Aviel Oren, 29: Triplet who was a ‘man of kindness’
Murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7
Aviel Oren, 29, from Jerusalem, was murdered while trying to flee the Supernova music festival on October 7.
He attended the rave with a group of friends, including his girlfriend, Shirel, who was wounded and survived, as well Shirel’s sister, Ortal Benayun, and her boyfriend, Daniel Ohana, who were both also slain that day.
His friend Eden, who was also with them at the rave, told Channel 14 that they fled at first in their car when the rocket fire began, and they then encountered a pickup truck full of terrorists who opened fire on them. As they tried to escape, the car flipped and crashed, and the terrorists shot at the vehicle again, and Aviel was hit by three bullets in his legs, Eden said.
Aviel was considered missing for a week until his body was finally identified, and he was buried on October 15 in Jerusalem. He is survived by his parents, Etty and Shlomi, his brothers Daniel and Ariel — the trio were triplets — his younger sister Tiferet and his girlfriend, Shirel Benayun.
His cousin, Eden Dayan, wrote on Instagram that Aviel was “so much more than family, you were my protector, my guardian, and the big brother I never had.”
“Thank you for everything Aviel, thank you that I got to be part of your life. Thank you for each time anew that I learned what a good heart is and what it means to give without ever asking for anything in return,” she wrote. “Thank you for every experience I had with you from age 0 until today. Thank you for all the memories that I will never forget.”
His girlfriend, Shirel, whose sister was also killed at the festival, wrote on Instagram that “Aviel was my great love, who entered my life on January 1, 2020 — soon it would have been four years of a huge love, of a deep soul connection.”
Shirel said that Aviel was “always the first person I would run to when things were good, hard, funny, scary, you were the first, you were a ray of sunshine after all the difficulty I went through in life, the gift that God sent to me, the sunshine after the rain.”
His brother, Daniel, wrote on Facebook, “My brother, my twin, I don’t know how to speak about you in the past tense. We have always been ‘the triplets’ since age 0. Through tears, laughter, celebrations, everything. Ariel and I were privileged to have you accompany us at our weddings, I was privileged that you were at the celebrations of your nephews, who you loved so much. You had a heart of gold and were unusually kind… you were always there to help, to support.”
“Avielush, you will always be my brother, I will always remember your huge smile, your making fun of me — you will forever be my twin brother and will always be in my heart.”
Their third triplet, Ariel, wrote on Facebook that Aviel “was my keeper of secrets, a man of kindness, a man among men! 29 years we were together and we didn’t part for a moment, except for during the army and when I traveled in South America for six months.”
“We have been left with 2 out of 3, we were always Ariel, Daniel and Aviel. It’s crazy that I am writing about you in the past tense,” he continued. “I love you truly — watch over Mom, Dad, Tiferet, Daniel and especially me, because I’m going to need it — just [to deal with] the thought that every birthday we have will be accompanied with so much pain.”
