Judith Raanan and her daughter, Natalie, count themselves among the most fortunate of the hostages. Two weeks after being kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists during the massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, and taken captive into Gaza, the two were suddenly released. Raanan attributes this miracle to G‑d and the power of unwavering faith.
On Oct. 7 Raanan and her daughter, who live in Chicago, were visiting her mother, a resident of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, for her 85th birthday. Natalie was also turning 18, and Judith looked forward to the double simcha. She wanted to give her daughter a “vacation she would never forget.”
“Trust me, she won’t forget it now,” Raanan tells Chabad.org with a dry laugh.
When sirens started blaring in the kibbutz on Simchat Torah morning, the family ran to their safe rooms. Even as it dawned on them that the situation was severe and that they couldn’t leave, it took a few hours until they understood the scale of what was going on: terrorists had penetrated the border and were flooding into southern Israel.
Raanan is still shaken by that experience, and is reluctant to share what happened from the moment Hamas terrorists tore them out of their homes and brought them into Gaza. It’s clear, though, that those early hours of Oct. 7 have left her and her family forever changed. Thirteen members of her family were impacted by the attack; some were murdered, some taken hostage into Gaza, and some, like her cousin Tal Shoham, were freed.
It was with the encouragement of her Chicago-area Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Meir Hecht, that she began telling her story. “In the beginning, I truly did not want to do it. But Rabbi Hecht encouraged me to share our story because Hashem saved my life and my daughter’s.”
Faith Under Fire
The Raanans were in captivity for only two weeks, a short time compared to the hundreds of days spent by others, some of whom remain imprisoned somewhere in Gaza to this day. Nevertheless, even in that period Judith suffered two near-death experiences. To maintain resilience and faith, Raanan spent her time in the tunnels praying and immersing herself in her Judaism.
“When I was in captivity, I felt the spiritual tzaddikim and spiritual entities around us,” she recalls. “Your brain starts playing tricks on you. We were heavily monitored and restricted, and not even able to use the bathroom. Yet my mind kept conjuring vivid images of myself rising for the Torah during services in Rabbi Hecht’s home, surrounded by his children. When I was in captivity, this picture returned over and over again.”
Raanan found that the longer she was held hostage, the more her faith was fortified.
“If you’re willing to die for G‑d, even when looking at the Angel of Death in his eyes, it becomes worthwhile. You have to be willing to go all the way. We, the Jewish people, have one mission, which is to continue doing what He asked us. And this is how we’re going to be a light to the nations,” she says resolutely. “We must not give up.”
That sense of determination allowed her to maintain that connection during her time in Gaza. From asking her captors to give her water so she could wash her hands before eating the slice of pita given to her to her insistence on crying out in prayer “Hashem Hu HaElokim—Hashem is the one G‑d,” every time her captors addressed her, Raanan felt it was these efforts that kept her safe. It was something she believes even the terrorists holding her comprehended.
“They respected me and left me to pray in peace after [yelling Hashem is the one G‑d] because they understood that our G‑d is so great that nothing will ever change it,” she declares.
As for her release, she is still not sure why her life was spared, especially so early into the war. On Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, the Raanans were miraculously freed by Hamas. Raanan acknowledges the behind-the-scenes negotiations, and understands that perhaps it was because out of all the American citizen hostages they were the only ones currently living in the United States, but the only factor that truly makes sense to her is the benevolence of G‑d.
“My sincere belief is that it was also G‑d’s work. He put us in and He took us out,” she says.
Celebrating Passover While Others Remain Chained
Even now, Raanan’s faith is stronger than ever as she feels compelled to pray for the 59 remaining hostages in Gaza.
“There are days that I fast for them. I pray every morning for their release. I think about them all the time. They’re always with me. There are no words to describe the anguish of this war,” she says.
She’s been inspired by how the Jewish community has come together for the hostages and how they supported her throughout her ordeal.
“They raised money for us, they cared about us, they wanted to pick me up from the airport. They’re there all the time. They’ve been a valuable resource for all of the victims,” Raanan says. “Chabad, in particular, is a Jewish family. You think about the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory] and this is exactly what he wanted—for a Jew to never be alone.”
As she prepares to celebrate Passover, her feelings from last year have not changed, considering there are still Jewish souls held in Gaza. In many ways, she says, she still feels like her spirit is in captivity as long as they continue to languish there.
“Last Passover, I did not feel that I was free, because as long as all the other hostages are not free, I’m not free. As long as there are any Jewish bodies there, alive or not, I’m not free as long as they’re not back home,” she laments. And so, this year she’ll be yearning once again for freedom—a true, universal freedom for all of humanity.
“I’ll be spending this Passover praying for the war to end and that Moshiach comes..”
While some call for people to keep an empty seat at the table to symbolize the hostages still being held in Gaza, Raanan says that she remembers the hostages everywhere she goes as they will forever be a part of her.
“We always have them with us, we always talk about them. They’re not a separate entity, it's a part of me. It’s like asking me, ‘Did you bring your right or left hand to the Seder?’” she asked rhetorically.
This year, her message for Jews who gather around the table this Passover is that faith in the Torah can give the Jewish people strength in the face of anything, regardless of their religious observance. The story of Passover, she says, is not only of redemption but resilience and having an unwavering faith in G‑d.
“‘Justice, justice you shall pursue,’ we’re told. It’s our duty as Jews to do this, and it’s a mission all Jews need to be a part of. We must love each other and work to understand where we all come from. Then, we can face up to anything,” she said.
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