Aviel Shalom Rahamim, 27, from Merkaz Shapira, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.
Aviel attended the party with four friends, Ido Ben Zino, Avidan Turgeman, Eldad Angel Bergman, and Oded Abergel, all of whom were also murdered that day.
When they realized what was happening, Aviel and Ido tried to escape the area but were shot at by terrorists. Ido died immediately, but Aviel, who was shot in his abdomen, was still alive when three police officers found him.
They tried to keep him alive, but shortly afterward, a group of 12 terrorists showed up in a pickup truck and opened fire, killing both one of the police officers and Aviel.
He was buried on October 10 in the southern town of Merkaz Shapira. He is survived by his parents, Tamar and Benny, his brother, Omer, and three sisters, Mor, Reut and Tehilla.
Aviel was described by his friends and family as a friendly person who was full of joy and loved soccer. He was an avid fan of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team and bonded with his nephew over their joint love of the sport and the team.
The fourth out of five children in the family, Aviel was raised in Merkaz Shapira, south of Kiryat Malachi. During his mandatory army service, Aviel served in the Combat Engineering Corps, stationed mostly in the Gaza envelope area.
His mother, Tamar, described Aviel to Channel 12 News as a “wonderful boy with a smile that would make you melt.”
“From a very young age, I could never be mad at him. As a boy, he would give me such a huge hug. I would tell him, ‘You’re recharging me like a phone.’ He was an inexhaustible source of energy,” she said.
Omer told Channel 12 that Aviel was his best friend as well as his brother.
“We would spend a lot of time together. We would meet up at the end of every day, I finish work late, and Aviel would wait for me. We would sit and talk about everything,” he said.
Omer added that Aviel wanted to “enjoy life.”
“Friends were very important to him. He was a true friend, and he had a wide circle of friends of all ages. He would just connect with everyone. Even people who only met him for a short time remember him,” he said.
Aviel’s girlfriend, Tamar Golan, told Channel 12 that he had volunteered with Yedidim, an organization that helps drivers whose cars break down, because he wanted to do good.
“He would see hitchhikers on the road, and I was always wary of picking them up, but he would say to me, ‘Tamari, we’re doing good, we’re helping people get home,’” she said.
“This week, when I drove home from Aviel’s family, I saw hitchhikers. I’ve never stopped, but this time I did because it was Avieli’s mission. He just wanted to do good in the world, to help people and make them smile. He was a person of light.”
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