“God Was with Me in the Tunnels” – The Psalm that Saved Sapir Cohen in Gaza Captivity
By Israel Today Staff.. One of the most astounding stories of heroism in this war is that of Sapir Cohen. She was taken captive by Gaza terrorists on 7 October and miraculously released after 55 days. Her story started six months before that when twenty-six-year-old Sapir began to have a horrible premonition. She was fearful it meant she could soon die; and therefore, she tried to stay very safe — for example, refusing to go on a hot air balloon or sky diving with her boyfriend Sasha. She feared maybe she had a fatal disease.
Though not orthodox, Sapir already had an innate though unformed sense of faith in God. She was so apprehensive of sickness, that she felt only God could save her and decided to start praying for the first time. Sapir asked orthodox Jewish women she worked with, for a chapter of Psalms to pray for healing. They could think of none. Then one day while randomly scrolling through her Instagram feed, an advertisement popped up stating that anyone who would read Psalm 27 daily for 30 days would be healthy and have miracles and wonders.
Sapir: “Well this is exactly what I was looking for. From that day I read this chapter every day for 30 days. The last day was 7 October.”
“Why am I praying this? What war am I praying to be saved from?”
While praying Psalm 27 daily in September 2023, Sapir was surprised to discover she had learned the chapter by heart. She was also surprised that Psalm 27 said nothing about sickness or health. But it said much about victory in God over fear, war and enemies, and mentioned the word ‘Hamas’ [in verse 12, translated as violence or malicious accusations]. Sapir kept asking herself: “Why am I praying this? What war am I praying to be saved from?”
On 7 October Sapir and her boyfriend Sasha were spending the Simchat Torah holiday at his parents’ house in Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border, when all hell broke loose. Early in the morning, they began to hear the Hamas terrorists taking over one house after another. As her premonition came to pass in the immediate danger of death, it finally clicked:
“In that moment I understood the meaning of my prayer [Psalm 27], and I was terrified. I was shaking. All my body was [sweating], but I said the prayer again and again. And when I said it, I felt something. Deep, deep inside of me, I felt peace. And I said, ‘How can I feel peace in this situation?!’”
“And while I heard the terrorists outside, I just kept praying it over and over and over and over again. And I say there is no way it was a coincidence. And all the time in captivity I proclaimed this chapter every day. And in every new place I would go [in captivity], I would declare the chapter.”
“And I said, ‘How can I feel peace in this situation?!’”
In unimaginable circumstances, Sapir became a uniquely hopeful daughter of Israel. In place of paralysing fear; she received strength, faith and mission. Inconceivably, every day in captivity in Gaza, Sapir proclaimed appreciation to the Holy One of Israel:
“Thank you, God for sending me to this place, because I feel all the power you gave me. And I know how to use it to protect myself and help all the other captives.”
“Thank you God for all the angels you sent to me here in this hell.”
Sapir says the other captives could not understand how Sapir retained a positive outlook; and that one of her terrorist captors even admitted: “You are my enemy. I hate you, but when you are here, all this place is full of light.”
After 55 days and many miracles, Sapir was released from captivity and returned to Israel. Her boyfriend Sasha Trufanov is still captive in Gaza(*). On 13 November 2024 the Islamic Jihad released a new video from Gaza featuring Sasha talking, after more than a year in captivity. (His message, that the Jihadi captors obviously wanted him to convey, was for Israeli citizens to oppose IDF offenses in Gaza and to pressure the government into concessions and cease fire.) In the video he appears healthy and speaks clearly.
Now set free, Sapir has devoted herself to testifying in Israel and internationally, while advocating for the release of Sasha and all the remaining 101 captives. Israel fears many of them are no longer alive, and the IDF adjusts certain military offenses so as not to inadvertently kill them.
Sapir told PBS: “When I came back I asked myself the same question like in Gaza, ‘Why did God send me back?’ And I decided that I have to tell my story.”
(*) On February 15, 2025, Sasha Trufanov, Sapir Cohen’s boyfriend was released as well.
The Words from Beyond
For your edification, these are the words of Psalm 27 Sapir prayed in the land of death, in the Hamas dungeon tunnels:
The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked draw near to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock…
I would have lost heart, had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Hope in the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Hope, I say, in the Lord!
