October 7 marked the day Hamas unleashed a wave of unspeakable brutality across southern Israel. Douglas Murray, author of On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, joins Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch, LMFT—therapist and author of Viktor Frankl and the Psychology of the Soul—on The Viktor Frankl Podcast to dissect both the ideology driving such horrors and the extraordinary resilience of the survivors.
That morning’s assault was not a mere outbreak of violence; it was a deliberate celebration of death. Rape, torture, kidnapping, and slaughter were carried out with sadistic delight. Murray observes that this “extra layer of evil” transcends the physical atrocities, revealing a death-worshipping impulse at the core of Hamas’s self-described mission.
This is why, he insists, we must confront their actions not only as acts of terror but as expressions of a modern “death cult”—a movement that exalts killing as sacred purpose.
Drawing on Viktor Frankl’s insight into the “existential vacuum”—the spiritual emptiness that can seize those without meaning—Murray warns that nihilism can be a gateway to the worst ideologies.
In the video, he and Rabbi Schonbuch reflect on how young people at elite institutions, adrift in purposelessness, sometimes gravitate toward fanaticism. When identity and belonging come at the price of human life, “the darkest parts of the human psyche” are empowered, preying on unmet longings for meaning.
Yet October 7 also illuminated the highest expressions of self-sacrifice. Murray recounts Gil’s story: a father who threw himself on a grenade to save his ten- and twelve-year-old sons. Murray describes as emblematic, a terrorist calmly opens the family’s refrigerator afterward to help himself to a soda—underscoring the chilling proximity of life-affirming heroism and unrepentant brutality.
Equally haunting is the example of a young man at the Nova music festival, who, despite volleys of gunfire, drove strangers to safety in repeated trips—each return a testament to choice: life over death. These acts echo a core Frankl principle: those who believe in a future meaning are more likely to endure unimaginable hardship.
What psychology sustains an ideology that glorifies mass murder? Murray delves into the millenarian fanaticism of Hamas, noting its conviction that “blood and death have the ability to cleanse.” He traces parallels to other death cults—Nazism foremost among them—where genocide was seen as the ultimate solution to societal ills.
Murray also invokes Russian writer Vasily Grossman’s maxim: “Tell me what you accuse the Jews of, and I’ll tell you what you’re guilty of.” By this logic, each charge leveled at Israel—colonialism, genocide, white supremacy—reflects the accuser’s own crimes. Turkey’s denouncement of “Israeli occupation” echoes its occupation of Cyprus; Iran’s rhetoric masks its regional conquests. The projection runs deep.
Amid the chaos, Murray experienced a moment he describes as life-changing: a Friday night Shabbos dinner. Soldiers had come back from the base, families gathered around the table, and everyone raised a l’chaim—a toast to life—despite ongoing rocket threats. In that simple ritual of blessing wine and sharing gratitude, Murray says he saw democracy’s true strength: a communal embrace of hope that no amount of terror can extinguish.
If Hamas’s rallying cry is “we love death more than you love life,” then democracies must proclaim the opposite. Murray and Rabbi Schonbuch emphasize that “loving life” is not sentimental but strategic: it is the source of resilience. Whether sheltering under rockets, gathering for Sabbath meals amid sirens, or marking a bat mitzvah after a funeral for a fallen soldier, Israelis affirm life daily—and in doing so, they demonstrate democracy’s enduring strength.
Rabbi Schonbuch’s own work, Viktor Frankl and the Psychology of the Soul, provides a timeless framework for understanding this moment. Frankl taught that even in the darkest camps, individuals who find a purpose beyond themselves can transcend suffering. The video conversation between Murray and Schonbuch weaves Frankl’s logotherapy with real-time testimonies, offering viewers both psychological insight and spiritual encouragement.
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For more about Rabbi Schonbuch, visit www.torahpsychology.org
