After a harrowing two-year ordeal in the tunnels of Gaza, 22-year-old IDF soldier Matan Angrest is beginning to reveal the deeply personal wellspring that sustained him through pain, fear, and profound isolation: his unwavering Jewish faith.
Angrest, who was captured on October 7, 2023, during fierce clashes at Nahal Oz, was the sole survivor of his tank crew and was taken into Gaza severely wounded. For months, he endured a punishing regime that included starvation, torture, and prolonged stretches of solitary confinement.
A Request Granted by Captors
Speaking from Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Matan recounted that his core strength derived from daily prayer.
“From the very beginning, I asked for tefillin, a siddur, and a Chumash,” he shared. “I prayed three times every day. It gave me strength and kept me alive.”
In one of the most remarkable and unexpected details of his captivity, his Hamas captors actually complied with his request, providing him with the items.
“They brought them to me,” he stated. “It was something I could hold on to when everything else was gone.”
