Those We Have Lost

Bar Zohar, 23: Saved others at rave and ‘left us with so much pride’

Murdered at the Supernova music festival, October 7

Bar Zohar (Courtesy)
Bar Zohar (Courtesy)

Bar Zohar, 23, from Kfar Warburg, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.

She is survived by her parents, Kati and Meir, sister Shany and brother Mor.

Her family said they managed to piece together her final moments from eyewitnesses and survivors, who said she fled when the rockets started, and managed to pack a number of strangers into a car they found abandoned on the road, but was shot and fatally wounded while fleeing, succumbing to her wounds in the field while others managed to find safety.

Her father Meir wrote on Facebook that during the shiva mourning period we “heard so many incredible stories about our Bar and her ability to excel in everything she did… All of her life, our girl made us proud parents. You left us with so much pride, our beloved girl.”

Zohar’s friend, Rotem Knani, wrote on Instagram that she met Zohar in the army and they became fast friends.

“We would always laugh at everything, sitting in your house with your friends, at birthday parties, and pool parties at your house, all the time,” she recalled. “You always knew everything about me on every topic — family, men, friends, work, just every little thing. During the times which we spoke every hour of the day and also during the times we updated each other once a week.”

“You were the keeper of my secrets, my friend, my sister, my roommate,” she wrote. “I will remember you forever, my Barbur,” Hebrew for “swan.”

Zohar’s sister, Shany Tsaban, described her on social media as an “incredibly talented girl who excelled in everything she touched. She excelled in school, in basic training, in a course she did in the army… everyone loved her there from the soldiers to her commander and to the commander of the unit who immediately realized her potential.”

“After the army, Bar departed on a big overseas trip in South America where she made many new friends in addition to those she had in Israel — Bar was always surrounded by hundreds of friends, she exuded love and warmth to everyone and never gave up on anyone. She loved to hang out and be with her family,” her sister wrote, and she was working and planning to soon start her studies in bioinformatics.

“We are all in so much pain and miss our endless ray of sunshine… We will do everything to immortalize you and so all the world will know you and understand what a treasure it lost, and how much good you could have brought to the world.”

At a memorial marking 30 days since Bar’s funeral, her 5-year-old niece, Lianne, addressed those gathered: “I want to say something about Bar, that she was really cute, and she was fun for everyone, and now she’s not here, and it’s OK to cry, but you can also do something, to dream about her, or to light candles for her.”

Read more Those We Have Lost stories here. 

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