Rabbi Recounts Teenage Fantasy of Being Kidnapped to Gaza
Translated & summarized from Srugim by baba
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Rabbi Abraham Stav shared a teenage fantasy of being kidnapped to Gaza.
- He imagined conveying secret messages to his parents against release.
- His fantasies involved using coded language and Talmudic references.
- Stav connected his thoughts to the experiences of returned hostages.
- He noted hostages successfully conveyed messages without communication.
Rabbi Abraham Stav shared a personal reflection on his teenage fantasies of being kidnapped to Gaza, drawing parallels to the complex situation of Israeli hostages and the experiences of survivors. Stav revealed that at around age 19, during the period when soldier Gilad Shalit was held captive, he imagined scenarios where he would be forced to speak to the media by his captors. In these fantasies, he would devise clever ways to convey a hidden message to his parents, urging them not to agree to any deal for his release, even if forced to publicly demand it.
He described how, in his imagination, he would use methods like acronyms or references to Talmudic texts to embed his true message. Stav's goal was to communicate the opposite of what his captors intended, specifically to counter any forced plea to his parents to secure his release at all costs. He acknowledged that in his daydreams, sometimes this hidden message succeeded, and sometimes it did not.
Stav connected these childhood imaginings to the current reality faced by Israel and the insights emerging from those who have returned from captivity. He observed that even without sophisticated codes or any communication at all, the hostages who have returned have managed to convey a message to their parents. This observation, he suggested, highlights a recurring theme in the experiences of released captives.