Sgt. Ariel Eliyahu, 19: Armored Corps soldier baked cookies for friends

Sgt. Ariel Eliyahu, 19, a soldier in the 7th Armored Brigade, from Mitspe Yeriho, was killed on October 7 battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel.

That weekend, less than two weeks after completing his training, he was stationed at an IDF post next to the Gaza border. With the start of the attack, he was sent out in his tank with Sgt. Ofir Testa, Staff Sgt. Shay Levinson and Cpl. Ido Somech to fight against the invading Hamas gunmen.

It was the first time the tank crew had all worked together, yet they didn’t hesitate, battling against several groups of gunmen crossing the border. At a certain point, the tank was hit by an anti-tank missile which killed Ariel and wounded Ofir.

Ido continued on to the site of the Supernova music festival, where Ofir was killed as he tried to give his weapon to a guard at the site. Shay was also killed and his body kidnapped to Gaza — his death was only confirmed in January 2024.

Ultimately the tank was commandeered by two civilian partygoers, Daniel and Neria Sharabi, who took Ariel’s weapon and managed to use the tank to help save dozens of attendees. Ido was the only member of the crew who managed to survive.

Ariel was buried on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on October 9. He is survived by his parents, Idit and Achiya, and his six younger siblings, Tehia, Atara, Malachi, Shilo, Noam and Ori.

The firstborn in the family, Ariel was born in Mitspe Yeriho and grew up there until age 4, when his family decided to spend several years in New York as religious emissaries, according to a municipal eulogy.

They returned to Israel for a year before deciding to head back for another four years, finally settling back in Israel when Ariel was 12. He was a devoted Torah scholar, and at his bar mitzvah he made a siyum (completion ceremony) on all of the Mishna, and by the time he was 18 he had completed the entire Talmud.

For high school, he attended yeshiva in the Lower Galilee and after finishing he joined the hesder yeshiva in Yerucham. In January 2023, Ariel enlisted in the IDF, joining the Armored Corps after recovering from a shoulder injury.

Ariel loved photography, taking a course to improve his skills. He was musically inclined, playing the violin, enjoyed baking cakes for his friends and loved to hike and travel around the State of Israel, according to an online eulogy.

“He was sweet,” his father, Achiya, told The Forward. “Unique. And smart. And he loved to learn Torah. He loved Hashem [God].”

Achiya said his son ran a number of WhatsApp groups, including those that shared moments of joy and thoughts of philosophy as well as one that coordinated jam sessions at public pianos in Jerusalem.

“He did so many things in his life,” he said. “It’s sad to know that most of these things will not exist anymore.”

Ariel’s mother, Idit, told Israel Hayom that her son started exploring baking while in yeshiva, and together with friends they would bake cakes and cookies to enjoy together for Shabbat.

“They would buy tons of flour, eggs, they’d sift the flour, check it, check the eggs for blood spots, they’d finish at 1 a.m., finish cleaning up even later,” she told the newspaper. “And what they baked really gave a homemade touch for all of the students in the yeshiva. It was their dessert on Friday nights.”

He particularly loved to make alfajores, a South American sandwich cookie, and after his death his loved ones started to bake them in his honor and distribute them with a sticker of the phrase Ariel had made his WhatsApp status: “My cookies  taste better when my friend eats them.”

Idit said the sticker and the generosity perfectly encapsulate her son’s spirit: “If all of us can be the most happy, can look at those around us and help them, we’ll be in a better world.”

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