Wartime Diaries: Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin
The parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin reflect on their ongoing agony
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Many of you have probably heard, or read about, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, the parents of 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was kidnapped from the Nova Party. In many ways they’ve emerged as the face of the hostage families – they’ve met with Biden and the Pope, they were on the cover of Time Magazine, Rachel has spoken at the UN and at the ‘March for Israel’ Rally in Washington D.C.
In all those places, as well as in countless other interviews, speeches and meetings, they’ve told the heartbreaking tale of the two text messages Hersh sent on the morning of October 7th, one saying “I love you” and the other “I’m sorry.” He wrote those messages from within a shelter, where he was hiding with 28 other partygoers. Eighteen of them were killed, and Hersh – whose left arm was blown off – was badly wounded. Shortly thereafter, Hersh and three others from the shelter were loaded onto Hamas pickup trucks and taken into Gaza. It has now been 55 days.
The end song is Tefilat Haderech (“The Traveler’s Prayer”) by Shai Tsabari.
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