There was no Israeli hostage in Gaza who had such a high profile for English speakers as Hersh Goldberg-Polin. And there were no family members of hostages who captured the hearts of all of those who wanted the hostages home and symbolized the pain Israelis have endured during the Gaza war than his parents, Rachel and Jon.
Which is why the news of his death early Sunday morning hurt so much for so many of us.
Whether speaking with passion while trembling at last month’s Democratic Convention or calling out to Hersh over a megaphone near the Gaza border last week, Rachel and Jon were the parents in all of us, thrust into a spotlight they didn’t ask for and weren’t groomed for to make the anguished plea to get their child home.
Their dignified, but very human and real reactions and statements over the last 11 month resonated with hardened Israelis and with middle America alike.
The Polin-Goldbergs’ story was our story
For English-speaking immigrants to Israel, The Polin-Goldbergs’ story was our story. American olim who moved to Israel because they thought it was the right thing to do as Jews, and confident that the children they raised here would be richer for it – nourished by the country’s values, tasked with defending their fellow citizens by serving in the IDF, and protected by those same guardians of Zion.
That pact, unwritten but so engraved in the ethos of the homecoming of the Jewish people to Israel, that you’re safe now in your homeland has been put to its supreme test over the last year.
The images of Hersh plastered throughout Jerusalem – but especially his home base of the Anglo-heavy south Jerusalem neighborhoods – were a constant reminder that nothing would be normal or go back to routine until he was home.
The video released showing his capture and his wounds from having his arm blown off by a grenade only added to the urgency and the torment but also to the resolve to get him back.
There’s plenty of time to throw the blame around about who killed Hersh – Hamas or the hardline policies of the Netanyahu government. For today, at least, everyone should just shut up.
Let Hersh and the other five hostages recovered over the weekend be mourned and remembered. They were so close to freedom, yet their lives ended in a tunnel, where they probably spent most of the last 11 months. There’s nothing more tragic than that.
The collective air went out, and the whole world deflated Sunday morning. Hersh was gone.