At a Tisha B’Av night event in Tel Aviv, former hostge Agam Berger delivered a powerful speech, recounting her experience in captivity and reflecting on the resilience of the Jewish people throughout history.
“Exactly one year ago, on the night of Tisha B’Av, I was sitting in a Hamas tunnel, and I chose to fast,” Berger began. “I fasted because I understood that our collective memory, the memory of destruction and exile, can help us grow. The Jewish people have faced catastrophes that would have wiped out most nations, yet we endure.”
Berger drew connections between her personal suffering and the broader history of Jewish perseverance. “From the destruction of the First and Second Temples to the Babylonian exile, the Roman conquest, Hadrian’s decrees, the Crusades, and the Spanish expulsion, our ancestors wept, mourned, and prayed, but they never surrendered to fear or victimhood. They knew they had a purpose. Every devastation eventually led to renewal.”
She invoked a modern example: “Just three years after facing the horrors of Auschwitz, the Jewish people responded with an affirmation of life, by founding the State of Israel. We never gave in to despair.”
Berger spoke about her unwavering identity during captivity. “I was kidnapped simply for being Jewish. I risked my life to hold onto who I am. I faced the Angel of Death and refused to let him win. In captivity, they can take your freedom, even your humanity, but history shows they cannot put the darkness of captivity into the soul of a Jew.”
She described a moment of spiritual resistance: “We learned the Hebrew date, 6th of Av, and from that day, we counted. We knew when Tisha B’Av would fall. We fasted, we prayed. Even underground, we stayed part of our people’s journey.”
Berger emphasized the ongoing significance of Jewish identity in the current conflict. “Every soldier entering Gaza sees images of Al-Aqsa in homes, in buildings, in headquarters. Their eyes are on Jerusalem. We must answer that by strengthening our identity, reconnecting with our roots.”
She added, “This hatred against us isn’t logical or intellectual. Our generation is living through a defining moment in Jewish history. We cannot afford to falter after October 7th and all the losses we’ve endured. Our continued existence as a Jewish people, that is the victory.”
Berger ended with a plea: “Above all, we must stand for the release of the hostages. Bring them home. That is our most basic moral, national, and Jewish responsibility.”
Concluding her speech, she said: “My story is one of faith, of a people who deserve to be free in their land. Now it’s your turn, to make sure that being a free people in our land isn’t just a line from the natinal anthem but the very truth of our existence.”