Accompanied by thousands of mourners, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin bid an emotional farewell to their son

Describing their son as a child of light and love, of curiosity and wanderlust, of justice and peace, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin bade a heart-wrenching farewell to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, as he was laid to rest yesterday in Jerusalem. They were surrounded by thousands of people who had come to pay their last respects and accompany the family, who have become some of the most well-known representatives of the struggle of families to gain the release loved ones taken by Hamas on Oct. 7.

“At this time, I ask your forgiveness. If ever I was impatient or insensitive to you during your life, or neglected you in some way, I deeply and sincerely request your forgiveness, Hersh,” said Rachel Goldberg-Polin, standing beside her husband and two daughters, Leebie and Orly. “If there was something we could have done to save you, and we didn’t think of it, I beg your forgiveness. We tried so very hard, so deeply and desperately. I’m sorry.”

“I also pray that your death will be a turning point in this horrible situation in which we are all entangled,” she added.

“Hersh, we failed you. We all failed you. You would not have failed you,” Jon Polin said. “You would have pushed harder for justice. You would have worked to understand the other, to bridge differences. You would have challenged more people to challenge their own thinking. And what you would have been pushing for now is to ensure that your death, the death of all the soldiers, and so many innocent civilians, are not in vain,” Polin said. “Your starting point would be returning all of the hostages.”

Thousands of people had lined the route from the Goldberg-Polin home to the cemetery, waving Israeli flags and the red and black banners of Hersh’s beloved Hapoel Jerusalem soccer team, or holding placards bearing the messages Sorry” or “Stay strong, survive” — the latter words Goldberg-Polin had used as messages to Hersh.

“This family made aliyah to Israel to better their lives and they have been emotionally tortured, and Hersh was physically tortured, said Lia Lazar, 30, who had come from Tel Aviv. This should not have happened. We failed.

In their quest for the release of their son and all the hostages being held by Hamas, the Goldberg-Polins met with world leaders including President Joe Biden and Pope Francis, most recently speaking at the Democratic National Convention.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog eulogized Hersh Goldberg-Polin in the name of the government, asking his forgiveness for having failed to protect him on Oct. 7.

“Beloved Hersh, with a torn and broken heart, I stand here today as the president of the State of Israel, bidding you farewell and asking for your forgiveness, from you, and from Carmel, from Eden, from Almog, from Alex, and Ori, and from all your loved ones, Herzog said. I apologize on behalf of the State of Israel, that we failed to protect you in the terrible disaster of Oct. 7, that we failed to bring you home safely. I apologize that the country you immigrated to at the age of 7, wrapped in the Israeli flag, could not keep you safe. Rachel, Jon, dear Leebie and Orly, grandparents, and the whole family – I ask for your forgiveness, forgiveness that we could not bring Hersh back home alive. Your special light, Hersh, captivated all of us from the first glance, even through the posters crying out for his return.”

“Michal and I met with your parents and family dozens of times in the past year,” he added. “And we had the privilege of getting to know up close people of exceptional stature and to learn from them a lesson we will never forget – about a mothers and fathers limitless love.”

Goldberg-Polin was captured from the Nova dance festival in Kibbutz Re’im after taking refuge in a bomb shelter together with his childhood friend, Aner Shapira, who was killed by a grenade after successfully throwing seven of them back out of the shelter. Goldberg-Polin was critically injured by a grenade explosion and a horrific video released by Hamas showed him climbing into the back of a truck with a tourniquet he had fashioned tied around his bloody left arm where his forearm had been blown off.

The first sign he had survived the attack came in April when Hamas released another video, giving the family hope. The continuing though ultimately unsuccessful negotiations also provided a modicum of hope, said his mother. Despite the “agony, terror, anguish, desperation and fear” that their family had experienced over the past 332 days, they had been “absolutely certain” her son would be coming home alive, she said: “The hope that perhaps a deal was near, was so authentic it was crunchy. It tasted close. But it was not to be so. Now I no longer have to worry about you. I know you are no longer in danger.” 

