. According to State.gov, over 1,000 people were killed. This includes hundreds of Israeli civilians, 364 of which were killed while attending the Supernova music festival.

The audience was made up of Mrs. Reidell-Maczka’s Holocaust and IB History classes as well as Mrs. Georgic-Schmitt’s World Today class to listen to a speaker from Israel: Tomer Weiner.  He told his true story of how he attended the Nova Music Festival and experienced the historic Hamas attacks while there. Wiener was accompanied to this event by his girlfriend Shoval Roberman. 

Tomer’s Life

The speaker, Tomer Weiner, is a 25-year-old man who served as an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer in charge of finding and destroying tunnels underneath the Gaza border. After he finished his military service, he wasn’t sure what to do with his life, so he decided to take a trip and travel through Latin America. Because of the situation in Israel, Weiner felt that he and his people had to live by war. He said that being away from his country was the first time he felt like he was able to do what he wanted, and that during this trip, Weiner changed his perspective and realized that people don’t have to live by war but should instead try to love and find peace with each other.

After returning home Weiner began to attend festivals and described the importance they held, not just to himself but to others as well. He said that people at these festivals were very welcoming and that they allowed him to be more connected with not just others, but also with himself. He also said that the festivals served as a way for people in Israel to cope as they focused on military veterans who struggled with PTSD. While attending one of these festivals Wiener met the love of his life and his “guardian angel,” Shoval Roberman. 

Festival Attacks

Weiner described the Nova Festival as much larger than what he was used to with about 3,000 people attending. He was having a great time at the festival, enjoying the music and dancing by the stage. After a little while, one of Weiner’s friends approached him, saying he wasn’t feeling good. Weiner and Roberman left the stage to help take care of their friend. While taking care of their friend they began to hear bombs and rockets going off but weren’t sure what was going on. They began to see many people running and crying in fear. As many fled, Tomer and Shoval decided to stay to help their good friend, Dorin, pack up his food truck that he had set up outside the festival. After they finished packing the truck Weiner and Roberman began to leave but Dorin stayed to try and help people. Unfortunately, he was tragically shot and killed. 

As they were leaving, terrorists began to enter Israel. Wiener and Roberman fled to their car, only stopping to help a woman who had been shot in the leg. The main road was blocked off due to the terrorists and people were directed to a field to evacuate instead. As they drove, they saw many people walking alongside them until they began to hear bullets ring out causing people to start running. Wiener and Roberman fled from their car and ran into a valley, hiding in the bushes to avoid the terrorists. Bullets flew close by, hitting many Israelis while they fled. They hid in the bushes for two hours until someone decided to leave first, and after realizing it was safe, they decided to follow the group. They stayed with the group and continued to move until running into an Israeli police officer. The officer helped escort them and called in help to assist members of the group.

Tomer finished the event with a few closing remarks about the importance of love and unity in tough times. Tomer said that he would not have made it through the attacks if it wasn’t for his deep bond with Shoval, and says that Israel has been able to survive for so long because the people stand together and support each other.