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MembersThe hostages found faith in the dark, reigniting global Jewish pride

In Israel and the Diaspora, Jews who had never thought of themselves as religious began lighting candles.

Hundreds attend a prayer at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. October 10, 2025. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90

(JNS) Before Oct. 7, 2023, Israel was deeply divided. Streets filled with protests, families were fractured over politics, and the sense of shared destiny, the glue that once bound the Jewish people, felt as if it were slipping away.

In the Diaspora, many Jews had grown distant from Israel’s story. The Jewish state became “someone else’s issue,” not the heartbeat of Jewish continuity. Too many assumed that Jewish safety was permanent. We forgot that indifference, too, can be dangerous. History teaches that when Jews disconnect from their people and homeland, hatred always finds its way back.

October 7 shattered that illusion. That day reminded us why Israel exists, and why Jewish unity can never be optional. Hamas’s atrocities were not only an attack on Israeli civilians; they were an assault on Jews everywhere. What followed was two years of unbearable grief, but also something else: a reawakening of Jewish pride, faith and peoplehood.

One of the most powerful sources of that spiritual renewal came from the hostages themselves. Those who endured the tunnels of Gaza spoke of a surprising truth:...

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About the author

Patrick Callahan

This is an example of author bio/description. Beard fashion axe trust fund, post-ironic listicle scenester. Uniquely mesh maintainable users rather than plug-and-play testing procedures.

3 responses to “The hostages found faith in the dark, reigniting global Jewish pride”

  1. Susan says:

    Fantastic article! It moves the soul!

  2. Franciscus says:

    These changes, in the hearts of men women and children, gladen the heart of Hashem.
    And is the strongest evidence to demonstrate life returning to Israel – with reference to the second part of the parable of the valley of dry bones !

  3. AGR says:

    I see Ezekiel 38, 39 playing out, the finish will shake the entire world to its foundations. The last two years has also brought gentile believers paying attention to Israel and the Gaza war, through soul searching and prayer as never before for the Jews and for Israel. Being grafted into the body of Christ has never felt as real as it does now.

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