There are no atheists in a foxhole.
It’s a phrase that has been repeated, a phrase that, while it has no clear attribution, no conclusive creator, has strong reverberations.
This phrase, or similar iterations of it, first emerged during World War I. World War I used the brutal tool of trench warfare. In WWI if you were in the trenches – odds are you would be killed or wounded.
In World War II, the phrase emerged again. This time it was attributed to one of two men, either US Army Chaplain William Thomas Cummings or Lieutenant Colonel Warren J. Clear.
While it is not clear which military professional deserves the credit, it is perfectly clear that the notion has become part of the lexicon that describes the brutality of war – ‘and they turn their eyes to heaven.’
During those moments of fear and bravery, people, even ardent atheists, pray to be saved from the butchery and brutality of war. October 7, 2023, was no exception.
Spiritual shift after October 7
The lifestyles, the behaviors, and the traditions of so many Israelis kidnapped and taken hostage and of their families, friends, and communities changed.
The families and friends of many of those who were so violently and brutally and inhumanely murdered underwent transformative experiences, and so did the behaviors of many of Israel’s best – the members of the IDF.
Secular Israelis began to embrace Jewish ritual and practice. Religious Israelis, too, took on new Jewish traditions.
Soldiers, enlisted as well as reservists, were drawn to Jewish activities, Jewish songs, and Jewish dance. Jewish learning, lessons, and lectures. That’s why, at their behest, tens of thousands of Bibles, prayer books, and volumes of Mishna and Gemara were distributed to soldiers.
That’s why we are hearing the truly inspirational, even awe-inspiring stories that so many former hostages are revealing about the spiritual tools they used to survive, and we are learning of the equally inspiring traditions adopted by their families as they ceaselessly and tirelessly worked for and prayed for their release.
Israel, a vastly secular Jewish society, returned to Jewishness when facing the abyss.
Jewish tradition and observance, in whichever forms they took, offered the strength and the ability to go on day after day, month after month, and year after year.
It offered comfort, and it offered consolation. It offered desperately needed hope.
Rather than turning away from Judaism, so many embraced Jewish tradition; it is the Jewish response. It’s how Israel coped after October 7. It is how Israel survived.
It touched everyone – because Israel and lovers of Israel are one big family.
Stories of faith in captivity
That's why Omer Shem Tov, a member of a totally secular family, placed toilet paper, as if it were a kippah, on his head on Shabbat.
It’s why, after returning home to Israel, he asked for a kippah and a kiddush cup and why he continued to add more Jewish rituals and traditions to his life.
Now, since Omer’s return, the entire Shem Tov family has embraced many Jewish traditions, not only on Shabbat but also as part of their daily rituals.
It’s why Keith Siegel, an American/Israeli, said Hamotzi, the blessing over bread, on every tiny scrap of bread that was doled out to him during captivity.
It’s why he said the Shema, the Jewish call to prayer announcing the unity and greatness of the God of Israel.
It’s why so many hostages, despite the meager food they were given, only ate what was kosher, refused to perform Muslim rituals even with the promise of more food, and even, like Eli Sharabi, pretended they were wrapping tefillin on their arms every day.
It’s how Matan Angrest repeated and repeated every portion of the Torah and now knows it by heart. He sang, he prayed, and he remained optimistic.
Returned captive Bar Kuperstein’s mother started a tefillin movement, and it took off all around the world. People who ordinarily would not wear tefillin started putting tefillin on daily to pray for Bar.
And Bar, while in captivity, promised that if he were ever to return home, he would give charity, tzedakah. Since his return he has put on tefillin and made good on his promise.
A Book of Mitzvot was given to the families of Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel, and Gilad Sha’er.
In the books were listed promises made by people they did not know to do mitzvot, acts of loving kindness, and prayers that they would say on behalf of those kidnapped souls.
Naftali’s father, Avi, said this was exactly what they wanted – for people to increase their mitzvot and loving activities in honor of their kidnapped children.
The traumatic effect of October 7 and the changes it wrought on Israelis and Israeli society will be felt for generations to come. It takes time to see the impact and patience to understand the transformations.
Even the name of the massacre that took place on Shmini Atzeret/October 7, 2023, is still developing. That is to be expected. Originally, the Shoah was termed the Churban, the Destruction.
It was given the same name that was used to describe the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples. Yad Vashem’s original studies were entitled “Studies in the Destruction.” Then, slowly, the Holocaust emerged as its name, then the Shoah.
The massacre might be the best name for that awful historical day, just – massacre. Without a date, without Shmini Atzeret or October 7 – just the massacre, just like the Shoah.
The writer is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Watch his TV show Thinking Out Loud on JBS.