David Schvartzman

Orly Pinko Schvartzman, 67, and David Schvartzman, 67, were murdered by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7.

Their beloved dog Jason was also slain in the attack.

They were buried on October 20 in Kibbutz Shefayim, where most Kfar Aza residents were evacuated after the onslaught.

They are survived by their children, Roy, Yonatan, Danielle and Ilai, and 10 grandchildren, with another on the way — as well as several siblings and parents.

David, a native of Paraguay, was an agritech activist and investor who worked as the agricultural expert for Honduras and Guatemala for MASHAV, the Foreign Ministry’s international development agency.

Orly, who was born in the nearby Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, was a nurse who worked in Clalit’s southern division, most recently as the nursing director at an Assaf Harofeh clinic in Ashkelon.

David immigrated to Israel when he was 17, and arrived at Ein Hashlosha, where he met Orly. The couple married and eventually settled in Kfar Aza where they raised their family.

The entire family were huge fans of Maccabi Haifa, and the team paid tribute to the couple on its social media pages.

Their daughter, Danielle Schvartzman Orbach, wrote on Facebook about her memories of the home they built which was full of love and family until it was ransacked and destroyed on October 7.

“A beautiful garden, tons of flowers, the scent of jasmine, the doorbell — already when you walk in the scent of soup and couscous. Jason is already at the door, wagging his fearsome tail,” she describes, caught between memory and imagination.

“Mom is the first to arrive, wearing an apron and a huge smile, putting out a hand for a warm hug. Dad is on the sofa, getting up slowly, a kiss on the forehead and then a hug. They gather up the grandchildren in their arms,” she writes.

“Shabbat after Shabbat, huge rolling laughs can be heard until the end of the street. Our parents accompany us to the door as we all disperse to our homes. One more kiss and one more hug and one more final worry,” Danielle wrote. “As the car pulls away you can see from the back window Mom standing outside and watering the plants, Dad going out for one more walk with Jason.

“And everyone is waiting for next Shabbat. But Shabbats like this will never come back. And the the flowers will wither along with the heart. We are left only to try with all our might to plant new seedlings.”

The couple’s son, Ilai Schvartzman, wrote on Facebook that it “is so hard without you.”

He recounted all the things that they will no longer get to do: “We won’t go up to your attic to get things down before the birth. We won’t see you every Friday. Dad won’t play with Oren, and Mom, I won’t make you coffee.

“Mom, you won’t ask me what I want to eat for my birthday. Dad, I won’t hear you talk about work anymore while I ask endless questions like a child. A child. A month has passed, and I miss you with every breath.”
Source: The Times of Israel