Faith Under Fire

February 3, 2025
Agam Berger, a former Hamas Hostage, holds up a handwritten note proclaiming her love for Israel.

For the past few weeks, we have been watching with bated breath as some of the Israeli hostages have emerged from the darkness of Hamas captivity in Gaza. Each release has brought stories that pierce the heart – tales of cruelty and deprivation, of children torn from parents, of elderly hostages denied medical care, of young women subjected to physical and psychological torture.

Among these incredibly emotional moments stands Agam Berger, a young female soldier whose story of spiritual resistance has captivated hearts across Israel and beyond. As other freed hostages told her waiting parents, Merav and Shlomi, their daughter had maintained her faith with extraordinary resolve during captivity. For fifteen grueling months, in a place designed to break the spirit, Agam found ways to track time and maintain the sacred rhythm of Jewish life.

“I chose the path of faith, and by the path of faith, I returned,” she declared upon her release, her words echoing through millennia of Jewish history. In the darkness of her imprisonment, this young Israeli woman illuminated an ancient truth: faith can be both anchor and compass in life’s darkest moments.

In Berger’s quiet acts of resistance, we see echoes of another young Jewish woman who once turned captivity into triumph – Queen Esther. Both women found themselves thrust into unimaginable circumstances, yet chose to cling to their faith like a lifeline. In Gaza, Berger refused to light fires or cook on Shabbat, defying her captors not with weapons but with unwavering devotion. She chose to abstain from meat entirely rather than compromise her kosher principles, transforming dietary restrictions into acts of spiritual resistance.

The parallels across time are haunting. Just as Esther had her seven handmaidens in the king’s palace – who our sages tell us helped her track the days to observe Shabbat – Berger too found ways to mark time’s sacred rhythm in a place designed to strip away all sense of normalcy. The ancient Megillah records that Esther received special consideration from Hegai, keeper of the women, who “assigned her seven maidens from the king’s palace”.

Today, we learn of Berger’s own quiet rebellion through the testimonies of other released hostages.

When Esther faced possible death for approaching the king unbidden, she responded with a call to spiritual arms: “Fast for me… If I perish, I perish”.

לֵךְ כְּנוֹה אֶ×Ŗ־כּÖøל־הַיְּהוּד֓ים הַנּ֓מְצְא֓ים בְּשׁוּשׁÖøן וְצוּמוּ ×¢Öøלַי וְאַל־×Ŗֹּאכְלוּ וְאַל־×Ŗּ֓שְׁ×Ŗּוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁ×Ŗ יÖøמ֓ים לַיְלÖøה וÖøיוֹם גַּם־אֲנ֓י וְנַעֲ×ØÖ¹×Ŗַי אÖøצוּם כֵּן וּבְכֵן אÖøבוֹא אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲשֶׁ×Ø ×œÖ¹×Ö¾×›Ö·×“Ö¼Öø×Ŗ וְכַאֲשֶׁ×Ø ×Öøבַדְ×ŖÖ¼Ö“×™ אÖøבÖøדְ×Ŗּ֓י׃

LEKH k’-NOS et-KOL ha-y’-hu-DEEM ha-nim-tz’-EEM b’-shu-SHAN v’-Tzu-MU a-LAI v’-al-TO-kh’-LU v’-al-tish-TO sh’-LO-shet ya-MEEM la-Y’-LAH va-YOM gam-a-NEE v’-na-a-RO-tai a-TZUM KEN u-v’-KEN a-VO el ha-ME-lekh a-SHER lo-KHA-dat v’-ka-a-SHER a-va-D’-TEE a-va-D’-TEE

ā€œGo, assemble all the Yehudim who live in Shushan, and fast in my behalf; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens will observe the same fast. Then I shall go to the king, though it is contrary to the law; and if I am to perish, I shall perish!ā€

Esther 4:16

This wasn’t surrender – it was determination steeled by faith. Similarly, Berger’s choice to maintain religious observance under the eyes of terrorists wasn’t mere stubbornness. It was a declaration that some things run deeper than fear, some commitments stronger than threats.

The impact of such courage ripples through generations. Esther’s faith has became a cornerstone of Jewish survival, and now Berger’s spiritual resistance offers hope and inspiration to a world desperately in need of both. Her story reminds us that faith isn’t measured in grand gestures but in daily choices – in the quiet “no” to compromising one’s beliefs, in the steady determination to remain true to oneself even when everything else has been stripped away.

Her words, “I chose the path of faith” echo King David’s timeless psalm: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”

These aren’t just ancient verses but living truths, proven again in the crucible of Gaza’s darkness.

“By the path of faith I returned,” Berger testified. In those words, we hear the eternal story of Jewish survival – a story written not in triumphal declarations but in countless individual choices to keep faith alive when all other lights go out. In times that test the limits of human endurance, such faith becomes more than belief – it becomes a way home.

Join Israel365 Action in building a stronger Israel. Stand with us as we champion a bold new vision for Israel, support communities in Judea and Samaria, and partner with Israel’s true allies worldwide. Join the movement today! Ā 

Sara Lamm

Sara Lamm is a content editor for TheIsraelBible.com and Israel365 Publications. Originally from Virginia, she moved to Israel with her husband and children in 2021. Sara has a Masters Degree in Education from Bankstreet college and taught preschool for almost a decade before making Aliyah to Israel. Sara is passionate about connecting Bible study with ā€œreal lifeā€™ and is currently working on a childrenā€™sĀ BibleĀ series.

Subscribe

Sign up to receive daily inspiration to your email

Recent Posts
Standing With, Not Standing By
When the Bible Commands Us NOT to Teach
A Tale of Two Cities: How Jerusalem Became Our Capital

Related Articles

Subscribe

Sign up to receive daily inspiration to your email