Hersh Goldberg-Polin

I was speaking with a relative recently and was kind stunned that they didn't know the names/stories of any of the hostages. "Not even Hersh Goldberg-Polin???" I asked. Nope, not even. So I started writing this blog post. There are at least two people on this list who know Hersh/his family personally. Please feel free to PM me if there's something I should add in here, or put it in the comments section below.

Hersh is a 23 year-old American-Israeli dual citizen. His parents were both born and raised in Chicago, and he made aliyah from Los Angeles when he was seven. He was at the Nova music festival on October 7, and was taken captive after he, his friend Aner Shapira, and a large group of other festival-goers hid in a small roadside bomb shelter. Hamas terrorists lobbed hand grenades into the shelter. Aner threw back seven before the eighth one killed him.....Hersh was taken captive with the lower half of his (dominant) left arm blown off.....At the end of April, Hamas released a video of Hersh, showing that, b''H, he was, as of that time, still alive.

Hersh's parents have gone on a worldwide tour to raise awareness about Hersh and all the hostages. As they say, they will talk with anyone to raise awareness. They have met with the Pope and President Biden, and his mother was chosen as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2024. They spoke at the Democratic National Convention last week, saying, "At this moment, 109 treasured human beings are being held by Hamas. They are Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists....Among the hostages are 8 American citizens. One of those hostages is our only son Hersh". If you haven't seen their speech, here it is (and, if you would like to see the equally moving speech by the parents of hostage Omer Neutra, who spoke at the RNC, here is a link to that:

Here's a good article in the Atlantic, talking about how his parents are making through each day. Hard to believe this interview took place on Day 200 and now we are past Day 300: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/hersh-goldberg-polin-israeli-hostage-family/678452/

"Free Hersh" graffiti (the Goldberg-Polins live in Jerusalem) is found pretty much all over Jerusalem, at leas the parts I go in (this is the side of a recycling container).

I was in Boston last week visiting my family and the Goldberg-Polins were actually on my flight home (I assume they spoke somewhere in Boston on Thursday after the DNC Wednesday night. Anyone know?). Seeing them in person was profoundly moving.....

At Ben Gurion airport, there is a display of signs along the walkway to passport control. This was the third time I've flown since the war started. It's heartbreaking to see the signs getting fuller and fuller with well-wishes and words of love and support each time. This was Hersh's sign in February:

And this is Hersh's sign now:

The  Jerusalem Post published a beautiful article in June about Hersh's friend Jeremiah Smith who, after being tutored in elementary school by Hersh's grandmother, lived with her from 7th grade through high school and went with her on every trip she took to Israel, including for Hersh's bar mitzvah. Hersh used to joke that Jeremiah was his "brother cousin uncle". Jeremiah now drives a truck with signs like "Chicagoan Kidnapped by Hamas" on it to raise awareness. 

Although not a fan of the "Bring Them Home Now" slogan, as it seems to put the onus on Israel rather than on Hamas to "Let My People Go", I fervently hope that, however it happens, Hersh and all of the hostages are soon home and starting to heal from their nightmare of, as of today, 323 days in captivity.