In an emotionally charged meeting held last night at the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto arrived to meet Agam Berger and Keith Siegel, two of the released hostages from Hamas captivity.
The Rabbi, accompanied by his sons Rabbi Yoel Moshe Rafael Pinto and Rabbi Meir Eliyahu Pinto, sought to strengthen the returnees, who demonstrated extraordinary inner strength during their captivity.
“Your faith burns bright,” Rabbi Pinto told Berger. “You sanctified the name of Heaven in public, and this strength touches the hearts of thousands among the people of Israel. Our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt through faith, and through faith, you have returned home.”
Rabbi Pinto also addressed the remaining hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, saying that he prays for them every day.
During the meeting, Merav Berger, Agam’s mother, shared how she did not part from the Book of Deuteronomy throughout her daughter’s captivity. “Every Shabbat, I would sit and read the Book of Deuteronomy with prayer and faith that it would be the force to bring Agam home,” she recounted. It is known that reading the Book of Deuteronomy on Shabbat is a well-established spiritual practice, as Rabbi Pinto has often taught.
In response, the Rabbi presented Agam and her family with a Shabbat prayer book containing the Book of Deuteronomy, accompanied by a handwritten blessing and dedication.
During his lesson following the visit, Rabbi Pinto shared his reflections on the encounter with Agam and her family:
“She was starving for days, but she told herself: ‘It is forbidden to steal,’” said Rabbi Pinto. “Even when there was a can of tuna sitting there, they knew it wasn’t theirs, and they didn’t take it, because stealing is forbidden.”
According to him, Agam Berger’s unyielding faith earned her respect even among her captors. “As the Talmud says – one who places their fear of Heaven above all else, earns respect. They feared her, they honored her because she stood her ground—not eating non-kosher food, not stealing, keeping Shabbat. She prayed, and they themselves went and brought her a prayer book. A prayer book that a soldier had forgotten in the area.”
Rabbi Pinto added that even in the most difficult periods in Jewish history, faith has been the foundation that sustained the Jewish people.
“We say during the Tashlich prayer on Rosh Hashanah: ‘May God place mercy in the hearts of the captors.’ This year, when we recited it, we saw with our own eyes what it meant. God placed mercy in their hearts because of the spiritual power of the captives.”
Last night, former U.S. President Donald Trump posted a video of Agam Berger expressing gratitude, which quickly garnered millions of views within just a few hours. This is an exceptional public recognition, as it is the only video of a freed hostage that Trump has personally shared on his social media platform.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel