Ofir Tzarfati

Ofir Tzarfati, 27, was shot and wounded as he was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on October 7. On November 27, the IDF declared that he was confirmed dead, and on December 1, the military announced it had recovered his body from Gaza and he was laid to rest in Kiryat Ata. The military did not provide a date of death or details about the circumstances.

He is survived by his parents, Richelle and Hanan, and his sisters Shoval and Lior.

Tzarfati, who was celebrating his 27th birthday at the rave with his girlfriend, Shoval Gal, led his group of friends as they ran and hid when Hamas terrorists opened fire, according to a group member.

They got to their car and Tzarfati made sure Shoval was safe inside, but he ended up getting into another car. Days later, Shoval heard that Tzarfati had been shot and badly hurt in the other car, and was presumed captive in Gaza.

At his funeral, his sister Shoval mourned the family’s immense loss.

“I don’t know what we’re doing here, this isn’t the place for you,” she said tearfully. “You’re the kind of guy who survives everything I believed so much that you could handle it. You fought for everyone, took care of everyone. I want to thank you for the privilege of being your sister.”

Ofir’s girlfriend Shoval, whom he saved from the music festival, said at his funeral, “I still can’t comprehend that I won’t see your smile anymore. You’re my best friend… I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you when you protected me… My Ofir, in a parallel universe, propose to me like you wanted. And we’ll bring a beautiful child into the world and you’ll play soccer with him. My angel, you will forever be part of my heart.”

His mother said, “My Ofir, in my darkest dreams I never believed I would stand here in front of your coffin… Ofir, you had so many special and noble qualities — endless generosity, you had a pure and clean soul. You always chose to see the good in people… you were an angel in the form of a human.”

“If I could get you back even for just a minute, I would tell you again how much I love you, to hug you and to tell you thank you for 27 years of pleasure, of happiness, of pride, of joy, of unending love… Ofir, your melody can’t be stopped from playing — we promise to keep playing your tune.”
Source: The Times of Israel