Liat Eylon- Ravia, The Late Ofek Ravia’s Mother's Chraime Recipe

“A Place at the Table” is a commemorative project that documents the favorite dishes of those lost on October 7 with the help of their families.  

When Ofek travelled for six months in South America, he would call his parents every Friday, before Shabbat to wish them Shabbat Shalom. He would tell his mother, Liat, how much he missed her fish dish.. The same was true during his military service. Whenever he was far from home and unable to join the family for Shabbat dinner, he would always end the call with, “Mom, I miss your fish.”

Liat admits she doesn’t cook much, but she learned this recipe 15 years ago from her good friend Rina, who’s originally from Tripoli.  Since then, she has prepared it without fail for every Shabbat meal, always serving it as a first course alongside a spicy tomato salad, tahini, and challah. Her children grew accustomed to spicy food from a young age, and Ofek in particular, loved the heat.

“Who would have believed that after your combat service and six months in South America, we would lose you here, so close to us?” Liat wonders aloud, as she adds a generous amount of garlic cloves and green chili peppers to the hot oil in the pot  just the way he liked it. 

Ofek didn’t get to share the last Shabbat meal with his family. While his mother Liat and her spouse Oren were in Eilat for Simchat Torah with his two younger brothers, Ofek was with his childhood friends, the late Gal Danguri and the late Nadav Bartel, at the Nova festival near Kibbutz Re’im. When the sirens started at 6:30 AM, they tried to flee the. Area in their car. However, near Kibbutz Mefalsim, they were intercepted by terrorists, who forced them to abandon the car and hide in the bushes.

The first phone call Liat received that morning came at 8:00 AM from Yvonne, Gal’s mother. Since they observe the Sabbath, she immediately sensed something was wrong and tried to call Ofek, but he didn’t answer his phone. He did manage to send her a text: “Mom, I can’t talk, my car was stolen, we are surrounded by terrorists. Know that I love you if I don’t survive this.” His final message was, “Sh’ma Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad.” Liat wrote back urging him to stay strong and sent her daughter to bring Ofek’s father, back from synagogue. Together they tried to reach anyone they possibly could, from friends in the police and the Shin Bet to the Deputy Minister of Defense, but none of them knew what was happening on the ground. 

While the Ravia family drove north from Eilat toward Be’er Sheva, hoping to find Ofek and his friends at the assembly point for the party evacuees, Gal’s mother, Yvonne, and Nadav’s father, Didi, headed to Kibbutz Mefalsim, where their children’s phones had last been tracked. They arrived in the area long before the military forces. There, in the charred area that had only cooled slightly, the parents identified their children’s bodies and removed them themselves for burial. Liat and Oren received the news of their son’s death in the car, driving with their two young children.

The three were best friends since their elementary school days in Beit Aryeh. All three were adored  instructors in the Scouts movement as teenagers, and later they all served in combat units in the IDF. After their army service, they traveled together on an extended trip to South America. They were murdered together and were buried together. “The only lucky thing was that we found them and were able to bury them.” says Liat through her tears. “Some people still haven’t found their children. Some are still waiting for a knock on the door.”

Ofek, who was murdered at the age of 23, was a beautiful boy with a charming smile, says Liat. He was a good student and a respected Scout leader who became a Scout master, and later a commander in the army. An amateur soccer player, he would jump at any opportunity to play and kick the ball around. After his death, the family discovered another side of Ofek from his friends and from the videos they shared of him – funny and goofy with a great sense of humor, says Liat with a smile. 

During his trip to South America, which ended eight months before his death, Ofek met Yuval and fell in love. They returned to Israel as a couple, and she quickly became part of the family. “She would also eat this dish with us,” says Liat and smiles as she uses a spoon to cover the fish in the pot with sauce. “I make sure every bit of fish captures that delicious heat,” she adds.

Did you prepare this meal? Share a photo of it and tag it #A_Place_at_the_Table to honor the memory of the late Ofek Ravia.