“I love you” and “I’m sorry.”
Those were the final words Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin heard – actually, read – from their son, Hersh, on October 7. Hamas terrorists attacked the Nova festival, which he had attended, while he and approximately 30 others were hiding in a bomb shelter that was being hit with grenades.
It was later discovered that Hersh’s arm had been partially severed before terrorists threw him and others onto a pickup truck and drove them over the Gaza border.
Since then, Rachel and Jon have not had a moment of rest. They spoke with practically every world leader under the sun, and then some, asking for their assistance in bringing the hostages safely home. Unfortunately, it was too late for Hersh, whose body was discovered in September, just a few days after he was murdered.
Since then, Rachel’s signature strip of masking tape with a Sharpie’d-on number — the number of days since October 7 — was adopted worldwide by Israel’s supporters and other hostage families.
In April, Hamas finally released proof of life in a video of Hersh, giving the family the inspiration they desperately needed that their fight was not in vain. Even so, they repeatedly highlighted the fact that the civilians sacrificed on either side suffer the most in war.
“We’re extras in a production that we never signed up for,” Rachel told The Wall Street Journal in May. Later, in June, she told The Jerusalem Post that, being a hostage family, “every minute is agony.”
Indeed, she has been the symbol of a grieving mother in these harsh months, telling JTA in December, “We get up every morning, and we have to pretend to be people. Because in order to save them, we have to function.”
They have been vocal advocates for the hostages, highlighting their diversity.
“I very rarely hear anyone advocating for the Muslim Arabs being held or the Thai Buddhists being held or the black African Christians being held,” Rachel told CNN in June. “There are Nepalese, Argentinians, Germans, Polish; you just don’t hear it.”
Advocating for all the hostages
The Goldberg-Polin family has been consistent in its criticism of the Israeli government, saying it has not done enough for the safe return of the hostages.
Jon and Rachel have been adamant in their call for people to do good in Hersh’s name, even launching a “Week of Goodness” in July to encourage kindness, good deeds, and generosity to help bring the hostages back.
Eulogizing Hersh Goldberg-Polin
By far, however, their most moving speeches — and, indeed, most heartbreaking — were those made at Hersh’s funeral in early September.
“One of the most fitting posts I saw about Hersh yesterday was the one that said, ‘May his memory be a revolution,’” Jon said. “Hersh, we failed you. We all failed you. You would not have failed you. You would have pushed harder for justice… Maybe, just maybe, your death is the stone, the fuel that would bring all the remaining 101 hostages.”
Rachel’s eulogy began with words that echoed in the hearts of every mother. “Out of all the mothers in the whole entire world, God chose to give Hersh to me. What must I have done in a past life to deserve such a beautiful gift?” she asked.
“How do we live the rest of our lives without you?” she asked Hersh himself. “Dada and I would often talk about who you would become. What you would be like when you grew up, what you would do, what you would look like, and what kind of parent you would be. But now, you will forever be our beautiful boy… forever young.”
Her final words were heart-wrenching: “Okay, sweet boy, go now on your journey. I hope it’s as good as the trips you dreamed about because finally, my sweet boy, finally, finally, finally, finally, you’re free!”