While visiting Fresno this week, Judith Raanan did not expect to be discussing her most horrific life experience, but she agreed to extend her trip to talk about being a Hamas captive.

Raanan, a victim and survivor of the Oct. 7 Hamas kidnapping, will tell her story in Fresno on Saturday.

“It’s one of those things that happens once in a lifetime, thank God. Hopefully it does not happen to other people at all. I think it is an awakening signal for the human race to find other ways to communicate to each other instead of bombs. I think that in general, the human race is such that, well, simply find ways to live together. And that’s it,” Raanan told GV Wire, previewing the event.

“Judith will share her story of terror, horror, hope, humor, and her deep faith that fueled her courage,” Chabad of the Central Valley says in online flyers.

Visiting Family When Kidnapped

Raanan of Evanston, Illinois, and her daughter Natalie visited Israel in October 2023.

“The whole trip was to have a vacation … that we will celebrate the 85th birthday of my mom,” Raanan, an Israeli native, said.

Kibbutz Nachal Oz sits on the Israel-Gaza border.  Residents in the area were used to safety concerns like bombings, Raanan said, but never like this. If sirens sounded, residents would retreat to safe rooms.

Raanan and her daughter were taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7. They were among the first hostages released on Oct. 20, 2023, and she has shared her story of survival since.

Natalie returned home to America, but Judith remained in Israel.

“I stayed to try and help out with anything to maybe release other hostages,” she said.

Raanan was reluctant at first to share her story.

“To be honest, in the beginning, I really didn’t want to. My rabbi … showed me that God has chosen to do, because the very big impact that was there was the connection to God. And me being Jewish was following his word in the Jewish way. But mainly the main thing is about God,” Raanan said.

Her rabbi told her that God took her in, and God took her out.

“Because of that, that God has chosen you to speak about us if you want. It seems to help a lot of people with their with their fate and to give them courage to live,” Raanan said.

A Vision From Her Grandfather

Raanan said her faith in God pulled her through captivity.

“There was a lot of spiritual experiences that took place in Gaza during the whole thing,” Raanan said.

She had a vision from her grandfather, Joseph, “standing behind me with army clothes, telling me that they will announce our release today at 6 o’clock.”

“And I prayed for him and I said, Grandpa, you got to get us out of here.  And so he said that. And that’s exactly what happened. The phone rang at 6 o’clock in the afternoon, and that’s when the higher-ups at Hamas have given the order to release us,” Raanan said.

Raanan: ‘Live, not Die’

Raanan wants to see negotiated solutions to the remaining hostages.

“It’s about time that people find different ways to deal. And especially I’m talking about the leaders of all kinds,” Raanan said.

In her captivity, a high-ranking Hamas captor told her her kidnapping was nothing personal, and it was between the “big guys.”

“I remember thinking to myself, well, why don’t the big guys sit down and discuss whatever they want to discuss instead of, you know, kidnapping people and throwing bombs at each other? And this is exactly my point — big people can sit down and think and solve,” Raanan said.

She said Jews and Arabs have a lot in common, brothers from the Bible.

“Whoever is trying to make it not be like that has to change the ways,” Raanan said.

She calls the destruction since Oct. 7 “terrible.”

“All the mothers gave birth to children. They want to see them live, not die,” Raanan said.

Raanan said it is time for everyone, especially on the “extreme” Muslim and Jewish sides, to “stop playing the victim.”

“We are just Jewish. We need to be left alone on this little piece of land,” Raanan said. “It is not the people. It is the leaders. And that’s the problem.”

Several Hostages Remain

Israel says about 100 of the estimated 250 hostages remain in captivity. The Washington Post estimates that 61 are still alive.

Ranaan met last month with President-elect Donald Trump, imploring that the remaining hostages be returned.

Trump has vowed “all hell will break out” if the remaining hostages aren’t freed when he resumes office on Jan. 20.

Rabbi and Raanan Have a Mutual Friend

The event is Saturday, 7 p.m. at Chabad of the Central Valley, 1227 E. Shepherd Ave. Fresno. Reservations can be made here.

Raanan said she was in town to support a friend who recently lost her husband. Raanan’s rabbi knew Chabad Rabbi Levy Zirkind, and the Zirkinds invited her to dinner.

The rabbi’s wife, Chanie, then asked Raanan to extend her stay to speak at Chabad.

“Saturday (will be) a good night for people who want to hear something inspiring,” Rabbi Zirkind said.

The War in Gaza

Gaza’s Health Ministry said this week that more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 110,000 injured in the 15-month Israel-Hamas war.

The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it says militants operate in residential areas.

Hamas-led militants started the war by storming into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting about 250.