Ronen Daichman, 49: Physics teacher was ‘the coolest guy in the school’
Murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7
Ronen Daichman, 49, from Meitar, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.
For close to two weeks he was considered missing, until his body was finally identified, and he was buried in Beersheba on October 19. He is survived by his wife, Karin, and their children Maya and Guy, as well as his parents, Adele and Michael, and his siblings.
Ronen was a physics teacher at the Eshel Hanasi High School between Ofakim and Beersheba and a faculty member at Ben Gurion University.
In a statement from the Education Ministry, Bat-Chen Peled, the principal of Eshel Hanasi, noted that Ronen had battled illness for many years, “but your love for your students caused you to fight and to come back to us quickly. You always showed up with a smile, the students and the education staff loved you and couldn’t praise you enough, you never gave up on any pupil and you believed in everyone. I lost not just a teacher, but also a friend.”
His sister-in-law, Einat Weingold, wrote on Facebook that she would remember him “with a beer in your hand and half a smile. A warm and embracing man, full of life. A man of people.”
Another sister-in-law, Vered Yosef-Daichman, wrote on Facebook, “I can’t believe we need to say goodbye to you, a dear and beloved man, a brother in my soul and a friend to all.”
“Thank you for all that you left behind which will accompany us for life,” she added. “I promise to look after everyone, to find anew joy and belief in good and to celebrate life the way you knew how.”
His student, Hili Maimon, told Israel Hayom, “When you think about a physics teacher, you imagine a nerd in glasses, but Ronen was the coolest guy in the school. He knew when to tell us to get ahold of ourselves and to study and when to laugh with us and talk about life, and not just our studies. He had no problem talking to us during vacations or on Fridays, because he wanted to help us.”
Hili said that the day before he was killed, “he helped me with some homework he gave over the break. That was the last time we spoke.”
“Ronen believed greatly in peace and he always taught us not to judge things superficially, but to try to bridge differences and talk to the other side,” she added. “We always knew that he could have kept working in hi-tech, but he chose to make a career change and become a teacher out of a belief that you have to do what you love in a way that fulfills you. We knew he really wanted to be in school with us.”
