Dor Shafir & Savyon Kipper, 30 & 31: ‘Inseparable’ fiances
Murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Psyduck festival on October 7
Dor Hanan Shafir, 30, from Modiin, and his fiance Savyon Chen Kipper, 31, from Kiryat Ono, were murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Psyduck music festival near Nirim on October 7.
Kipper was buried on October 10 in Petah Tikva. During her funeral, mourners were informed that Shafir had also been found dead. He was buried the next day, on October 11 in Modiin.
The couple had been planning to get married next year, and to walk down the aisle to Kobi Aflalo’s “What the Heart Chooses.” Instead, Aflalo performed the song at Shafir’s funeral.
Shafir, a UK-Irish-Israeli citizen, is survived by his parents, Miryam and Itzik and three siblings. Kipper is survived by her parents Avi and Ricky and three siblings.
Shafir was a producer on the popular “Osim Historia” (Making History) network of podcasts until he left to continue such work independently. He fought in the reserves during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and suffered from PTSD following his experiences. Shafir became an activist advocating for IDF veterans suffering from post-trauma.
His mother Miryam told Ynet that her son had a tattoo that read “Live the moment” in English: “Right now it’s hard for us, but we will choose to adopt this as a motto for life because that’s what Dor would have wanted.”
His favorite food was the “Kariot” cereal with milk, which was in full supply for visitors during the shiva mourning week. Shafir’s tattoo, of a lion eating the popular Israeli cereal, was etched into the headstone of his grave. Several of his friends tattooed a bowl of cereal with “Dor” inscribed into the spoon on their ankles in tribute to him after his death.
Shafir’s sister, Ofek Shafir, wrote on Facebook that she wished “to be able to stop time for a moment, go back to the good and beautiful moments, to spend a little time there and give you tons of hugs. I hope that you know what a good person you were, and that you are Savyon are close together up above. You are the proof that despite the difficulties you can live the truth.”
Ran Levi, who worked with Shafir, reminisced about “long conversations with coffee and a cigarette on the wide balcony of the office, laughing in weekly staff meetings, joint moments in the studio, trying to debug annoying sound problems… Dor, you left and left behind a huge, gaping and bleeding hole. You were a professional above and beyond, and more than anything, you were a good friend, and a wonderful person.”
Kipper was an early education teacher in Tel Aviv who was studying visual communication at the Holon Institute of Technology, and was also a talented artist. Her final project was called “TELEKID,” and was an app to improve communication between parents and nursery teachers, and her classmates and family are hoping to complete it in her memory.
Her friend Leoni Dahan wrote on Facebook reminiscing about their decade of friendship: “In all the important moments of my life you were there, you were always present.”
“You were colorful, easygoing, always smiling, spontaneous and fun,” Dahan recalled. “You brought so much color and laughter into my life. You accompanied me through every meaningful moment, every turning point — you were there… I want everyone on earth to know that you were such a special person. Full of heart. Full of values.”
“You took care of children for so many years with love and a sense of mission,” she added. “With an embrace and sensitivity… you were a child of nature, a wonderful and gentle soul, always smart, always willing to help anyone… you were a point of light, a ray of sunshine.”
Kipper’s friend Naama Regev wrote on LinkedIn about attending her funeral, which was interrupted several times by rocket sirens, and then by the news that Shafir had also been found dead: “Her sister shared the news over the loudspeaker, and we all fell apart even more. The couple who we thought we would dance at their wedding, are gone forever. And all I could think about was the very accurate timing — how the news came right before we buried Savion. Like she waited to hear what happened to him, to the love of her life.”
Stav Kipper, Savyon’s sister, said the couple met some years ago and then reconnected on a dating app a little more than a year ago. They “met for coffee, and were inseparable ever since. They had an overwhelming love and they felt very quickly that they had found their soulmate. They blossomed together, this was her most beautiful year.”
Stav described her sister as a “magical girl, an artist who drew from a very young age. Everyone who met her described her mane of curls full of joy and good energy. She was a good daughter, a good sister, with a heart of gold and a strong affinity for education.”
Dor’s mother, Miryam, told Ynet that the couple “planned to get married and raise children together… at Dor’s funeral we felt that when he went up to heaven there was a huppa [wedding ceremony] taking place up above. We feel and believe that they are together.”
