Sergeant Osher Simcha Barzilai

Fallen at the age of 19.5

Born on June 10th, 2004

Fell in battle on October 7, 2023

Operations Sergeant in the Gaza battalion’s northern division, infantry.

Mazkeret Batya Cemetery, plot 1 (the military plot), row 1, grave 7

Her family

Daughter of Tikva and Lior

Sister of Sapir, Eden, Yarin, Yarden and Chen

Osher was born in June 10, 2004, and grew up in Mazkeret Batya. She was blessed with many talents and stood out in her academic achievements from a young age .
Osher majored in biology at the "Rabin Mezkeret Batya High School" and simultaneously attended the national neuroscience class in the Davidson Institute for Science Education at the Weizmann Institute of Science. She excelled in her studies and stood out for her original thinking, curiosity and radiant personality. Joint with her friend from high school, Keren Hershkowitz, the two promoted fascinating and innovative brain research through their initiative.
Osher planned to study medicine and become a brain surgeon. In the commemoration of her memory published by the Davidson Institute, it was stated that with her fall, a great talent and promise are now lost forever.

Uri Assaf, Osher's classmate at school, has been her partner for the past four years. The two planned to marry upon their discharge.

Her service in the security forces

Osher joined the IDF on January 1, 2023. She was trained for the position of operations sergeant after a course which she completed with distinction. She was assigned as an operations sergeant in the Gaza Division's northern brigade and was sent to the Nahal Oz outpost. She fulfilled her position at the outpost with distinction and with great satisfaction.
Osher was supposed to start her officer training in February 2024.

The circumstances of her fall

On October 7, 2023, Osher was on duty at the operations room with her friend, the late operations sergeant Shirel Haim Pour. During the terrorist attack on the base, Osher and Shirel kept operating the operations room with uncanny resourcefulness and dedication. They declared a state of war and directed the few forces that were in the area to the civilian settlements and outposts under attack and thanks to them many lives were saved.
Osher's sense of responsibilty, dedication, and bravery wouldn't let her leave the operations room and she refused to do so.
She had time to say goodbye to her lifemate Uri Assaf and her family in phone calls she had with them that lasted only a few seconds.
Osher fell during the battle of Nahal Oz outpost.

Her character and personality

Osher taught herself to play the guitar and the organ.
She loved math and helped other students struggling in this field.
Osher realized her love for the field of medicine by volunteering at Magen David Adom (The Israeli medical emergency service) and was assigned to the Rehovot station. From 2019 until her enlistment in the IDF, she worked at the station providing first aid, training new youth volunteers, and undergoing advanced training required for volunteering in intensive care mobile units. Magen David Adom have praised her contribution and her assistance in saving the lives of patients.
https://www.mdais.org/news/04122023
Osher's charming smile was captivating. She was full of joy of life and even defined herself on Instagram with the words "always smiling".
Osher loved to travel the world and managed in her young and short life to go to far away and exotic places. She documented her trips with spectacular photographs, following which she received job offers to manage bloggers' websites.

Her legacy and commemoration

A soldier who underwent training with Osher said that during an educational activity conducted by the commander, she asked the apprentices for which of the course members they would be willing to voluntarily spend the shabbat at the base. They all unanimously answered that they would do it for Osher.

Usher's army companions said that she was a dominant figure at the Nahal Oz outpost, being both charismatic and modest. She was considered as the "glue" that held together the field observers and the operation sergeants socially.

Osher's memory is immortalized in Israel and abroad on a variety of platforms: in works of art, in songs, in the scholarship fund established in her memory, in the coverage of her story on television networks and radio channels, on the Davidson Institute website, on a commemorative page on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remember_osherbarzilay/), in the candle handout project, in the care kits distribution project in her name dedicated to women fighters. Magen David Adom immortalized her name on the organization's commemorative website and by enscribing her name on the doors of a new ambulance donated by the American organization SAMARIT'S PURSE. https://www.instagram.com/remember_osherbarzilay/reel/C2h1M3SI-Wc/

References

This commemorative page was compiled using materials published in the links listed above as well as in the data published in the information sources below:
The REMEMBER website.
An article in YNET
Article in "At" magazine.

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