KI TISA 5785

Hamas Hostages Inspire Shabbat

What does Shabbat mean to you? How does Shabbat impact your life? Let me share with you what Jennifer Rose—a non-Jewish senior executive at one of Silicon Valley’s fastest growing startups—writes in aish.com:

         A simple dinner invitation changed everything. “Come for Shabbat,” my colleague Rachel had said casually one Thursday afternoon. I had worked with her for 2 years but knew little about her observant Jewish lifestyle. What I did know was that she seemed to possess something I desperately craved: peace…

         I arrived at Rachel’s home just as the sun was setting…The dining room table was set with china and silver… Rachel’s children, normally glued to their devices like most kids their age, were engaged in animated conversation.

         But what struck me most was what happened next. Rachel covered her eyes and welcomed the Shabbat by lighting candles. Then, in a gesture that would have triggered panic attacks in my normal life, everyone turned off their phones. Not on silent. Not on airplane mode. Completely off.

         “For 25 hours,” Rachel explained, “we step away from creation to appreciate the Creator. No phones, no emails, no artificial urgencies. Just presence, connection, and rest.”

         The concept seemed both terrifying and compelling. As a non-Jewish guest, I wasn’t expected to turn off my phone, but something made me want to try. With slightly trembling fingers, I powered down my device.

         That dinner changed something fundamental in my understanding of time and presence. The conversations were deeper without the constant interruption of notifications. The food tasted better when I wasn’t simultaneously scanning emails. Time, paradoxically, felt more expansive when I wasn’t trying to optimize every second.

         The impact on my life was profound. I began implementing my own version of a weekly Shabbat technology break…Every Friday evening to Saturday evening became a designated period of disconnection.

         The results surprised everyone, especially my board of directors. Instead of the predicted drop in productivity, my leadership became more focused and effective. The clarity gained during my weekly digital sabbatical led to better decision-making. My blood pressure normalized, and my marriage improved as my spouse and I rediscovered the art of uninterrupted conversation…

         The most unexpected benefit was the impact on innovation. In the tech world, we often conflate connectivity with creativity. But I found that regular periods of disconnection actually enhanced my creative thinking.

If Shabbat could do that for non-Jewish tech exec Jennifer Rose, imagine what it can do for you. In fact, inspired by Shabbat, for more than a decade, there has been what is called “the Global Day of Unplugging” in March that has encouraged people to observe a Sabbath by stepping away from screens, putting down their phones and engaging with the world around them. 

In the yearly Torah reading cycle, Jews are now in the middle of 5 Torah portions concerning the building of the Mishkan—the portable Temple used after the Exodus. Twice Shabbat is mentioned—at the end of the instructions for building the Mishkan and at the beginning of construction. Question: What does Shabbat have to do with the building of the Mishkan? Answer: Even the holiest of work—the building of the Mishkan—must stop on Shabbat. But why?

My friend and colleague Rabbi Baruch Melman—who is a bit of a mystic—suggests something so profound: “Shabbos is by definition a déjà view experience for the soul.” [Let me repeat that because it is so profound.] Shabbat touches something familiar deep within us. How?

Kabbalah teaches that our souls existed in the world of the souls with Gd before we were born and will return their after we die. There we felt a closeness and a oneness with Gd like nowhere else. Observing Shabbat gives us a familiar glimpse of that amazing and wonderful experience. So, observing Shabbat becomes more than resting and playing, it creates a sacred space to stay connected to what truly matters—family, community, getting closer to Gd and to ourselves. And that would not happen if we didn’t stop on Shabbat—even the most holy work.

The connection with Gd and community that Shabbat creates can be crucial during our most challenging times. We’ve learned this most recently with the release of some of the Hamas hostages.

Let me tell you about Omer Shem Tov. Even before his release after 505 lonely days in tunnel captivity, he became famous as the hostage who made kiddush on Friday nights. How? His friend Itay Regev—released early in November 2023—related how Omer began observing Shabbat in captivity. Early on, Hamas terrorists brought Omer and Itay a bottle of grape juice with one of their meals. They saved the grape juice and on Friday nights, they would cover their heads with pieces of toilet paper instead of a kippah, and Omer would recite kiddush. Omer would also refrain from actions forbidden on Shabbat.

 When Omer’s mother Shelly found out from Itay after his release about her son’s keeping Shabbat, she felt so inspired that she began to keep Shabbat as well and is Shomer Shabbat to this day. When Omer was released, she said, paraphrasing the famous Israeli poet Ahad Ha’am, “More than I kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept me. It’s amazing!”

Upon his release, Omer was ordered by a Hamas photographer to participate in a publicity stunt by kissing a Hamas terrorist during the handover ceremony to the Red Cross—as if to say thanks to Hamas for the good treatment he received. By the way, he was not treated well and never received medication for his celiac disease or his colitis.

Agam Berger was not originally supposed to serve in Nahal Oz, but was sent there a day before she was abducted on Oct 7. Agam also became Shabbat observant while in captivity. When her captors realized this, they ordered Agam to cook for them on Shabbat—but she refused. According to fellow freed hostage Liri Albag, Agam kept her religious observances throughout her captivity—refusing non-kosher meat or any food that wasn’t kosher.

Agam prayed daily and never forgot to say a bracha over her food. Deprived of a Siddur, Agam began praying in her own words. She asked one of the terrorists if they had a Jewish prayer book to give her. The terrorist ridiculed her for the request but 2 days later, presented her with a Siddur probably found on one of the dead Jewish soldiers. “They said all of Judaism is a lie,” Agam related, “but they preferred someone who believes in Gd and prayed to him over someone who doesn’t.” Agam faced derision, and a total lack of sympathy, from everyone she met. She said, “I sat with children 8 and 4 who were cursing the Jews!”

          Daniella Gilboa, released in February, revealed that she and 4 of her fellow captives learned how to recite in Arabic Shalom Aleichem—the Shabbat song that welcomes in the holy Shabbat. Why in Arabic and not Hebrew? Out of fear their captors would punish them. She told Israel’s Channel 13 that it was also extremely important to her and the other hostages to make Kiddush on Shabbat—even if they only had water.

       Last week I spoke about hostage Keith Seigel—whose picture is on the entrance to our sanctuary on the men’s side, and who was released after 484 days in Hamas captivity. Keith barely saw daylight, was held in solitude and starved. He knew that if he was to get through this, he needed to connect with Gd. He started with small prayers like making a bracha thanking Gd for his food—which he had never done before in his life. He then said the Shema every day, which he’d never done in his life. This is how he survived.

The Shema also featured strongly in the life of hostage Eli Sharabi who recited it every day. Eli was freed in February. Eliya Cohen—whose picture is also on the entrance to our sanctuary on the women’s side—recited the blessings for putting on tefillin every day, which he knew by heart. He didn’t have tefillin, but at least he could say the brachot. He too, would recite the kiddush over a cup of water on Friday nights, which both strengthened him and uplifted his fellow hostages.

My friends, do you see an inspirational message here like I do? When faced with the most difficult challenges, these hostages again and again found courage and hope in emphasizing and making stronger their connection to Gd in the observance of Shabbat and regular prayer. This created for them a sacred space to stay connected to what truly matters under the most impossible conditions. So my friends, if Hamas hostages could show such faith, what’s our excuse for not doing more to increase our faith? Amen!