10,000 attend funeral of Brazilian olah after online call to action

The funeral of Bruna Valeanu, a 24-year-old Brazilian-Israeli who was murdered by Hamas terrorists, was held on Tuesday at the Yarkon Cemetery in Petah Tikvah with 10,000 people in attendance. 

Only Bruna's mother and sister live in Israel and apart from them, there was no one to attend the funeral or complete a minyan (prayer quorum). Volunteers posted online, asking people to come to the funeral if they could. 

"Unfortunately, Bruna Valeanu was murdered at a party in Re'im. She is an immigrant from Brazil, only her mother and sister live in Israel and needs help completing the minyan for the funeral that will take place tonight. Please, those who can - let them come," the post stated.

Bruna Valeanu, a Brazilian-Israeli student, was brutally murdered at the Re’im music festival. Her only family in Israel is her mother and sister. A message went out calling on strangers to attend her funeral to make sure they have a minyan—just ten men. The result: pic.twitter.com/ZeCciuLi8N

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) October 10, 2023

The volunteers hoped to gather at least enough people for a minyan, which requires 10 Jewish adults. Instead of 10, 10,000 people showed up. 

The Petah Tikva cemetery was packed full of Israelis who came to pay their last respects to Bruna Valeanu and share in her family's grief. 

"My friend and I went after they wrote that there would be no minyan," Orit, one of the many people who responded to the post, told N12. "During the trip, Waze added more and more travel time even though the road was open, and we didn't understand why. Towards the cemetery, there was a very big traffic jam and we thought there might be a lot of funerals, we didn't realize that they were all coming for Bruna."

"People just parked on both sides of the road," said Orit. "They turned the road into a parking lot, and people parked on two lanes out of four for hundreds of meters. We walked until the police stopped us and didn't let people in anymore, they didn't want there to be too much of a mass event. They said it was dangerous to gather like that."

"Despite the fact that we were not able to attend the funeral itself, it was one of the most uplifting events," she added. "We thought we would be a handful of people and it was just exciting. It's amazing to see how much people care and they don't just sit at home, even people who didn't know her. I'm sure it strengthened the family a lot and people should hear it in addition to all the difficult things they hear all day." 

Remembering Bruna 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bruna Valeanu (@bruvaleanu_)

Bruna moved from Rio Di Janeiro to Tel Aviv with her mother and sister almost ten years ago and was a lone soldier, serving in the Israel Defense Forces as a shooting instructor until 2021. She was a student of communication and marketing at Tel Aviv University and was set to graduate in 2025.

“I am a dedicated student eager to broaden my horizons in the field of marketing and social media,” Valeanu described herself on Linkedin. “I am actively seeking a position that will provide me with the opportunity to cultivate my creativity, enhance my critical thinking abilities, and equip me with the tools to excel as a professional in this dynamic industry.”

The Israeli Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FIERJ) released a statement sharing their regret over the deaths of Bruna and other Brazilians killed by Hamas.

"We deeply regret and offer our solidarity to the families of Ranani Nidejelski Glazer and Bruna Valeanu, Brazilians killed in the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, as well as all the victims of the attacks in the country. We join with all the families who suffered unexpected, abrupt losses, without the possibility of farewell. We reiterate our repudiation of terrorism and we hope that the conflict will end as soon as possible. Baruch Dayan HaEmet.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed regret over her death and condemned Hamas's violent attack on Israel. 

"The Brazilian government regrets and expresses its deep regret over the death of Brazilian citizen Bruna Valeanu, aged 24, born in Rio de Janeiro, the second victim of the attacks that took place on October 7th in Israel. In solidarity with Bruna's family, friends, and friends, the Brazilian government reiterates its total repudiation of all acts of violence against the civilian population."

Bruna's Instagram page was flooded with comments from people sharing their condolences and sorrow.

Musical festival massacre 

Bruna was one of 260 victims massacred by Hamas at a music festival near Kibbutz Re'im in southern Israel. The music festival was one of the first targets of the massive surprise attack Hamas launched against Israel on October 7th, due to the kibbutz's close proximity to the Gaza Strip. 

“She went to this party, she was with a large group of friends, many Brazilians and Israelis. She ended up being separated, at the time of the attack, from her other friends, who were already saved. She was in a group with Liam, a friend from work, who is Israeli," said Nathalia Valeanu, Bruna's sister who still lives in Rio Di Janeiro.

“The last thing we got was her location via text. It was a dangerous location, where terrorists came armed in trucks, tanks, and motorcycles,” said Nathalia. “She said she heard a lot of gunshots and had a lot of people injured. And she was in the middle of the woods, but it was a place that was kind of fenced in."

The Supernova music festival was the Israeli edition of Universo Paralello, a psy trance festival that originated in Bahia, Brazil, and was scheduled to coincide with the Jewish holidays of Sukkot and Simchat Torah. 

It was intended to be a celebration of "friends, love, and infinite freedom". Instead, it became a scene of unimaginable horror as rocket sirens blared and Hamas gunmen began firing indiscriminately into the crowd. 

Vehicles filled with Hamas terrorists blockaded roads and fired on festival attendees as they attempted to flee the onslaught. The terrorists also methodically shot attendees who attempted to hide in trees, although some who hid in bushes managed to survive. An unknown number were captured and taken to Gaza as hostages. 

Drone footage of the site after the attack showed dozens of burnt and bullet-riddled cars, and footage of the attack that was shared to Telegram showed graphic depictions of people being murdered and hostages being taken.