Oriya Ricardo, 26: Manicurist with long nails and zest for life
Murdered at the Supernova music festival, October 7
Oriya Littman Ricardo, 26, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.
Friends and family said they heard from her early in the morning after Hamas terrorists stormed the festival, as she was running and trying to escape in a car. She told them that she had watched her friend shot and then die in her arms. That was the last they heard from her.
The family searched for any news for four days before her boyfriend traced her phone and located her body. She was buried on October 15 in Caesarea.
She is survived by her mother Hannie, father, Eran, and her two older sisters, Lia and Yahali, as well as her boyfriend, Yishai.
Her friends and family remember her for her long colorful nails — her best advertisement as a manicurist — her love of parties and travel as well as her close relationship with her sisters.
In a post on social media, her mother, Hannie, described Oriya as “my beautiful smart and amazing daughter.”
“Her name is Oriya, which in Hebrew means the light of God. She was the definition of light. Huge beautiful smile, joyful, kind, and happy young woman,” she wrote. “I ask all of you to carry the light, and fight the inhuman darkness.”
Her father, Eran Littman, rejected calls for those seeking revenge in the name of his daughter, and writing her name on missiles heading for Gaza: “Revenge will not bring anyone back to life, and definitely not my daughter.”
Littman shared online the eulogy he read for his daughter at her funeral, recalling how as a child they were extremely close and as a teen they would fight and argue.
“I rightfully earned all the white hairs on my head. You put me into the school of life. I can’t recall a single instance in which you listened to me. But I wish you were here now,” he said. “I would sacrifice the few brown hairs I have left for you.”
“Along with this, I remember the good moments: The good moments you had with your sister Lia, the moments of laughter and jokes with your sister Yahali. And especially, I remember your tranquility and serenity,” he said.
“Oriya had two unique qualities. The first: She gave everyone the feeling that they were the most loved in the world. The second: She loved enjoying life. We will emerge from the grief. We will recover, and continue to live. We will laugh. We will cry and remember,” said her father.
