Ori Tchernichovsky, 29: Rave bartender in final year of studies

Ori Tchernichovsky, 29, from Petah Tikva, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.

Tchernichovsky, who was studying electrical engineering at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was working at the party as a bartender to help finance his fourth and final year of studies. He arrived at the festival around 2 a.m. that Saturday, while his family thought he was safe and at home.

At the event, he met up with his long-time friend Noa Argamani, 26, who was attending with her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, 30, and other of their university friends to dance into the night. Argamani and her partner Or were later taken hostage by the attackers – a video of their abduction was one of the first to be published online by the terrorists.

At 7:18 a.m., Noa sent Ori her location, and at 8:12 she asked him if there was a hiding place near him or if she should stay in the car. The last phone call between them was at 8:33, according to Ori’s cellphone, which was found near the festival stage and handed over to his mother, Sigalit Hillel, three days after the massacre.

“God willing, when [Noa] will be released I will ask her what they spoke about in those last calls of his life,” Sigalit told Ynet.

His mother said that on the day of the attack, she assumed he was home in Beersheba, and he messaged her around 7 a.m. saying that he was fine and sheltering. She tried to call him later but he never picked up. His family only learned from Instagram that he had been at the festival.

His mother said they later found out that he had been shot dead while in a car around 9 a.m: “They didn’t let me see the body,” she told Ynet. “I understand he had been shot in the head while he was in the car. Even if he was covered [with a sheet] I caressed, hugged, and kissed him,” she said. “I felt his beard. I saw his shoes that were still on him.”

A yeshiva graduate, Ori served in the Israeli Air Force Intelligence Unit and after his army service traveled to Australia and New Zealand, returning to Israel for his university studies.

Ori, who was buried in Petah Tikva, is survived by his parents, Sigalit and Shai, his brother Hadi, sister Hila and brother-in-law Snir.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give you a last hug Ori,” his elder sister Hila said at the funeral, according to a local news site. “Sorry I wasn’t there with you during the horrible moments you went through at the party. You and I were a winning team, we always got through everything together hand in hand. You always made sure I wouldn’t be alone.

“I’m sorry that you were there alone and that I wasn’t with you to think together about where to go and how to escape, that I didn’t hold your hand and direct you to a hiding place that would take care of you for me,” she continued. “I’m sorry I didn’t take care of you the way you always took care of me. That this time I was not able to make sure you returned home.”

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