Those We Have Lost

Ran ‘Chepale’ Shefer, 48: Lived each day ‘full of light’ and gratitude

Murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7

Ran Shefer (Courtesy)
Ran Shefer (Courtesy)

Ran Shefer, 48, from Kibbutz Be’eri was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.

He is survived by his daughters, Emily, 10,  Zoe, 8 and Naya, 4, and his older sister Lilach.

According to a eulogy from Kibbutz Be’eri, Ran lost his father, Chaim, at the age of four and his mother, Miriam, at the age of 18.

His mother moved him and Lilach to Be’eri from their birthplace of Neve Monosson after their father died. According to the Be’eri obituary, everyone called Ran “Chepale” although no one could remember where it originated.

Despite suffering from learning difficulties, Ran finished high school in Ramat Aviv after which he volunteered for IDF service after he was told he didn’t have to serve because he was an orphan.

After his military service, Ran spent years traveling to India, Thailand, and Africa, and Australia among others, settling back in Israel in the early 2010s. When he returned to Israel, he went through different jobs before taking on a position in the kibbutz’s elementary school.

“I waited a long time for you to come into the world,” sister Lilach wrote on a website dedicated to remembering Ran. “As a boy, you were always smiling and when you grew up, even though you were young when we lost Mom too, you continued to smile and light up the world.”

Ran’s friend from Be’eri, Amos, said that everywhere Ran went, people around him fell instantly in love with him and his energy.

Amos also described Ran as a “man of infinitive love and heart” who did “less talking and more doing out of generosity and love.”

The website was full of posts by members of Be’eri as well as people who had met Ran on his travels and at various music festivals. One of them was Mordechai, who met him at the Supernova festival where Ran was murdered a few hours later.

“We said to each other,” he wrote, “‘We have peaked in life and in all the good the world has to offer. If we leave the world now, we’ll leave with a smile, we’ll go to God happy and thank him for everything.'”

A couple of others also said that Ran had told them he wanted to die dancing and happy at a festival.

Many, like Natasha, who met him in Australia, described Ran as “an amazing soul full of light and the type of person you never forget.”

Last year, Ran lost a childhood friend, Gal Mills, to cancer. Tali, a mutual friend, wrote that she and Ran had bonded over the loss.

“I don’t remember when in my life I knew such a special person for such a short time,” she wrote. “Just so you know, it may have been only a year, but in that year you helped me so much to breathe.”

Jivan, a friend who attended music festivals with Ran and introduced him to his ex-wife, Galit, said Ran always helped others before thinking of himself.

Read more Those We Have Lost stories here.

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