Goldberg-Polin said she still wanted to acknowledge the good and thank God for selecting her to be Hersh’s mother.

“I have had a lot of time during the past 332 days to think about my sweet boy, my Hersh. And one thing I keep thinking about is how out of all the mothers in the world, God chose to give Hersh to me. What must I have done in a past life to deserve such a beautiful gift? It must have been glorious,” she said. “I am honest. And I say, it is not that Hersh was perfect. But, he was the perfect son for me. And I am so grateful to God, and I want to do hakarat hatov and thank God right now, for giving me this magnificent present of my Hersh For 23 years I was privileged to have this most stunning treasure, to be Hersh’s Mama. I’ll take it and say thank you. I just wish it had been for longer.”

According to Israeli forensics, Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages, who survived nearly 11 months in captivity underground, were shot in the head at close range between 48 to 72 hours before their bodies were recovered from a tunnel by Israeli forces. Massive protests erupted throughout Israel Sunday and Monday, and a general strike was called after the announcement of the execution of Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Ori Danino, Alex Lubnov, Eden Yerushalmi, and Almog Sarusi as demonstrators blocked roads, threatening to continue until a cease-fire is called and an agreement reached to bring the remaining 101 hostages home.

The Israeli news site Ynet reported an anonymous official stating that Goldberg-Polin, Yerushalmi and Gat were listed to be released as part of a Gaza cease-fire hostage deal which critics say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to oppose.

Rachel Goldberg-Polin said she took comfort in knowing that her son had been together with the others.

“From what I have been told, they each were delightful in different ways, and I think that is how the six of you managed to stay alive in unimaginable circumstances for so very long. You each did every single thing right to survive 329 days in what I can only call hell,” she said. “I send each of the families my deepest sympathies for what we are all going through and for the sickening feeling that we all could not save them. I think we all did every single thing we could… Those beautiful six survived together and those beautiful six died together. And now they will be remembered together forever.”

Polin recalled holding 3-year-old Hersh’s hand on weekly walks to get coffee in Berkeley, Calif., bracing himself for the “challenging questions” of a preschooler. Even from a young age, his son was a deep thinker, he said, which expanded his own way of thinking as Hersh grappled with issues ranging from the ethics of eating animals and Israeli settlement policy to halachic observance and the benefit of a university degree. When young Hersh learned about the plight of African refugees in Israel he searched the house and determined they could hide at least one refugee in each one of their dishwashers, said Polin.

When he and Rachel told their 7-year-old son that they would be moving to Israel and maybe he would want to choose a new name, as his might be difficult for Israelis, he simply said: “I am Hersh. Israelis will deal with that.””

In Israel, Goldberg-Polin became a steady fan of the Hapoel Jerusalem soccer club and was a fixture among the “brigada” supporters who attended every game with their red shirts and flags and anti-racist slogans. After his kidnapping the brigada kept his name and face visible at every game — and throughout the city. Their flags were prominently visible among the crowd at his funeral.

His mother thanked their extended community for their continued help and support. 

“I am sorry to ask, because we have given you nothing, and you already have given so profoundly and completely. But I beg of you all, please don’t leave us now,” she said.

Then she turned to address Hersh, and asked for his help.

“As we transform our hope into grief and this new unknown brand of pain, I beg of you, please do what you can to have your light shine down on me, Dada, Leebie and Orly. Help shower us with healing and resilience. Help us to rise again,” she said. “I know it will take a long time, but please may God bless us that one day, one fine day, Dada, Leebie, Orly and I will hear laughter, and we will turn around and see…that it’s us. And that we are OK. You will always be with us as a force of love and vitality, you will become our superpower.”

“Ok, sweet boy, go now on your journey, I hope it’s as good as the trips you dreamed about, because finally, my sweet sweet boy, finally, finally, finally, finally you are free,” she said. “I will love you and I will miss you every single day for the rest of my life. But you are right here. I know you are right here; I just have to teach myself to feel you in a new way.”