There was no Israeli hostage in Gaza who had as high a profile for English-speakers as Hersh Goldberg-Polin. And there were no family members of hostages who captured the hearts of all of those who wanted the hostages home and symbolized the pain Israelis have endured during the Gaza war than his parents, Rachel and Jon.
Which is why the news of his death early Sunday morning hurt deeply for so many of us.
Whether speaking with passion while trembling at last month’s Democratic Convention or calling out to Hersh over a megaphone near the Gaza border last week, Rachel and Jon were the parents in all of us, thrust into a spotlight they didn’t ask for and weren’t groomed for, to make the anguished plea to get their child home.Their dignified, but very human and real reactions and statements over the last 11 months resonated with hardened Israelis and with Middle America alike.
The Polin-Goldbergs’ story was our story
For English-speaking immigrants to Israel, The Goldberg-Polin’s story was our story: American olim who moved to Israel because they thought it was the right thing to do as Jews, and confident that the children they raised here would be richer for it, nourished by the country’s values, tasked with defending their fellow citizens by serving in the IDF, and protected by those same guardians of Zion.
The images of Hersh plastered throughout Jerusalem, but especially his home base in the Anglo-Heavy south Jerusalem neighborhoods, were a constant reminder that nothing would be normal or go back to routine until he was home.
The video released showing his capture, and his wounds from having his arm blown off by a grenade, only added to the urgency and the torment, but also to the resolve to get him back.
Who's to blame?
There’s plenty of time to throw the blame around about who killed Hersh, Hamas or the hardline policies of the Netanyahu government. For today, at least, everyone should shut up.
Let Hersh, and the other five hostages’ bodies recovered over the weekend, be mourned and remembered. They were so close to freedom, yet their lives ended in a tunnel, where they presumably spent most of the last 11 months. There’s nothing more tragic than that.
The collective air went out, and the whole world deflated Sunday morning. Hersh was gone.
The nation’s words for Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin are the same as the words they spoke time and time again to their son in captivity. “Stay strong, survive.”