Hostage Omer Shem Tov Recounts Kidush Ritual with Grape Juice During Captivity

Omer Shem Tov, a former hostage held in Gaza, revealed in a recent interview how he maintained his Jewish practice during his captivity. He shared that a small bottle of grape juice, given to him and fellow hostage Itay Regev by a Hamas militant as a gift from Itay's mother, was used for the weekly Kiddush ceremony for months. "We understood we could use it for Kiddush and we also had some bagels. This small bottle lasted until two months before I was released, and every Friday we would fill the cap with juice and perform Kiddush," Shem Tov recounted.

Shem Tov described one of the most harrowing periods of his captivity as 50 days spent in complete darkness within a tunnel. "I was in a tunnel in complete darkness for 50 days," he stated. "I would turn on a small flashlight once a day to know I could still see. These were the most critical 50 days of captivity." He described the cell as extremely small, preventing him from standing or extending his arms, and noted that he was forbidden to shout, making a return to freedom a chance to finally yell.

A turning point in his captivity, Shem Tov explained, came after he had a "conversation with God" and surrendered to his fate. "From that moment, I had a routine. I would meditate. I imagined many things. My imagination developed incredibly, seeing things vividly and realistically," he said.

Shem Tov was released in late January as part of the first hostage deal. Since his return, he has been sharing his story to convey a message of resilience and faith. Recently, he addressed an American delegation and sang the "Shir LaMa'alot" psalm before over a thousand Christian religious leaders. In a recent development, Israeli forces eliminated a Hamas operative named Saba'i Zehir Abd al-Hamid Abu Hasna, identified as a Nukhba commando who held Shem Tov hostage and forced him to kiss his head during a humiliating release ceremony. The IDF stated that Abu Hasna participated in the October 7th massacre and Shem Tov's subsequent captivity, and was targeted in a drone strike in northern Gaza while planning further terrorist activities.