Ben Uri

Ben Uri, 31, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.

He is survived by his parents, Menashe and Rita, and two siblings, Adam and Reuth.

Early Saturday morning, his mother said, Ben told her that he was trying to leave the party after rockets were fired. She never heard from him again.

His body was discovered several days later and he was buried on October 11 in Rishon Lezion. He was killed alongside his friend and roommate, Ilan Lipovsky.

His family said that Uri suffered from post-trauma following his IDF reserve duty during the 2014 Gaza war. In his final video, recovered from his phone after someone found it and tracked down his family, Uri can be seen meditating and doing yoga inside a concrete sewage pipe in an attempt to calm his nerves amid the Hamas onslaught. It was the last moment of his life caught on camera.

In the first years after the 2014 war, his mother, Rita, told Channel 12 news, Ben was in bad mental shape, “but he fought, he was all the time checking for new options, to make himself healthy, to heal himself, to improve his quality of life. Ben chose life.”

One of the things that helped him immensely was yoga and meditation — which he turned to in the final hours of his life.

His friend, Ariel Soleman, wrote on Facebook that “Ben Uri was one of the first friends I made when I enlisted in the army. He was a constant source of support, especially when I felt down. Ben was always an optimistic person even during difficult times. He always had a smile on his face and cracked us up with his funny jokes but what stood out most was his kind heart.”

His sister, Reuth Matalon, told Channel 12 news, “I described Ben as 90 kg of heart. He was a person with an enormous heart, always the first to help everyone, always the first to be there for everyone, so much compassion, so much knowledge. He was very smart, you could seek his advice on anything. He was a huge light.”

Reuth wrote online that Ben “had the biggest smile on his face, the kind that wasn’t fitting to the situation, that would cause you to smile so big even if everything inside is broken. Ben had the strongest bear hug, the kind that knocked all the air out of you and made room for something new…

“Ben was the glue of all of us. The glue of the family, who made sure everyone would come to Friday night dinner, so we would laugh and chat and not argue so much. The glue of his friends — sending messages, calling, visiting, keeping you close to the heart.”
Source: The Times of Israel