Murder of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin reverberates at his old stomping grounds in North Georgia
Hersh Goldberg-Polin at the Passover Retreat at Ramah Darom. Photo courtesy Ramah Darom.
The news that the body of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin had been recovered from a Gaza tunnel on Aug. 31 reverberated in the north Georgia mountains at Ramah Darom, the Conservative movement’s summer camp and retreat center.
He and his family were regulars at the camp’s Passover retreat. Eliana Leader, director of the Kaplan Mitchel Retreat Center, spoke about watching Hersh grow up at the Pesach retreat, saying that he attended the retreat for nine years. “He started as a Passover camper and then was in the first cohort of homegrown Passover counselors.
“Hersh was noticeable, even as a kid, for the way he made strong bonds with people, including building intergenerational relationships. Even when he was young and other kids would be playing out on the field during davening, Hersh would be sitting next to Jon in his usual spot in the Beit Knesset, right up against the windows near the lake. Hersh radiated kindness and sweetness and always had the biggest smile on his face.”
In a statement to Ramah Darom families, Board Chair Angela Cohen and CEO Wally Levite said “there are no words to express the heartbreak we are all feeling,” and called the news “gut wrenching. We grieve along with the entire Goldberg-Polin family.”
The news came as LimmudFest was holding its annual Southeast event at the camp over Labor Day weekend. Participants and Ramah staff gathered in the Beit Knesset to honor his memory. Many Limmud participants are also regulars at the Passover retreat.
A memorial service was also held at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, which was holding an alumni weekend.
Hersh was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and raised in Israel since age 8. He was abducted on Oct. 7 from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, where Hamas murdered 364 people and kidnapped 40 others. His left arm was blown off at the elbow during the assault.
On Aug. 31, the bodies of Hersh, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Almog Sarusi, 25, Alexander Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Master Sgt. Ori Danino, 25, were found in a 65-foot-deep tunnel in Rafah, with gunshot wounds to the head and other parts of their bodies. Autopsies showed that they had been killed two or three days earlier, and after the bodies were discovered, Hamas released videos of each hostage made shortly before the murders.
All six showed signs of neglect, and injuries that had occurred during or after their kidnapping.
In April, Hamas released a three-minute video of Hersh, the first proof of life provided since his abduction.
In July, Jon and Rachel launched a “Week of Goodness” to bring global attention to the plight of the hostages. The campaign included an evening of communal singing at Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square,” and a Bible study session, accessible to the public via Zoom, and various volunteer activities.
On Aug. 21, Jon and Rachel, both Chicago natives, spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, praising the bipartisan support they had been receiving in the quest to free their son.
“Needing our only son, and all of the cherished hostages, home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” Jon said.
They were visibly moved as they stepped up to the podium to chants of “bring them home” from tens of thousands in the crowd at the United Center, with the camera showing tearful audience members during their nine minutes on stage pleading for their son’s release alongside the other hostages.
Rachel said they had braced themselves for a negative reaction, because of how contentious the war in Gaza has been. But with the overwhelmingly positive response, “I was really taken aback, and I wasn’t prepared for any of that. I wasn’t prepared for support and love and kindness. I was not prepared, and that’s why I became overwhelmed.”
Michael Weil, former executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, reported that after the news broke, the community center where he lives in Jerusalem had a gathering of over 1500 people “to sing, cry, pray and light candles in his memory.” He said the Goldberg-Polin family are members of the nearby Hakhel synagogue.
President Joe Biden said that he was “devastated and outraged” after Goldberg-Polin was identified among six bodies that Israeli forces recovered in a tunnel in Rafah.
Biden vowed that “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes,” but then said that the United States “will keep working around the clock” to secure a deal — which would be between the Jewish state and the Hamas terror organization — to release the rest of the hostages.
The funeral was held on Sept. 2 at Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem. Ahead of the funeral ceremony, which started at 4 p.m., thousands gathered in the capital’s streets, waving Israeli flags to pay their final respects as the Goldberg-Polin family made its way to the cemetery.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin ordered flags at half-staff “in memory and honor of Hersh Goldberg-Polin,” the Republican’s office stated on Sunday.
A spokesman for the governor told JNS that the order applies to all flags in the state on Tuesday.
“Suzanne and I are angered and heartbroken by the death of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a senseless murder at the hands of terrorists,” he added. “Today, Virginians, Americans, and the world join the Goldberg-Polin family and the Keneseth Beth Israel Synagogue in prayer.”
Beth Israel is an Orthodox synagogue in Richmond which traces its origins back to 1856, per its website. The family had lived in Richmond and had “strong” ties to the city, the governor said.
Relatives also have installed an exhibit in his honor at Shearith Israel in Atlanta.
Hersh was a dual citizen of Israel and the U.S., and seven of the remaining hostages are U.S. citizens. It is estimated that 101 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, with no verification as to how many are still alive. No international aid organization has visited any of the hostages since they were abducted.
From SJL and JNS reports.
