Photographer Ella Waldman and hi-tech entrepreneur Eyal Waldman lost their daughter, Danielle, who was murdered at the Supernova festival in Re'im with her boyfriend, Noam Shay. The two, who loved nature, were buried together on a hill overlooking the landscape in Tivon.
In 2019, Ella presented a photo exhibition titled "Woman in Her Heart," in which she brought to the forefront women from the less visited parts of the world, emphasizing their strength. She continues her photographic journey in the world that Danielle was a part of, but she says that nothing will ever be the same.
What do you want people to know about Danielle?
Danielle was all good and giving to the world. It's so hard for me to talk about her in the past tense. I never heard the word ‘No’ from her. She was always the first to help, to volunteer, to give help to anyone, no matter what the situation. After she was murdered, we learned so many things about her that we didn't know -- how many people she touched. She helped and did only good.
Danielle studied interior design. She wanted to do a lot. She planned to set up a gym for people with disabilities. I was told that that at the music festival when the rockets started, she helped a girl who fell and was injured. She never passed by anyone who needed help and didn't give it to them.
At the shiva, a woman came over to me excited and said, ‘You don't know me, but I was a neighbor of Danielle and Noam’s. I felt that I had to tell you that when they moved into the building, they baked cookies and hung a bag of cookies on each door, with a note that said they had just moved into the building, and added their names and phone number.’ On Independence Day, that woman wrote in the building’s WhatsApp group that her oven broke down. Not a second later, Danielle wrote to her, ‘Come, do what you need. I'll help you.’
Danielle was the first to arrive for dinner at my parents’ house to help set the table so it would be easier for them.
She was full of kindness toward people and toward animals. She always stopped by animals on the street to pet them. Her eyes were full of the joy of life. She was always smiling.
Danielle and Noam fit together like a glove. They were both so good. Sometimes I wondered how she helped so many people. The amount of stories I hear now, I don't know how she had the time.
A friend from school invited us to talk about her. There was a girl there who is studying acting. She said that when she needed extras, Danielle immediately showed up. They weren’t friends, but Danielle immediately agreed. She also volunteered as a field guide for young people.
They say that God chooses the best people. Kindness is the trait that stands out the most about Danielle, looking to see only the good things in the world.
How did you find out about the disaster?
As many families, we woke up in the morning. We knew that Danielle and Noam had gone to a party, but we didn't know which one because it was their first time. On Friday, Danielle left her dog with me and said she would come back on Saturday. On Saturday, when the alarms started, my son Guy wrote in the family group to ask where everyone was. Danielle answered that everything was fine. After half an hour, she wrote not to worry. And then they disappeared. Eyal immediately returned from abroad, and he and Israel Ziv went to look for them. Eyal immediately understood what happened because their car was ridden with bullet holes. On Wednesday, we were informed that Danielle’s and Noam’s bodies were found. They were in the car. There were five of them. One was kidnapped, and four were murdered.
What do you do in her memory?
The number of references to us is large. Everyone wants to commemorate. We are still very much in pain. Noam's parents made a lovely corner in the village of Tabor. In the agricultural area, there is a place with tables and benches, a place to cook by the fire. There are a lot of people walking and riding bicycles. We will certainly do something, but we have not yet clarified how. There are many commemorations. There was a delegation to Mount Kilimanjaro. They took pictures to commemorate the murder victims and put their pictures there. We will commemorate her. Maybe with a gym for people with disabilities. Danielle really liked to read. I know that as part of her studies, she wanted to establish a garden with comfortable seating areas for reading.
How do you find the strength to continue?
The banal answer is I have two other children. The banal answers annoy me. That's how they would like us to continue to be happy and live. I don't know how to continue. It's automatic. We continue to the side of this hell, a huge pit of emptiness. I hope that little by little I will learn to put the focus on the here and now alongside the nothingness. I'm a photographer, and I travel a lot around the world. I've closed myself off to my travels. It's not what it used to be. I just came back from Taiwan. I photograph people and cultures in very special places where there are no tourists. Sometimes I pinch myself in front of what I see. It's not the same now. A lot of things have lost meaning for me. Everything was suddenly taken care of, but we continue. Time is not something that can be stopped. Danielle went on trips with me when she was in school and her brothers weren't at home. I had no one to leave her with, so I would take her with me to places that people don't know exist. In the North Pole, we photographed polar bears.
This article is taken from The Jerusalem Post, 'Women - Heroines of Swords of Iron' Magazine 2024. To read the entire magazine, click here.