Hila Agmon took it upon herself two weeks ago to observe Shabbat for the coming month. As a result, she left the party in Kibbutz Reim, and thus her life and the lives of her friends were saved. Now her mother tells us all about it.

By: Michal Arieli

Published 11.10.23

Photo: By Kobi Gideon / Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=138951207

"My daughter had a great miracle, G-d took care of her, and it was all thanks to Shabbat," Shiral Agmon tells the story in a voice choked with tears. “I myself live in the northern region, but Hila is a discharged soldier who works in Eilat. It turns out that in the last few weeks there was a huge advertisement about the party in Re’im, and many of her friends from work decided to join. Hila also went to the party that started already on Thursday. She arrived with several other friends and was there until Friday afternoon, when she informed her friends that she was leaving everything and returning to Eilat."

Shiral's voice chokes and it is difficult for her to continue the conversation. "Hila left the party because she wanted to keep Shabbat. This is a decision she made about two weeks ago, when we both participated in a strengthening Shabbat in Jerusalem. I was the one who encouraged her to join that Shabbat. Over the past few years, I have been growing stronger and closer to Judaism, and I convinced her that we would have a nice time together. Hila joined me and also attended some of the lectures, one of which was the lecture by Rabbi Shneur Guetta. Rabbi Shneur spoke about how it is good for everyone to take on something small, even for a short period of time, to strengthen themselves. These things entered Hila's heart, and when we left she informed me that she accepted herself to keep Shabbat for the next month."

Shiral emphasizes that apparently there was no reason for Hila to leave the party, but on Friday, already in the morning, she joined her friends in the car and together they returned to Eilat. "The Sabbath saved not only Hila, but also her friends," she says emotionally.

And there is also another remarkable detail in this whole story: "On Shabbat night, a friend of hers called Hila and asked her with great fear how she was doing. It turned out that he dreamed about her on Shabbat night and saw her at a party and then in the worst possible state. During the whole Shabbat he was worried that something terrible was going to happen to her, and all this while he didn't even know that she was supposed to be at the party. There is no other explanation for why a huge miracle was performed for her, in the merit of Shabbat. G-d is the king of kings and he protected her from all harm."

Did you talk to Hila after the party?

"Certainly we talked, but we didn't meet, even though the thing I want most in the world is to hug her. It's hard for Hila to talk. Many of her friends were murdered or injured at the party, and she herself can't digest what happened. She's completely shocked, but she feels that there was a huge divine intervention of the Creator of the world. Now I hope she will continue to observe Shabbat, with a clear understanding that Shabbat protects us and saves our lives."