The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Yehuda Ceitlin
Maya Tzoutcheev, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, was working as a bouncer at the Nova Music Festival on the horrific day of Oct.7, 2023. After her night shift, she changed into sneakers to watch the sunrise. At around 6:30 AM, Hamas terrorists attacked the festival and its participants with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles.
After being trapped by gunfire, Maya took refuge in a bomb shelter for 15 minutes. She then made the daring choice to escape the area. Fueled by adrenaline and driven by instinct, she ran approximately 13 miles to reach safety.
She was one of the lucky survivors of the festival — Hamas killed 364 attendees, wounded hundreds, and took 40 hostages to Gaza. Maya has since traveled to the United States, sharing her story at the Nova Exhibition in Los Angeles, California. She came to Tucson in September 2024 as the guest speaker of the Annual Mega Challah Bake.
Upon arriving, Maya told us, “Thank you for inviting me. I really needed this.” She explained that speaking about the horrors and reliving them on a daily basis had taken a toll on her. She said she had sought something spiritual, like a Chabad event.
At the event, we honored Maya with blessing the making of the challah (“Hafrashat Challah”). Maya later told us that she recently started reciting the morning prayer of Modeh Ani. Upon hearing that she didn’t own a prayerbook, we gifted her a pocket-sized one. “May all of your prayers be accepted with favor,” we wrote in the inscription.
“I needed to come all the way from Israel to Arizona for this!” she quipped. “Tonight was the first time in my life that I ever made challah. Now, for the first time, I own my own Siddur.” She has been praying from it ever since.
The stories of Oct. 7 and the subsequent war often overlook an interesting fact: Most of the victims and hostages were secular Jews, many from kibbutzim and villages near Gaza. They were associated with the Israeli left, advocating land concessions to Palestinians and viewing religious affiliation as a barrier to peace. Proudly agnostic, some never visited the Western Wall, the last remnant of the holy temple in Jerusalem.
All that changed on October 7, 2023. The residents of these towns, the survivors of unspeakable evil, have found their faith and their Jewish pride. And perhaps none more than the hostages themselves.
Hostages like Agam Berger, who kept Shabbat and wrote on a sign upon being freed — “I have chosen the path of faith,” resolving to continue.
Hostages like Omer Shem Tov, who joyfully studied Torah from a “Dvar Malchus” booklet that an Israeli soldier left behind.
Hostages like Daniel Gilboa, who sang Sholom Aleichem on Shabbat with an Arabic twist so that the evil terrorists would not silence or abuse her for keeping their faith alive.
Hostages like Alexander Trofunov, who became Bar Mitzvah and put on tefillin for the first time in his life less than 24 hours after being freed from captivity.
In a way, this story reflects a more ancient one — and one that we will be celebrating on the holiday of Purim (which begins on the evening of Thursday, March 13, 2025). It is commonly understood that the miracle of “v’nahafoch hu” (Esther 9:1) — how everything turned around for the better — was about the physical salvation of the Jewish people from annihilation.
However, there had also been a spiritual turnaround.
The Book of Esther (9:23) says, “The Jews accepted what they had begun to do.” The Talmud teaches (Shabbos 84a), “they practiced that which they had already committed themselves to” — the practice of God’s commandments during the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
The Purim miracle resulted in a newfound commitment to Jewish faith and observance. On Purim, our people were not only physically saved but also spiritually empowered.
Much like Haman did, Hamas sought the physical annihilation of the Israeli Jews — as their charter calls for. And just as it was during the Purim story, what happened was a boomerang effect: Formerly apathetic Jews embraced their faith and recommitted themselves to their heritage.
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