Those We Have Lost

Yohai Azulay, 28: Partygoer who knew ‘how to listen to everyone’

Murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7

Yohai Azulay who was murdered by Hamas terrorists while escaping the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)
Yohai Azulay who was murdered by Hamas terrorists while escaping the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Yohai Azulay, 28, from Holon, was murdered while trying to flee the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival on October 7.

Yohai attended the party with a friend, and the two initially tried to escape in Yohai’s car when the invasion began but eventually decided to escape on foot as the road was jammed with traffic from everybody leaving at once. He last made contact with his family at 10:30 a.m., telling them that he was hiding.

The two friends ended up splitting up, and while his friend made it to safety, Yohai was missing for a week before his family was told his body had been recovered.

He was buried in Holon on October 15. He is survived by his parents, Ziva and Itzik, and his older sister Daniella Keren.

According to a state eulogy, Yohai’s family chose words he wrote about himself for his gravestone: “I, Yohai Azulay, wanted to live a life full of spirituality, an endless quest to discover truth, and internal and external peacemaking from freedom and real balance that would lead me to a life filled with love.”

His mother, Ziva said that the words perfectly encapsulated Yohai’s “kind and forgiving heart and his wonderful personality.”

Born in Tel Aviv, Yohai lived with his family in the Jaffa section until 5th grade, when they moved to Holon, where he finished his schooling. He grew up in a traditionally religious family and spent much of his time devoted to exploring his roots and his connection to Judaism.

He served in the Kfir Brigade during his mandatory military service, and after his release, he toured around South America, a trip that saw him moving further away from religious observance. After his return, Yohai worked in sales, and soon met his girlfriend, Noa, and the pair soon became a couple who were planning a future together.

His sister, Daniella, wrote that Yohai liked writing, music, pizza, rock, pianos, comedy, reading, learning and philosophy.

“In your short and full life, you believed in humanity’s kindness, you insisted on giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, and you managed to pull people to you from every direction like a human magnet,” she wrote.

“You were curious and opinionated with a clear and solid opinion on every matter, but you still knew how to find what unites people. You know how to listen to everyone, and you listened and only after you’d understood the issue, did you say your part with grace, modesty, and calm that so characterized you.”

Yohai’s friend, Yarin Bar, wrote in an Instagram post that he had learned from him “how to be calmer, not worry about every little thing and go with the flow of life.”

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