‘Osher was the most alive person we knew’
The name Osher Simcha Barzilay, the daughter of Lior and Tiki, was not chosen by chance (Osher and Simcha are synonyms of the word happiness). Her father recalls: “Tiki and I have a ten-year gap from her older siblings. I told Tiki, let’s call her Osher, because she brought immense joy at her birth. We also added the name of my grandmother, Simcha.” Those words, spoken at the start of her life, became a compass that guided her for 19 years, until that bitter morning at Nahal Oz, when she became a hero to an entire nation.
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The child who was ‘too smart’
Osher grew up in Mazkeret Batya as the family’s ‘second chapter,’ wrapped in endless love. Her mother, Tiki, remembers a charming child who made everyone laugh. “Her siblings would argue over who would feed her and who would put her to sleep.”
“She would put on shows for us, suddenly dancing,” adds her sister Yarden. Already in kindergarten, staff noticed something different about her. Her father tells of the assessment she underwent after the teacher thought she was too shy. “The evaluator came out and told us, calm down, the child is completely fine. Just tell the teacher she’s simply too smart.”
That intelligence translated into excellence in every field. In high school she stood out in biology and in the national neuroscience class at the Davidson Institute. She dreamed of becoming a brain surgeon, yet her modesty exceeded her achievements. “Mom, maybe I should fail a bit on the exams so the other students won’t be jealous?” she once asked. In the end, she chose to use her abilities to elevate others. She tutored struggling students in mathematics in her living room and volunteered for four years with Magen David Adom.
‘How you divide the time you have’
Osher lived with an intensity befitting someone who knows every moment is precious. She traveled to 12 destinations around the world, went skydiving at 16, cliff-dived, and played four different musical instruments she taught herself through YouTube. Her motto was: “The question isn’t how much time you have, but how you divide the time you have.”
In her personal life too, she built a full and meaningful world. For four years she and Uri Assaf were an inseparable couple. “She helped shape my character and make me a better person,” Uri said. Her family recalls how she knew how to divide her time. “She fought for time with us. How lucky that she insisted.”
October 7: heroism in the command center
Osher was drafted in January 2023, graduated with distinction from the operations officers course and was posted to the Nahal Oz outpost. On Simchat Torah Saturday, she was on duty in the command center. When the sirens began at 6:30 a.m., she already understood this was a different kind of event. Her mother said: “I saw pickup trucks in Sderot and understood they had passed Osher. Because not even a fly could have been on the fence without Osher knowing it.
Transcripts from the final minutes paint a picture of supreme bravery and concern for others. At 10:23 a.m. she wrote to her family, “Pray for me.” To her sister Yarden she sent a chilling message: “Don’t tell Mom, but 30 terrorists broke into my outpost. I love you.” Despite the inferno, when her mother managed to reach her on the command center phone, Osher asked only about them. “Mom, are you OK? Where’s Dad? Not at the synagogue?”
Osher functioned as the sole operations officer in the command center for long minutes under fire. She directed fighters, managed manpower and refused to abandon her fellow surveillance soldiers. She even let her friends use her phone to say goodbye to their parents. “She could have fled, but chose to stay and help her soldiers,” her sister Chen eulogized.
A legacy of light and a smile
For a week Osher was considered missing. On Friday night the bitter news reached the Barzilyi family home. “They sat me on a chair and read what they read. And that was it, it was over,” Tiki says. But for the family, this was only the beginning of the journey to commemorate her light.
Osher’s legacy is now spread everywhere: the ‘Osher’s Numbers’ association to promote mathematics studies, an MDA ambulance donated in her memory, and even memorial corners at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. Many remember Osher for her captivating smile. “She was the most alive person we knew,” says her partner Uri. “If I manage to influence the next generation through her life story, to have respectful discourse and know how to unite, I’ve done my part in this world,” her father Lior concludes.
Osher Simcha Barzilay fell while defending her home, the command center and her friends. She divided her short time between excellence and love of humanity, leaving us with one clear testament: keep smiling, keep giving, and be the best version of ourselves.
Sgt. Osher Simcha Barzilay, daughter of Tiki and Lior, fell on 22 Tishrei 5784, October 7, 2023. She was 19 and a half at the time of her death.
May her memory be a blessing.
Sergeant
Osher Simcha Barzilay OBM