Those who have faith and trust in God gain strength from their beliefs, no matter what situation they find themselves in. In doing so, they find meaning in the act of survival.
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Over 85 years ago in Auschwitz and Dachau, Jews held on to their religious beliefs even though they were terrorized by their experiences in the concentration camps. Faith became an antidote to the degradation, terror, and hopelessness they experienced. Judaism helped them build a sense of community, which helped them survive their imprisonment. This community spirit persevered in spite of the Nazi ideology, which operated through fear, punishment, and death. Through faith, their lives gained purpose and meaning.
Victor Frankl and Hannah Arendt survived the World War II camps. Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, understood that finding meaning and purpose is a way to survive even through extreme suffering. Arendt in The Origins of Totalitarianism delineated the psychological and physical effects of isolation that erase personal identity and autonomy — not just in the camps of the past, but in the current terrorist regimes that stifle personal and political freedom, those two aspects in the common world of free societies. What could replace that world for those in the camps? Faith, hope, meaning, and purpose.
For the past three years, the violent attack by Hamas on Israelis on October 7, 2023 has become a tragedy of immense importance in news cycles. The atrocities on October 7 rivaled those of the Holocaust with the kind of brutality that is difficult to hear or believe because of its depravity. Whole families were destroyed, mutilated, and their corpses defiled.
The hostages of October 7 who survived have been clear about what they experienced. The Israeli hostages have begun to relate their imprisonment under Hamas terrorists to the world. Having purpose saved them. They never lost hope or their faith.
Eli Sharabi, in his book Hostage, recounts his resistance to the terrorists in Gaza. By creating a cohesive group in captivity, he initiated a somewhat common world in which a shared religious reality sustained him and his fellows.
But that was not the beginning of his strength and purpose in captivity. After being attacked, beaten, and kidnapped on the holiday of Simchat Torah, Sharabi believed that his wife and daughters were alive. Unfortunately, after he was freed, he found out that they had been murdered. The initial hope that they were alive, however, gave his life meaning and purpose. He was Eli Sharabi, the survivor.
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Sharabi and other hostages were moved from a home to a tunnel under a mosque, and then to more dark tunnels. Sharabi mentioned his fear of the underground prisons, away from the light of day. Each move could have been more defeating for him, but Sharabi and the others began to seek the comfort of purposeful small rituals by saying Birkat Hamazon, the grace after meals. When all were starving, Sharabi, at fifty years old, held the small group of younger men together as rations shrank and their bodies lost mass and strength. A shared common space and community of faith gave them courage to resist the terrorist tactics of their captors. The hostages did not comply with the demands by guards to recite verses from the Quran in order to get food and maintained an invisible wall against their captors’ radicalism. That barrier promoted trust and cooperation within their tight-nit group. They made their frightening world more habitable.
By staying alive, the hostages realized that they were bargaining chips for the Israeli government to seek their freedom. It was necessary to survive. Their Jewish faith allowed them to go on.
Months went by. Faith showed up in shared memories of past Jewish holidays of Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, and Passover. Faith became the way to begin and end each day. One hostage recited morning prayers out loud, and on Fridays, Sharabi sang Eshet Chayil before Kaddish. Even in his early days in captivity, he murmured Shema Y israel, like a mantra, to keep himself grounded. He imagined his release, and his family waiting for him, “enveloping him in light, whispering Shabbat Shalom, Eli. It is good to have you home.”
After 491 days, Sharabi,the hostage, the survivor, arrived home. The quiet power of faith kept him and others free in their captivity.
Norma Sadler, Ph.D. professor emeritus, Boise State University, is a writer now living in California. She is a member of the Lutheran Church of the Cross.
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Image: hendricjabs via Pixabay, Pixabay License.