How does faith survive in the darkest depths of despair? How can someone—chained and imprisoned in a tunnel 50 meters underground—discover their faith there? Former Israeli hostages of Hamas experienced precisely that. Their testimonies reveal a faith and resilience reminiscent of the experiences of biblical heroes like King David, Daniel, Esther, and Paul.
By Marie-Louise Weissenböck
The Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip had every reason to hope that a higher power watched over them as they endured unimaginable hunger, beatings, mistreatment, physical and psychological torture, interrogations, sexual assault, and humiliation. Everything was taken from them: their freedom, their dignity. Yet, amidst these atrocities, there was something their captors could not take from them, no matter how hard they tried – their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
When the hostages began to talk about their individual experiences after their release, many shared a common “thread of belief” that ran through their accounts.
On October 7, 2023, Bar Kupershtein was deployed as head of a security team at the Nova Music Festival. When rockets rained down on the revelers, terrorists from Gaza stormed the grounds, and 364 people were massacred, he, a trained paramedic, tried until the very last moment to save young festivalgoers. He was abducted to Gaza and held captive there. After more than two years in captivity, he was released on October 13, 2025, along with the other 19 surviving hostages, in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian terrorists and prisoners.
In his first interview after his release with international media, which was reported by Reuters among others, the 23-year-old described how, after the first weeks of his captivity, he was taken to Hamas's tunnels. He said he managed to survive there without sunlight, with very little food, and subjected to regular beatings, by clinging to his faith: the knowledge that he was in God's hands the whole time.
He went on to recount how he and five other hostages were held in a room no bigger than a mattress. “We were there for each other, we supported each other, no matter how difficult it was—especially when we were beaten. I remember that after the beatings, we would simply hug each other and tell each other that we wouldn't let them break us,” he said. During their captivity, they learned Arabic, and the guards repeatedly tried to convert them to Islam, which Bar and the other hostages refused. Every Friday evening, they insisted on reciting the Jewish blessings for Shabbat.
One of the worst days, Bar said, was when a Hamas guard threatened to kill three of the hostages and asked the prisoners to decide who should die—a threat he ultimately didn't carry out. “All I remember is praying to God and begging him, ‘Save me, I am in your hands now.’ That was a phrase I said often while in captivity.” He later learned that his mother, Julie, had also said this to one of the Hamas terrorists who had contacted her by phone while her son was being held captive and threatened. “My son is not in your hands, he is in God’s hands. And you are in God’s hands too,” she had replied to his threats.
Since then, this saying has become the family motto: "Always in God's hands." When Bar was visited by Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz after his release, he placed a bracelet in the politician's hand that read in Hebrew: "Always in the hands of the Creator.".
A Hanukkah miracle in the tunnel
Omer Shem Tov, now 23, was held captive for 505 days in the tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip. He later recounted a miraculous event in the Times of India: While imprisoned, he had a small bottle of grape juice which he used for the Kiddush, the Shabbat blessing. This bottle lasted for over five months and did not spoil. He compared this to the Hanukkah miracle, in which the oil intended for one day lasted for eight.
“This is just one of many stories that have shown me how good God is, how much he was with me there.” In an interview with CBN, he added: “During my imprisonment, I felt every prayer you spoke for me, and even in the darkness I had light.”
Strength from faith and prayer
Several former hostages told CBN after their release how they found a completely new connection to their faith during their captivity. Among them was Eli Sharabi, 53, who was held in Gaza for 491 days. Although he had never been religious before, his captivity led him to prayer. “I am not a religious person, but from the first day of my abduction, I recited the Shema Yisrael every morning, which I had never prayed before in my life. The power of faith is incredible. There is something watching over you.” The Shema is one of the holiest prayers in Judaism and is found in the Book of Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
Sixty-five-year-old Keith Siegel also began to pray during his 482 days in captivity. He started saying blessings over the meager food he received, something he had never done before, and recited the Shema prayer for the first time. "Even in the tunnels, I found ways to feel His presence," he said, repeatedly thanking God for his survival. After his release, his daughter asked him what he wanted for their first Shabbat meal together. His answer surprised her: "Do you know what I want most? A kippah and a Kiddush cup."
Jewish holidays in captivity
Female Israeli military observers Agam Berger (482 days in captivity) and Liri Albag (477 days in captivity) were abducted from their guard post at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, along with five other young women, and taken to the Gaza Strip. While held captive in a terrorist's house, they learned the Hebrew date from Israeli television. This helped them calculate the Jewish holidays, allowing them to observe them. Although the two women received very little food, they fasted on Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av.
Agam Berger made a profound spiritual decision during her time in Gaza when she began observing Shabbat. While she was held hostage, she asked her captors for a siddur (Jewish prayer book). One of them laughed at her request. But she prayed to God, and two days later he returned with a siddur he had found in Khan Yunis. “Your God loves you,” he told her. The prayer book had presumably been left behind by an Israeli soldier.
“We celebrated Passover, and I didn’t eat any leavened bread. I asked for cornmeal, and they brought it to me. Somehow, they valued me more because I was religious.” Agam said that observing Shabbat gave her strength: “I simply refused to light a fire on Shabbat.” After her release, she wrote on a tablet: “I chose the path of faith, and it is on the path of faith that I have returned.”
Psalms as an anchor
In the Israeli TV magazine Focus Jerusalem, Israeli soldier Matan Angrest, 21, reported, among other things, that he prayed three times a day with a prayer book. He had asked his captors for this book and actually received it from a high-ranking Hamas official. Matan testified how the prayers helped him endure captivity and torture.
25-year-old Matan Zangauker told his relatives he had found a worn book of Psalms (Tehillim) underground and prayed from it daily. In a place with little air and almost no daylight, the steady rhythm of these verses first became routine, then an anchor.
Omer Wenkert, now 23 years old, was held captive for 505 days. He later told CBN how he and the other hostages sat handcuffed and blindfolded, waiting for their release. They began to sing a verse from Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
It is moving to hear how these people found strength in their faith in their living God during their darkest hours. Their testimony is an inspiration to their people Israel, who are still grappling with the trauma of October 7, 2023, and the war. One hopes that they, too, will find strength in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
This article first appeared in our newspaper "Israelaktuell," issue 143. You can order the newspaper here . We would also be happy to send you several copies for distribution.
