A year after his death in Gaza, loved ones throw birthday bash for IDF Cpt. Asaf Master
300 revelers flock to the central square of Kibbutz Bahan on day he would have turned 23, in a tribute that reflects Israel’s struggle to carry on in the face of tragedy
KIBBUTZ BAHAN — On October 25, family and friends threw a 23rd birthday party for IDF Cpt. Asaf Master at his kibbutz in central Israel, though they knew the guest of honor would not be in attendance. Master was killed in battle with Hamas terrorists in Gaza on November 15 last year.
“Last year on his birthday, I wrote him a greeting and promised him that when he returns home from the war, we will celebrate his birthday ‘big time,’” said Asaf’s mother, Michal, reflecting on the bittersweet nature of the occasion. “So now we are celebrating big time, but without him.”
With a lively mix of trance and house music, a DJ played to a crowd of about 300 friends who had known Master at different stages of his life. Guests reclined on elegant white cushions arranged atop vibrant rugs, while a shade canopy was draped overhead. Along the perimeter of the square, food stations as well as the kibbutz’s central coffee cart offered an array of items for sale, including schnitzel sandwiches, pasta, pizza, and cheese toasts.
Children played in the adjacent field and on the playground while guests mingled and shared memories during the midday soiree, which was marked by a sense of community and connection. The stories and memories shared by his loved ones underscored the lingering pain and trauma that continue to affect Israelis amid the ongoing war.
According to his father, Lior, Master began his IDF service in an elite engineering unit known as Yahalom, a classified contingent in the Israel Defense Forces. He then participated in an officers’ training course and upon completion, he became a platoon commander in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion.
His father recalled the family’s final visit with Master at his IDF base just before he was killed.
“The last time we saw him was on his 22nd birthday, which was on October 26, 2023,” said Lior, of a surprise visit that the whole family had paid to Master on his army base last year. The family, including Master’s girlfriend of four years, Gili Lev, had about half an hour to sit, eat cake, and give the soldier a hug, “and then the next day his unit entered Gaza,” Lior said.
In an effort to honor Master’s memory, this year friends and family organized a celebration featuring his favorite food, drinks, and music in the central square of Kibbutz Bahan, where Master was raised and many of his friends still live.
Master’s brother, Roy, said efforts were made to create a joyful atmosphere despite the family’s grief, saying that they “wanted this year’s birthday remembrance to be a happy celebration.”
Lior echoed that sentiment, saying the party reflected the dichotomy of life in Israel, because “in the end… the soldiers are fighting so that life can continue.”
Celebrating amid such profound loss, however, is no easy task. Lev admitted that she has yet to fully comprehend the magnitude of the loss of her longtime boyfriend.
“I don’t understand that it’s already been a year. For me, it feels like I’m still in the first month,” Lev said.
Friend Liya Lahav, who had known Asaf since ninth grade, noted that his story has tragically become all too familiar in Israel over the past year.
“Even now, as we mark a year since the war began, people continue to fall in battle every day,” she said.
On the weekend of the “birthday” celebration, the IDF announced that on October 24 and 25, 10 soldiers were killed in Lebanon and three in Gaza, one of whom was 47-year-old reservist warrant officer Omri Lotan from neighboring Moshav Bat Hefer.
Since losing their son, Michal and Lior have sought solace in a support group for parents who have lost children in military service.
“We have already become sort of veterans of the group because Asaf was killed in November,” Michal said.
She conveyed the heavy emotional burden of ongoing conflict: “The State of Israel didn’t want this war. I for sure did not want this war. It’s unbearable that we are at war for such a long time, unbearable that there are still hostages, and the pain is immense.”
Despite her grief, Michal emphasized that Asaf understood the stakes involved in his service, while Lior described the current conflict as “a necessary war.”
On October 7, 2023, the day Hamas launched a devastating terror onslaught resulting in the brutal slaughter of 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 others, Master was stationed at a base in the Golan Heights, said Michal.
“On the afternoon of October 7, he and his soldiers were already deployed to Sderot,” which had been swarmed with terrorists, she said. “As a commander, he received a mission that evening to remove bodies.”
Master’s best friend, Nadav Beary, expressed profound grief over his loss, noting that it serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges faced in Israel.
“Enlisting in the army is not an easy thing,” he acknowledged, but emphasized that it is a responsibility Israelis must embrace to ensure their own protection. “We understand that no one will do it for us.”
Father Lior emphasized that soldiers like his son are engaged in a conflict they have no choice but to fight. “There were abductees, and there are still abductees. We need to work to bring them home and ensure that citizens can continue to live safely in the Gaza envelope and throughout Israel,” he said.
Mother Michal added that the pain for Israel did not cease after October 7.
“If people think the State of Israel experienced October 7 and moved on, we are still dealing with its continuation,” she said.
Michal expressed concern that there is a lack of understanding abroad regarding the necessity of the war to restore normalcy to Israeli life.
“We need to continue living here, to return to the north and the south, and to carry on with our lives,” she said. “Maybe our lives won’t be as they were before, but we must find a way to continue.”
