Ravid Katz, 51: Lifelong educator and devoted father of three

Ravid Aryeh Katz, 51, was slain by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, and his body was abducted to Gaza.

The morning of the attack, Ravid made sure that his partner and their children were safe with neighbors in their reinforced room before heading out to join the rest of the local security team to battle the terrorist invasion. He was slain in the firefight and his body was kidnapped by the terrorists.

His family was informed on November 28, 2023, that Ravid had been killed during the October 7 onslaught. On July 24, 2024, his body was brought back to Israel for burial following an IDF operation in Khan Younis.

He was buried in Nir Oz on July 28, on what would have been his 52nd birthday.

A member of the Nir Oz local security team, Katz was posthumously recognized by the Defense Ministry as a fallen soldier with the rank of sergeant major in the reserves.

Ravid’s half-sister, Doron Katz-Asher, and her two daughters, Raz and Aviv, were kidnapped by Hamas that day and released on November 24 — four days before his death was confirmed.

He is survived by his partner, Revital, their four-month-old daughter Alma, his children Shahar, 12, and Shira, 9, (whom he shared with his ex-wife Hila), his parents, Moshe and Yardena and his sisters Michal, Leeor and Doron.

Ravid was born and raised in Nir Oz, a place his loved ones said he never dreamed of leaving. After finishing high school, he completed a year of national service working with youth before enlisting in the IDF and serving as a paramedic in the Nahal Brigade.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in informal education from the Oranim Academic College and spent years as a teacher and guidance counselor as well as a community counselor working with at-risk youth.

Before his death was confirmed, his girlfriend, Revital Yanay, wrote online to “Ravid, the father, a father who is in love with his children.”

“Ravid is a father who invests time and experiences in his children, and through this teaches them about values, teaches them about life, encourages them to ask questions, to investigate and to find answers, how to be better friends and how to be happy with the little things,” she wrote.

“He always makes sure to make the kids laugh, makes up stories, tells jokes and talks in funny voices,” she said. “Loves the land, the salt of the earth, loves to travel around our country and share this love with his children.”

Ravid’s sister, Doron Katz-Asher, wrote on Facebook after his body was returned to Israel about “my brother who was older than me by 16 years, who I always looked up to.”

Doron said that it is “not taken for granted that we have the privilege of burying you here in the earth of Nir Oz, the place you were born, where you grew up, where you established your family and where you were killed while trying to protect us and the whole community that Saturday.”

She said that during her “first days in captivity, when I was so worried about your fate, I hoped so much that after you left the house with your weapon you realized that you had no chance against hundreds of terrorists and found somewhere to hide. But immediately I realized who you are, and the values you were raised on, and I knew that you had fought until your last bullet.”

Doron expressed her thanks to Ravid “for so many lessons in which you were a guide without even knowing it, for teaching me that it’s never too late, that there’s always something to fight for, that things could be better, that we should always be thankful for what we have.”

She said that she would “miss so much our meetings on your balcony with a perfect snack that you made in your tabun alongside some unique beer that only you knew. We’ll miss the photos you sent on WhatsApp before Shabbat with all of your cooking, and every time I asked for a delivery, you would always say, ‘Just come over.'”

Doron vowed to “continue your path together with Shahar, Shira and Alma… I love you forever.”

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