Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the bereaved mother of murdered Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, has become a voice for this generation of pain, sorrow and hope. Some call her the voice of the mothers.

I call her my friend, someone I met after college when we were both on our way to Israel, and our lives have intertwined ever since. We live near one another in Jerusalem, where we’ve shared Shabbat meals, taken spin classes together and celebrated Thanksgiving dinners.

But I don’t get to talk to Rachel as much since Hersh, 23, was taken hostage from the Nova dance festival on October 7, 2023, half of his dominant left arm severed by a grenade before being executed by his Hamas captors in August 2024 after 11 months in captivity.

In the days since the release of the 20 remaining living Israeli hostages and the ongoing return of the murdered captives, however, I did have the opportunity to speak with Rachel about the joy and sorrow of the war’s end and about families finding some kind of closure after two years of anguished torture.

My friend is an educator and teacher, a firm believer in God, with a natural sense of humor, an easy conversationalist. I’ve long depended on Rachel as someone who could point out a pertinent detail in the week’s Torah reading or offer sage advice about how to better handle laundry with Israel’s hard water.

Now, Rachel—along with her husband, Jon Polin, and their daughters, Orly and Leebie—is working hard to figure out life after the release of the hostages, which she worked tirelessly for, and the murder of Hersh. In the weeks and months when he was held hostage, after learning of his death and still today, she calls Hersh “the perfect son for her.” This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

How do we move forward in this zigzag period of extreme joy and bereavement?

As we witnessed the return of our cherished hostages, we all felt relief and joy, while simultaneously feeling compassion and confusion. We stood shoulder to shoulder with families awaiting their children and those whose loved ones are returning in body bags. Additionally, there are the thousands of families for whom Simchat Torah will forever be a day of remembrance, when they recite the Yizkor prayer and the Mourner’s Kaddish.

Our nation’s challenge at this juncture is to do all these disparate experiences at the exact same moment. Can we do it? God gave us the ability to hold multiple realities. So yes, we, as a people, we crawl toward the light until we are strong enough to stand and walk. There will be traces of a limp. But leaning on each other, we will rise.

How do you find the words every day to inspire people?

I think a lot of it is pretend—and tremendous emotional, psychological and mental acrobatics. I’m constantly in dialogue with myself, with Hersh, with God, with Jon, with my girls, with my closest friends.

Do you struggle with gratitude, with how to remain thankful for life, after losing Hersh?  

For some reason, I was given back my life, and the universe has decided I’m not done. I still have my why. I still have my purpose. I still have my challenge ahead of me.

Does your public role help you move forward?

It does feel therapeutic. I’m completely broken, and I don’t even know how to help myself. And that’s where I think we are all actually helping each other. We really, truly are.

You recently helped launch the new Koren Sacks chumash. What motivated your involvement in the project?

Given how much I gulp down doses of hope each day, more than the vitamin D I should be more diligent about, this particular quote of the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks at this challenging moment in our history resonates deeply with me: “It is not too much to say that Jews kept hope alive, and hope kept the Jewish people alive.” So as Jon and I have said since the beginning of our painful odyssey, hope is not a suggestion; nor is it advice, no. Hope is mandatory.

Any idea what your next steps will be?

Next? What an idea, to have the ability to think “What is next?” Hmm. Jon and I will identify and clarify our “why,” our mission, our purpose—something that would make Hersh proud. And then we will make it happen.

---

Jessica Steinberg is the longtime arts and culture editor for The Times of Israel who pivoted to coverage of the hostages taken captive to Gaza during the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023, covering their stories in articles and the Daily Briefing podcasts.