A young woman who was held captive in Gaza insisted on observing Pesach even under harsh conditions, refusing to eat chametz despite limited food options, her mother revealed ahead of the Yom Tov.

Merav Berger, mother of Agam Berger — who was taken hostage to Gaza and later returned to Israel — shared details at a pre-Pesach event about how her daughter conducted herself during the time she spent in captivity.

“She told them she doesn’t eat chametz.” According to her mother, Agam was aware that the holiday was approaching, partly due to a radio that was available, and made a firm decision not to eat chametz, even though pita bread was the main food given to them.

Berger said that after repeated requests, her captors eventually agreed to provide an alternative. “They knew exactly when it was Erev Pesach,” she said. “And in the end, they actually brought her corn flour.” She explained that at that time, the hostages were being held in houses rather than tunnels, which allowed for slightly different conditions. “It was a period that had a bit more abundance, in quotation marks,” she said, enabling Agam to avoid chametz throughout the days of the holiday.

Agam did not stop there. Together with Liri, another hostage who had been taken with her, she tried to recreate a sense of Yom Tov even while in captivity. “They asked for more vegetables,” her mother recounted. “They took an onion, filled it with rice, and made stuffed vegetables — a kind of Yom Tov meal.”

Even symbolic elements of the Yom Tov were not entirely absent. “There was a date, and for her that was like charoses.” According to her mother, the two girls attempted to reconstruct the Haggadah from memory. “They drew the Haggadah, whatever they remembered, and that’s how they marked the chag. They didn’t give up.”

Berger also described how her daughter set clear boundaries with her captors. “She told them in half Arabic and half pantomime, you kidnapped me, now deal with who I am. I am a Jew.”

{Matzav.com}