{"id":606,"date":"2026-06-02T14:14:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=606"},"modified":"2026-06-02T14:14:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:14:58","slug":"how-did-the-jewish-hostages-survive-hamas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=606","title":{"rendered":"How did the Jewish hostages survive Hamas?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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.<\/p>

Read more The real face of CAIR<\/a><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0\u00a0Faith became an antidote to the degradation, terror, and hopelessness they experienced.\u00a0\u00a0Judaism helped them build a sense of community, which helped them survive their imprisonment.\u00a0\u00a0This community spirit persevered in spite of the Nazi ideology, which operated through fear, punishment, and death.\u00a0\u00a0Through faith, their lives gained purpose and meaning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Victor Frankl and Hannah Arendt survived the World War II camps.\u00a0\u00a0Frankl, author of\u00a0Man\u2019s Search for Meaning<\/em>, understood that finding meaning and purpose is a way to survive even through extreme suffering.\u00a0\u00a0Arendt in\u00a0The Origins of Totalitarianism<\/em> delineated the psychological and physical effects of isolation that erase personal identity and autonomy \u2014 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.\u00a0\u00a0What could replace that world for those in the camps?\u00a0\u00a0Faith, hope, meaning, and purpose.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0\u00a0The 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.\u00a0\u00a0Whole families were destroyed, mutilated, and their corpses defiled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The hostages of October 7 who survived have been clear about what they experienced.\u00a0\u00a0The Israeli hostages have begun to relate their imprisonment under Hamas terrorists to the world.\u00a0\u00a0Having purpose saved them.\u00a0\u00a0They never lost hope or their faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eli Sharabi, in his book\u00a0Hostage<\/em>, recounts his resistance to the terrorists in Gaza.\u00a0\u00a0By creating a cohesive group in captivity, he initiated a somewhat common world in which a shared religious reality sustained him and his fellows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that was not the beginning of his strength and purpose in captivity.\u00a0\u00a0After being attacked, beaten, and kidnapped on the holiday of\u00a0Simchat Torah<\/em>, Sharabi believed that his wife and daughters were alive.\u00a0\u00a0Unfortunately, after he was freed, he found out that they had been murdered.\u00a0\u00a0The initial hope that they were alive, however, gave his life meaning and purpose.\u00a0\u00a0He was Eli Sharabi, the survivor.<\/p>

Read more Not satire: Welcome to the George Floyd gift shop!<\/a><\/p>\n

Sharabi and other hostages were moved from a home to a tunnel under a mosque, and then to more dark tunnels.\u00a0\u00a0Sharabi mentioned his fear of the underground prisons, away from the light of day.\u00a0\u00a0Each move could have been more defeating for him, but Sharabi and the others began to seek the comfort of purposeful small rituals by saying\u00a0Birkat Hamazon<\/em>, the grace after meals.\u00a0\u00a0When 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.\u00a0\u00a0A shared common space and community of faith gave them courage to resist the terrorist tactics of their captors.\u00a0\u00a0The 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\u2019 radicalism.\u00a0\u00a0That barrier promoted trust and cooperation within their tight-nit group.\u00a0\u00a0They made their frightening world more habitable.<\/p>\n

By staying alive, the hostages realized that they were bargaining chips for the Israeli government to seek their freedom.\u00a0\u00a0It was necessary to survive.\u00a0\u00a0Their Jewish faith allowed them to go on.<\/p>\n

Months went by. Faith showed up in shared memories of past Jewish holidays of Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, and Passover.\u00a0\u00a0Faith became the way to begin and end each day.\u00a0\u00a0One hostage recited morning prayers out loud, and on Fridays, Sharabi sang\u00a0Eshet Chayil<\/em>\u00a0before Kaddish.\u00a0\u00a0Even in his early days in captivity, he murmured Shema Y israe<\/em>l, like a mantra, to keep himself grounded.\u00a0\u00a0He imagined his release, and his family waiting for him, \u201cenveloping him in light, whispering\u00a0Shabbat Shalom<\/em>, Eli.\u00a0\u00a0It is good to have you home.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 491 days, Sharabi,the hostage, the survivor, arrived home.\u00a0\u00a0The quiet power of faith kept him and others free in their captivity.<\/p>\n

Norma Sadler, Ph.D. professor emeritus, Boise State University, is\u00a0a writer now living in California.\u00a0\u00a0She is a member of the Lutheran Church of the Cross.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Read more MAiD in America<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"<p><em>Image:<\/figure>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Image: hendricjabs via Pixabay, Pixabay License.<\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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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