Oron Beilin, 24, from Ramat Gan, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.
When the onslaught began, Oron hid in bushes near the site of the rave. He told both his mother and his girlfriend that he was in Tel Aviv so that they wouldn’t worry, while texting a friend about his attempts to escape. The friend last heard from him around 11 a.m. that morning.
For six days his family searched for word of his fate, until his body was ultimately identified. Oron was buried in Tel Aviv on October 15.
He is survived by his parents, Rina and Moshe. He was named in honor of his grandfather, Dr. Aharon Beilin, a Holocaust survivor who testified at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961.
Upon finishing high school, Oron enlisted in the IDF, serving at the Defense Ministry headquarters in a computer-related role, later switching to serve as a driver at the Maklef Camp in Ramat Gan, the headquarters of the IDF Adjutant Corps.
After his mandatory service, he worked in a number of start-ups, and was slated on October 15 to begin a degree in electrical engineering at the Afeka College of Engineering — following a year of prep studies in math.
Oron’s biggest love was basketball, his friends said, and he enjoyed playing as well as following the NBA, especially his favorite team, the Chicago Bulls. One of his favorite players, DeMar DeRozan, signed a jersey in his memory.
His girlfriend of five years, Lior Halevie, who met Oron in the army, described him as a “very smart kid who loved to achieve excellence in everything.”
“Oron very much loved to always be on the move and not to rest, he loved to feel alive,” she wrote. “Oron went everywhere with a speaker and played music all the time, he was a fan of Eminem and Travis Scott, but he would also listen to the Beatles, Bob Marley and other genres.”
Lior wrote that since they got together, “we matured together, went through countless experiences together good and bad, and we learned what true love is… five years of an incredible relationship and a close and loving friendship.”
“We thought that we were inseparable, no matter how many difficulties there were, we got through them all,” she added. “We planned so many things for the future, thoughts on a proposal in Austria, what our children will look like, where we’ll raise them and what vacations we would take them on… after so long together, it felt like we were already one soul. Oron departed and took with him so many parts of me.”
His mother, Rina, wrote online to, “Oron, my light, who will remain my love forever.”
“You went and left all of us in a darker world, and mine is almost black,” she wrote. “Thank you for 24 wonderful, happy years. Since you were born, I thanked God every day for bringing me such a wonderful, smiling, funny, smart, kind, modest, beautiful, magical, basketball-playing son.”
“It was my privilege to be your mother,” Rina added. “Such a unique boy who always loved to help everyone. You loved Savta Esther’s food so much. My life won’t be what it was.”
Amid her deep sadness, she wrote, “I promise I will laugh every time I remember you, you were so funny! A cute impressionist, smiling and kind. You will always be in my heart, until we meet again.”
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