Maya Haim

Maya Haim, 22, from Petah Tikva, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.

She is survived by her parents, Oshri and Graza. Her family chose to bury her overseas.

She was slain alongside her close friend and co-worker, Karina Pritika. They worked together at the Mena restaurant in Tel Aviv, and were saving up so they could travel together to South America in November for several months, with tickets to leave just a few weeks after they were killed.

Her boss at the restaurant, Omri Kauftheil, wrote in Israel Hayom that Maya “had a mature and exacting outlook on life, an incredible smile and a will and ability to give gracious service to people… Our hearts are broken, and as long as we are here we will work to memorialize them in every way.”

Her close friend, Sean Bar Shlomo, wrote on social media that Maya was “my best friend, my soulmate, my second sister.”

“How much we dreamed together, to have families and to see the world and to live life, and in one moment that dream was cut short,” she wrote. “My Maya, my beautiful angel, how pure — I will tell the whole world what kind of friend you were, what heart you had, how much love. I know that you’re out there somewhere, making everyone smile and be happy because you’re the happiest there was.”

Her aunt, Salyit Hershkovich, wrote on Facebook that while she was buried “so far away, our beloved Maya will be forever in our hearts, etched into our skin, and close, so close, to our souls. Just as every day the sun rises anew, so will you accompany us every day, your wonderful, contagious smile, the joy for life you had, will be a light for us in dark, sad days.”

Maya’s cousin, Mor Haim, recalled that Maya was “a magical child, happy, joyous and kind,” and noted that she got a tattoo exactly the same as she had, “a red chili pepper on my arm, in the same place you tattooed it just a few months ago — from now on you are with me not just in my heart and my thoughts but truly etched into my body. I love you and I will remember you forever with your captivating smile and your kind eyes.”

At her gravesite, her mother, Graza, described her as “our personal ray of sunshine who shone on us every day, the meaning in our lives.”

“I am proud that you are my daughter. I am thankful that you gave me the opportunity to be your mother. It was the most beautiful gift I could dream of,” she said. “You were perfect in every way… A beautiful and smart young woman who was looking for her path in life. You had a huge heart, ready to help anyone who needed it.”

“You knew how to live every moment,” her mother added. “You enjoyed life until the end as if you knew that it would be short.”
Source: The Times of Israel