JEWISH WORLD

JEWISH WORLD • JUNE 14-20, 2024 25 ,_hibit 9ecalls 5o]a Festi]al ‘6:29 A.M.: The Moment Music Stood Still’ is devastating By GARY ROSENBLATT I t’s emotionally hard to visit th e Nova Music Festival Exhibit in Lower Manhattan, knowing its goal is to provide you with the expe- rience of shock, trauma and terror that thousands of young Israelis en- dured the morning of October 7. With it all, it’s even harder to leave. My wife and I came away both saddened and inspired, having wit- nessed scenes of the brutal tragedy, but also learning of the heroism of survivors who saved lives that day, and others who tended to the wound- ed and dying. Several survivors, in video interviews, expressed a life-changing commitment to bring light into the world in memory of the 364 people who were murdered that day. At least 40 people were taken hostage in Gaza. We spent two and a half hours at the 50,000-square foot space on Wall Street that has been trans- formed into a meticulously curated recreation of that tragic event, even including dirt from the festival grounds. The organizers of the ex- hibit, titled “6:29 a.m.: The Moment Music Stood Still,” have managed to convey the dramatically shifting spirit and mood of the festival itself, from heavenly bliss during the long night to hellish horrors at sunrise. Even those who have seen many videos and photos and read count- less reports of the attack are sure to gain a deeper insight into the event and its impact through this fully im- mersive experience. On arrival, you first witness the pure joy and spiritual element of the night’s electronic-dance rave. Vid- eos on a large screen show the smil- ing faces of the dancers. Post-Octo- ber 7 interviews with several of the event’s producers describe the hap- piness and celebratory sense of well-being among the thousands drawn to the Negev site. How wick- edly ironic that these peace-seekers were soon to be the targets of bar- baric terrorists. After a few minutes you are invit- ed to go up several stairs and enter a large room where you are immedi- ately disoriented by the dark, crowd- ed space and loud noises coming from dozens of various-sized video screens. They show the moment the DJs begin yelling, “Red alert!” to the confused crowd, followed by chaos as terrorists pursue, shoot at and capture desperately fleeing fes- tival goers. As you make your way in the dark, amidst trees of various sizes, all around you are actual objects sal- vaged from the festival site: tents, sleeping bags, lawn chairs, bul- let-riddled bathroom stalls, back- packs, cell phones, t-shirts and oth- er personal items. Throughout the room are dozens of screens with videos of raw foot- age, some taken by terrified attend- ees, trying to reach loved ones, and some taken by the jubilant Hamas terrorists, praising Allah as they hunt down their prey. Sounds of gunfire and yelling are constant. The intent is to make you feel fear and confusion, and it is all-too effec- tive. In a room that has a sign warning visitors of “disturbing content” that includes “graphic descriptions of sexual violence,” Zaka volunteers emotionally detail the condition of the mutilated bodies they found when they arrived at the scene and during the weeks they were present. T he original exhibit was installed in a large hangar in Tel Aviv. It opened in early December and was open to the public for 10 weeks be- fore being shipped to New York. Is- raeli President Isaac Herzog attend- 6CT6),9 continued on page 28 The intense 5o]a Music Festi]al ,_hibit im merses its ]isitors in 6ctober , from bliss ful dancing to the hell at sunrise. In the dark: recreating the scene at the festival before dawn. ed the Tel Aviv opening and called the site “a hallowed space… silent testimony in memory of all the tremendous human beauty that was lost.” The New York exhibit is not only located physically near the site of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center but is mod- eled in many ways after the 9/11 Memorial Museum, which tells its story through thousands of objects from the wreckage and video interviews with survivors. “We aimed for this project to be the closest we could bring it to the 9/11 Memorial,” Yoni Feingold, one of