Those We Have Lost

Daniel Ben Senior, 34: US-Israeli nurse helped organize rave

Murdered at the Supernova music festival, October 7. ‘She was like a flower blooming. And they took our flower,” says aunt

Daniel Ben Senior (Courtesy)
Daniel Ben Senior (Courtesy)

Daniel Ben Senior, 34, a US-Israeli citizen, was murdered on October 7 at the Supernova music festival.

Her family said she was among the organizers of the rave in the desert, which became the site of mass carnage following Hamas’s murderous invasion.

She lived in both Israel and the US during different periods over the years and received a degree in nursing from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Her aunt, Clara, told NPR that Ben Senior had been living in Los Angeles, and moved back to Israel recently to help take care of her parents.

“She loved music. She loved dancing. She loved nature. She loved life. She loved people. She was a very special girl,” Clara said. “She was part of us, and she was like a flower blooming. And they took our flower.”

Her brother Shay wrote on Facebook thanking “all those who came to pay their respects to my sister Daniel — thank you to those I knew and those I did not. Thank you for the hugs, the words, the encouragement and the hope. In times like this, we must stay united.”

Her cousin, Ran Ben-Senior, told NBC that Daniel “had a big heart and a big smile and always tried to help.”

On Facebook, her friend Mirka Gershenson said they were childhood best friends, recalling their experiences together in first and second grade.

“Our homes were across from each other… I would be in my back yard and she would be in her front yard,” she wrote. “We would yell across to one another about meeting in the middle and hanging out… Dani and her family have been such a big part of my childhood. My heart aches for her family. My heart aches for her. The world lost a beam of light.”

Read more Those We Have Lost stories here.

Most Popular
read more: