Those We Have Lost

Erick and Ruth Peretz, 58 & 16: Father and daughter shared love of music

Murdered at the Supernova festival, Oct. 7

By ToI Staff 21 October 2023, 12:31 pm Edit

Erick and Ruth Peretz (Courtesy)

Erick Peretz, 58, and his 16-year-old daughter, Ruth, were murdered by Hamas terrorists while attending the Supernova music festival near Re’im on October 7.

Erick had taken Ruth, who was born with cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, used a wheelchair, to the festival because of her love of music.

“For years he would go to these festivals and bring Ruth, because it made her really happy and she loved it,” Ya’arit Peretz, Erick’s daughter and Ruth’s sister, told Ynet. “There were times he would take her and she didn’t want to come home. It was their tradition, to go to festivals.”

The pair were both missing for many days as their family searched frantically for information, before they were informed that their bodies had been found more than 10 days after the attack.

Hila, a friend of Erick’s, said he was a well known surfer who was devoted to caring for Ruth.

“Everytime I would see him I’d ask him when we were going surfing, and he would respond that he had to check because he was busy caring for his daughter Ruth,” Hila told a local news site. “He devoted his life to her, he was a perfect father, a man with a free spirit, who loved everyone, and was always smiling.”