Shenhav and Shoham Yaakov & Liel Jerafi, 29, 26, 18: Aunts and nephew
Murdered by Hamas terrorists near the Supernova music festival on October 7
Shoham Yaakov, 29, her sister Shenhav Yaakov, 26, from Herzliya, and their nephew Liel Jerafi, 18, from Jerusalem, were murdered by Hamas at the Supernova music festival on October 7.
Shoham and Shenhav were both working as part of the festival’s production staff, and they invited Liel to join them at the rave.
When the rocket fire began, the three decided to flee the site via car, and at some point stopped to seek safety in a roadside bomb shelter. They were all slain inside the shelter along with dozens of others when Hamas terrorists threw grenades inside and opened fire on the huddled partygoers.
Two brothers in the family headed down to the Supernova site to try and find their loved ones that Saturday morning, encountering roadblocks, cops and IDF troops who tried to convince them to turn around. They searched for hours and hours but kept coming up empty handed.
For a week, the family couldn’t find any trace of the three despite constant searching. A week after the massacre, Shenhav’s body was identified, and a day later Liel and Shoham were also confirmed killed.
Shoham was buried in Herzliya on October 15, and Shenhav was buried next to her a day later, on October 16. Liel was buried in Beit Shemesh on October 16.
The sisters are survived by their parents, Rachel and Neria Yehiel, and their seven older siblings, Dudu, Avishag, Dvir, Sapir, Ohad, Elad and Hadas.
Liel is survived by his parents, Dudu and Nardit, and his younger siblings Adir, 14, Itay, 9 and Shaylee, 7.
Born and raised in the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood of Jerusalem, Liel focused his high school studies on cyber communications, and was slated to soon enlist in the IDF, aiming for a spot in the prestigious 8200 intelligence unit.
“He really loved computers, he was always on the computer,” his father, Dudu, told a local Jerusalem news site. “He was supposed to join 8200 and all his future was ahead of him. He had a big future, he was an excellent student. A smart kid, kind and quiet.”
Dudu said Liel’s younger siblings “loved him so much. He was a true firstborn, he would take care of them, talk to them, advise them. He was a role model for them, he was modest, not one who partied much, even though he was murdered at a festival.” His father said, “I miss his smile, his laughter, the nonsense he loved. I think about him all the time, about his positive spirit and his joy for life.”
Eleven months after he was killed, Liel’s mother, Nardit, wrote on Facebook to “my angel in heaven.”
“It’s already a year without you, a year of longing and endless pain, a year that your voice has been silent,” she wrote. “You left an empty space and a hole in my heart in the shape of you, my beautiful angel… Liel, my heart breaks anew every day. I miss you so much.”
Shoham and Shenhav were very close to each other and the rest of the family, were huge fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team and loved to go out partying together, their loved ones said.
Avishag, their older sister, told Israel Hayom that Shoham and Shenhav lived every moment of their short lives to the fullest.
“Shoham was very serious on the one hand, but also loved to laugh, to live big and to take life by storm. She dreamed big. She was a personal trainer and a nutritionist, it was important to her to instill in others a healthy lifestyle. She dedicated her life to exercise and even learned boxing,” said Avishag.
“She was always working on herself, she took big trips to faraway places. During our happiest moments, during holidays and vacations, she was the family photographer, she captured every moment,” she added.
Shenhav, the youngest of the nine siblings, was “our baby, who arrived after four brothers and four sisters,” said Avishag.
“She saw day-to-day life as boring and she had big dreams,” she said. “She wanted to explore the world, to fly to Australia for a long period. She was an incredible baker, for every birthday she would make my daughter a gorgeous cake. She also planned to open a bakery.”
The two sisters, she said, “were the centers of our lives, they were so close to each other from childhood until the moment they were murdered. They were opposites who completed each other, the sun and the moon — each of them lit up the world in their own way.”
Hadar Cohen, a niece to Shoham and Shenhav, wrote on Instagram how hard it was to come to terms with the fact that “the aunts who were always there for me, and always hung out with me, and took care of me, and made me laugh, and were my best friends — but so much more — are no longer here.”
“My aunts who were the most beautiful, kindest, successful and funny are not around anymore,” she added. “Those who raised me and also sort of grew up with me, Shenhav who tried unsuccessfully to teach me Justin Bieber songs, and Shoham who would drive even an hour so I could braid her hair before she’d go to a festival.”
“My aunts who taught me what unconditional love was, who always took care of me and wanted the best for me — they’re not coming back and I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” she added.
“We miss Shoham and Shenhav and Liel all the time, at every holiday, at every event,” their brother and uncle, Ohad, told i24 news in August. “Their loss is strongly felt in every moment of our lives. Our family will never return to what it was.”
