One of the most uncomfortable truths to sit with right now is this: No Jewish outreach organization in modern history has “reawakened” Jewish identity as powerfully as Hamas has. That sounds shocking—but it’s real. For decades, countless Jewish initiatives (kiruv — “bringing close”) have worked to reconnect secular Jews to their heritage. Yet October 7 and its aftermath did something no program, class, or conference ever could: it stripped away illusions. Take Maxim. He was a secular son of Russian immigrants to Israel, shaped by generations of Soviet atheism. Jewish by Israel’s Law of Return—but not by Jewish law. Uncircumcised. Disconnected. Jewish in paperwork, not in identity. And then he was taken captive into Gaza. What happened there cannot be explained by politics or sociology alone. In captivity, something ancient stirred. A spark that had survived generations of suppression ignited. After his release, Maxim chose circumcision and took a Jewish name: Zalman Zellig. Think about that. The same force that tried to erase Jewish existence ended up awakening Jewish souls. That’s not an endorsement of suffering. It’s a recognition of something deeper: evil often reveals what comfort conceals. Israel’s Law of Return—tragically shaped in response to Nazi racial definitions—brought many people home who carried Jewish ancestry but not Jewish practice. And now, in the fire of history, sparks are being uncovered. Identity is no longer abstract. It’s existential. This is why many are saying the Jewish people are God’s shofar. When evil rises in the world, it strikes the Jew first. But the blast doesn’t end there. What begins in Israel eventually echoes outward—to Europe, to America, to places that think they’re immune. History keeps teaching this lesson, whether the world wants to hear it or not. What we are witnessing now is not random.It is not isolated.And it is not over. Something is being shaken.Something is being revealed.And something ancient is waking up. Pay attention. Did October 7th change your faith or outlook on the world at all?