Two former hostages held by Hamas terrorists described over the weekend how they tried to keep Shabbat and Jewish holidays during their captivity in Gaza, recounting moments of song, prayer and improvised rituals deep inside tunnels.
Matan Angrest and Segev Kalfon, along with fellow former hostage Eitan Mor, spoke at a special Shabbat gathering at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem. The event was organized by Rabbanit Tzili Schneider, head of Kesher Yehudi. It was the first time the men publicly shared how they observed Shabbat while in captivity.
Angrest, who was held for 738 days, said he managed to keep a small prayer book. “Once I had a siddur, I told myself I couldn’t pray three times a day and then not keep Shabbat. It comes together,” he said. He described making Kiddush and Havdalah when possible, sometimes saving food or drink for the ritual. He said he learned about Shabbat observance from a book he found, which he believed had belonged to Israeli soldiers.
He said the isolation made Shabbat especially intense. “There were no Friday night meals, no atmosphere. You sit alone and wait for your food so you can make Kiddush. You don’t know when you’ll get something to drink for Havdalah,” he said. Angrest added that conversations with his captors about Islam initially shook him, but Shabbat observance helped him hold on to his identity. “It gave me strength that I was in the right place and doing the right thing,” he said.
Kalfon said he and other captives also tried to preserve Shabbat traditions underground. “We were in a place of impurity, the roots of Islam. For us it was something big. We were in a small tunnel, shaking the place, shaking Shabbat,” he said. With no wine, they recited blessings over water. They sang “Lecha Dodi” and “Bar Yochai” to welcome Shabbat.
He said the men shared memories of their families’ Shabbat meals. “Everyone would talk about how their mother makes the fish and what they eat at home, while we were eating half a pita with cheese,” he said. They also marked the end of Shabbat by reciting Havdalah using a flashlight for the blessing over fire and water instead of wine. Holidays were kept as well, though sometimes they learned only afterward that they had misjudged the calendar. “The intention was what mattered,” he said.