The accompanying photo of me with Agam and Meirav Berger was taken on Saturday night. When Agam was a hostage in Gaza, the Kesher Yehudi organization arranged so many Shabbatot in her merit, and now Agam herself participated in a Kesher Yehudi Shabbaton — a special Shabbat of gratitude.
Here are a few highlights:
• On Shabbat afternoon, Agam and her family had a Q&A session with hundreds of graduates of pre-military programs. In answer to the question what gave Agam strength during her captivity she said, “My faith. It was clear to me that there must be some meaning to what I was going through. I knew that G-d was with me and that I had a special role to play.”
• On Friday night, participants attend a “tisch” with the chasidim of Toldot Aharon in Meah She’arim. In front of hundreds of enthusiastic chasidim, the Rebbe invited Agam’s father, Shlomi Berger, to the stage for a blessing. At the same time, Agam and Meirav were warmly welcomed in the women’s section and Agam was very moved by the women’s excitement. “I never imagined that you knew about me and were praying for me,” she told them.
• It was amazing to watch how many people approached Agam and instead of saying hello and introducing themselves, simply quoted the words from Psalms that have become her mantra: “Derech emunah bacharti, I have chosen the way of faithfulness,” and then explained how this phrase has given them strength and helped them to face their challenges.
• The security guard at the entrance to the Jerusalem hotel where the Shabbaton took place told Agam that he had waited all Shabbat to be able to take a selfie with her. She responded with a smile: “You had a short wait. People waited for me for 482 days . . .”
• At the musical Havdalah ceremony at the conclusion of Shabbat, the entire Kesher Yehudi community: haredi and non-religious Jews from all over Israel who learn Torah together along with survivors of the Nova festival and, of course, the Berger family, closed their eyes and sang “Acheinu — Our brothers, the entire House of Israel” together. It was a heartfelt prayer for the hostages and soldiers, for those who have been wounded or displaced, and for the entire Jewish people.
A brit milah during shiva
Dvir Sassi from Sderot sent me the following message: “Last Shabbat, my wife Shoham gave birth to our first child, a baby boy. Three days later, my beloved cousin, Ronel Ben-Moshe, fell in Gaza. We found ourselves receiving mazal tovs and condolence messages at the same time, and the brit took place on Shabbat, during the shiva.
“Just before Shabbat, Ronel’s parents reached out to us and asked that the simcha be joyous because that is what Ronel would have wanted.
We named our son Harel Chaim. Harel is one of the names of Jerusalem and the Beit Hamikdash, and we pray that our Harel will lead a holy life.
“Furthermore, both the names of our newborn Harel and our hero Ronel contain the name of G-d.
“Ronel, who fell four days before our son’s brit, was always full of joy and optimism and we hope that our Harel will take after his cousin and emulate his outstanding qualities.
“We added the name Chaim, which means ‘life,’ to express our fervent desire to continue to add life and sanctity to the Land of Israel.
“We have just seen with our own eyes the fulfillment of the verse in the Book of Ezekiel, ‘When I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you: With your blood, live, and I said to you, With your blood, live.’
“In the attached photo you can see the special pillow that we designed for the brit, inscribed with a dedication in memory of our dear cousin.”
What’s in your cup?
Someone once made a cup of coffee in the office kitchen. On the way back to his desk, he bumped into a colleague — and the coffee spilled. Why? Was he not paying attention? Did the other person bump into him?
It doesn’t really matter. What matters is this: when the cup was shaken, what came out was coffee. If it had been filled with water, water would have spilled. If it were orange juice, then juice.
When life shakes us — when a crisis or unexpected challenge hits — what spills out is what we’ve been filling ourselves with all along.
If we’ve absorbed negativity, fear, gossip, anger, worry — that’s what spills. But if we’ve filled ourselves with faith, kindness, joy, prayer and love — that’s what emerges.
Yes, we all have our rough days. But like the spilled coffee teaches us, we need to be mindful of what we allow into our hearts and minds — especially from what we see and hear on social media.
Let’s fill our cups with goodness, strength and peace.
© IJN 2025