Maayan Idan

Maayan Idan, 18, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in her home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7.

Her father, Tsachi Idan, was kidnapped and taken hostage in Gaza.

The rest of the family said Tsachi was holding the safe room door shut as terrorists shot through it, killing Maayan. When he realized his daughter had been shot, Tsachi let go of the door in shock, and the terrorists stormed in. They eventually took him, leaving his wife, Gali, and their younger children behind, as they livestreamed the entire encounter on Facebook.

Maayan was not buried until October 22. In addition to her parents, she is survived by her younger siblings Sharon, 15, Yael, 11 and Shahar, 9, and a number of extended relatives.

The high schooler was remembered as a talented volleyball player, who loved to read and was devoted to her younger siblings as well as to her parents. At her funeral, they played her favorite song, “Father and Son” by Cat Stevens, as her family sang along to the lyrics: “Just relax, take it easy/ You’re still young, that’s your fault/ There’s so much you have to know.”

At her funeral, her mother Gali said she is now “shattered into pieces… now you will stay 18 forever, 18 and 4 days. Beautiful, in the brown dress you wore for your birthday, with your abundant curls. I don’t know how they can murder a unique and rare unicorn like you, Maayani.”

“How can they murder someone who is fully good and pure with the smile of an angel and a deep soul?”

Lior Lahav, Maayan’s uncle, told Kan news at her funeral that his niece had “something angelic about her, something outside of the norm, a type of quiet, a type of maturity.”

Her grandmother, Dvora Idan, wrote on Facebook that Maayan was “just 18, you rushed to enlist — to the army of the heavens… how can I say farewell, you made me into an overjoyed grandmother, you captivated me with your inner quiet, your modesty, your simplicity together with your enormous determination.”

Dvora recalled attending every one of her granddaughter’s volleyball games and cheering from the stands: “Your eyes were always on the ball, in impossible situations on the field that you turned into possible, you gave your soul in every game and also the victory.” Maayan, she wrote, always asked for books as presents, and was so excited to finally get her driver’s license.

“You insisted on being the driver to take your grandma to your birthday celebration,” she recalled, picking her up just days before Maayan was murdered. “You were a wonderful driver, and now you must keep driving into a better world… I am parting from your body in pain and grief, but your soul, Maayani, is in my heart, I am connected deeply and strongly to your soul forever.”
Source: The Times of Israel