When Izik and Shani Rosenberg visited their family in Yated close to the Gaza border a year ago, they could not imagine the tragedy that would befall their family. The Rosenbergs’ eldest son, Matan, 17, and Shani’s brother and brother-in-law were all murdered at the Psyduck music festival near Kibbutz Nirim, when thousands of Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel, ravaging the communities, towns, and cities close to the southern border on October 7, 2023. 

With his big smile and a head full of red curls, Matan Rosenberg, a high school senior at Dimona, was known for his love of music and of nature. 

“Matan would play piano for hours,” Mr. Rosenberg told The New York Sun. “He was a free spirit who taught himself to play piano from a very young age. He loved all musical genres from classical to trance.” 

On October 7 of last year, Matan Rosenberg attended the Psyduck festival, a small trance party, with his uncles, Noi Maudi and Moti Elkabetz, the latter a father of three. They were among the 17 partygoers that Hamas terrorists murdered at the festival, in addition to the 364 partygoers at the Nova rave near Kibbutz Reim, where 43 Israelis were also taken hostage.

As the massacre took place, Matan’s parents spent hours in the bombshelter of his mother’s parents’ home, hiding from the Hamas operatives attacking the small farming community of Yated. 

Since his son’s murder, Izik Rosenberg told the Sun that he has been unable to paint. Active in the small community of local artists at Dimona, Mr. Rosenberg commented, “I used to love painting and would do so often,” he said. “But I just can’t paint anymore.”

Instead, Mr. Rosenberg, who works as a train conductor for Israel Railways, found another creative outlet to pay tribute to his oldest son. He decided to memorialize Matan by writing a children’s book about him. “I’m not a writer, but I wanted to find a way to make the memory of Matan accessible to both children and adults. And so this children’s story was born,” he said.

Mr. Rosenberg published a children’s book in Hebrew, “The Orange Butterfly,” which tells the story of his son and his pursuit of peace, love, and justice.

 “Matan was very active in the Scouts and as a troop leader, did all that he could to help the younger scouts in his troop get along with each other,” his father said. “During the shiva, many of Matan’s friends and charges in the Scouts spoke about how he would mediate during arguments and help those around him feel good about themselves and each other.”

“Matan loved the sunsets of Dimona,” Mr. Rosenberg concluded. “He loved the desert, people, and life. The world has missed out on a truly special high school senior.”

Among those honoring the memory of Matan Rosenberg and the hundreds of party goers on the anniversary of October 7 was the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, who began a memorial journey through the Gaza border communities starting with the site where the Nova music festival took place.

Upon arriving at the Nova site at 6:29 a.m. on October 7, the time when Hamas operatives invaded Israel last year, the president observed a moment of silence in memory of the men and women murdered by terrorists during the festival massacre. 

Afterward, he laid a wreath and lit memorial candles in honor of the victims, accompanied by their bereaved families.

“Young people who came to celebrate and enjoy dance and music — to live a real life as any young person should be entitled to. Let us remember them forever. Let us pray, with remorse, pain, bereavement, and condolences to their families,” Mr. Herzog said at the memorial ceremony.

“October 7, 2023, is a day that should be remembered in infamy, when thousands of cruel terrorists broke into our homes, violated our families, burned, chopped, raped, and hijacked and abducted our citizens, our brothers and sisters, and with them, people from 36 different nationalities,” he said. “This is a scar on humanity. This is a scar on the face of the Earth.”

To date, 17 Israelis who attended the Nova festival are believed to be alive in Gaza.