Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, who founded the Chabad branch of Hasidic Judaism in the 18th century, taught that “a little light dispels a lot of darkness” would have been proud of Agam Berger, a 19-year-old IDF soldier taken captive by Hamas on Oct 7 who throughout her captivity refused to desecrate the Sabbath.

Agam was a special young woman who began learning violin at the age of eight. She also volunteered with children with special needs and learning difficulties. Agam has a twin sister, a younger sister, and a younger brother.

After high school, she learned in a military academy and when she was drafted, was trained as a border lookout. Her assignment was changed from the Kerem Shalom base to the Nahal Oz base, less than one kilometer from the border, one day before the post was overrun by Hamas terrorists.

On the morning of Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists infiltrated the base. In the attack, more than 60 Israeli soldiers and fifteen civilians were killed. The soldiers hid in a shelter but the attackers used a flammable substance, which also released toxic gases that caused suffocation within minutes. Of the 22 troops taking shelter in the building housing the surveillance soldiers’ command center, only seven managed to exit through a small bathroom window and survive the fumes.  

In her last phone conversation with her family before she was taken hostage, Agam said, “They’re shooting at us, there are terrorists, everyone is crying, but I’m not afraid.”

Agam was taken captive and held with 17-year-old Agam Goldstein-Almog who was released on November 26th, 2023. Upon release, Goldstein-Almog called Agam’s father, Shlomi, to wish him a happy birthday, as she had requested. Shlomi was understandably moved to tears by the fact that his daughter had managed to send him a birthday greeting from captivity.

Agam was a source of strength and inspiration for her fellow captives, braiding their hair in order to keep their spirits up.

She was moved and held with four other female IDF lookouts, also kidnapped from Nahal Oz.

Agam was raised in a family that observed Jewish traditions but was not strictly observant. In January 2023, her mother, Meirav, took on Shabbat observance to honor her mother’s memory. While the rest of the family respected her decision, they did not take on Shabbat observance.

When Goldstein-Almog called Agam’s father, she told him that Agam had taken on Shabbat observance while in captivity. Hamas forced the young Jewish women to cook for them but Agam refused to cook on Shabbat. 

After she was released, Agam said that even though food was sparse, she refused to eat meat given to her by the terrorists. Remarkably, she also fasted on Tisha B’Av.

Deprived of a prayer book, 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 two days later, presented her with a Jewish prayer book. 

“Your God loves you,” he told her. “We found this in Khan Yunis.”

Hamas began releasing hostages, carrying out the transfers on Shabbat. When it became clear that Agam might be released, Meirav requested that the friends and relatives stay home and refrain from desecrating Shabbat. 

“From you I ask, those who embrace us and who have gone this entire journey with us, and who have the great merit of bringing our children home – please do not desecrate Shabbat. Do not photograph, do not be photographed, and wait for Shabbat to end. At the conclusion of Shabbat, we will come out, and there will be time, a lot of time, to take photographs and be photographed.”

Eventually, Agam was released from Gaza on January 30, a Thursday, along with hostages Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Mozes. She had been held hostage by Hamas for 482 days. 

In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Rabbi Meir Solovechik compared Agam to the Prophet Daniel.

“Thus goes a familiar story in the history of the Jewish people: A Jew, kidnapped from the Holy Land and taken to enemy territory, refuses to eat whatever nonkosher food is provided to him. So Scripture informs us of Daniel, who found himself in the court of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon. Daniel refused to ‘defile’ himself with the forbidden food of the king and requested that he be allowed to subsist on seeds.”

Rabbi Solovechik wrote that this act of piety was repeated by Jerusalem priests taken captive to Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero, who supported themselves with figs and nuts.

He noted that her name, meaning a small pool in the desert, appears in Psalm 114, describing the wonders of God, who “turned the rock into water,” agam, “the flint into a fountain.”

That Psalm was recited on January 30, the day Agam was released, as part of the Hallel prayers recited on Rosh Chodesh. In a video published by “Regah Shel Chochma” (A Moment of Wisdom), she said: “Thank you to the IDF soldiers and security forces who risked and are still risking their lives to protect the country and bring all the kidnapped men and women home safely.”