Finding God in Gaza: The Spiritual Journey of a Freed Israeli Hostage

After 482 harrowing days in Hamas captivity, Agam Berger has finally returned home, bringing with her a story of unimaginable endurance and newfound faith. The world first saw images of her on October 7, 2023, bloodied and terrified, paraded through Gaza alongside four other young Israeli soldiers. The footage was a chilling reminder of the human cost of conflict.

At a recent ceremony in Tel Aviv’s Yehezkel Synagogue, Agam expressed a heartfelt plea for the 59 hostages still held in Gaza. Her trembling voice declared, "We won’t rest until they all return – the living and the dead." It was a moment of raw emotion that left few dry eyes in the room.

Her mother, Merav Berger, shared with reporters how this ordeal brought her closer to her faith. "I began to feel God shaking my world," she said, revealing that she started observing the Sabbath in her daughter’s honor, even when Agam’s fate was uncertain. "We grew up traditional, but not deeply religious. Yet Agam found God – in Gaza, of all places."

Faith and identity became Agam’s anchor during her imprisonment. "They took her body," her mother reflected, "but they couldn’t take her soul or her identity." Early on, Agam and a fellow hostage, Liri Albag, were given a radio. They clung to the voices of Israelis declaring that they were worth fighting for. It gave them strength until the radio was confiscated after a nearby hostage rescue heightened their captors' paranoia.

In a surreal twist, Agam received a Jewish prayer book – a siddur – in January 2024, just days after dreaming of one. "How do you explain that? That’s not chance. That’s faith," her mother said. With the siddur, Agam began marking Jewish time. She fasted on Yom Kippur and observed Passover by refusing bread, even convincing her captors to provide corn flour. "In a strange way, they respected my religion," she later recounted.

As the months dragged on, the conditions worsened. Guards rotated frequently, some cruel and others indifferent. Agam admitted to Israeli media that she struggled to remain hopeful, especially after missing her younger brother’s bar mitzvah. "That broke me," she said. But even in the darkest moments, her belief that the ordeal would eventually end kept her going.

When rumors of a hostage deal surfaced in early 2025, Agam refused to let herself hope. On January 24, Liri was taken to film a release video, though she wasn’t told she’d be going home. The next day, gunfire erupted nearby, signaling a turning point for Agam. Her captors dressed her in a hijab, drove her in circles for hours, and eventually released her. She left behind notebooks and drawings, the only mementos of her captivity.

Back home, Agam’s absence had left a profound impact on her family. Her twin sister, Liyam, remained in the army and completed officer training in her honor. Her younger sister, Bar, who had initially decided against enlisting, changed her mind after hearing Agam’s promise to return to her base after her release. Just three days after Agam’s homecoming, Bar graduated from her unit, inspired by her sister’s resilience.

Now surrounded by friends and family, Agam remains restless. "We won’t rest," she declared at the synagogue this week, "until every soul – living or dead – comes home." Her mother echoed this sentiment, calling it "the Jewish mission" and emphasizing that their collective rebirth as a people depends on bringing back those still in captivity.

Merav Berger concluded with a powerful statement: "God brought Agam home. Now we have a duty to bring the others back too."