Death of Israeli American hostage prompts outpouring of grief across U.S.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin loved soccer and music. He was curious, respectful and passionate about geography and travel, according to his mother. He was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to Israel when he was 8.

About 15 years later, he became one of the most internationally recognized hostages among the 240 who were taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. For months, his parents made pleas to bring their son and the other hostages home.

But he was among the six hostages who were found dead in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. The Israeli military recovered their bodies from a tunnel underneath Rafah.

His family confirmed the news in a statement. “With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh,” they said. Family members declined to be interviewed for this article, asking for privacy.

On Sunday, tributes to Goldberg-Polin, who was 23 and a dual citizen of the United States and Israel, poured in from many pockets of America. Several people expressed immense grief and recalled moments they shared. To many across the country, he had become a symbol of hope.

Rabbi Dovid Asher, who leads the congregation that Goldberg-Polin’s family attended when they lived in Virginia, said he “has become kind of a name and a face representing the hostages.”

“People in Richmond were thinking about him on a daily basis, praying for him on a daily basis,” Asher said. “It’s the last outcome many people wanted to wake up to this morning.”

Jeffrey Abrams, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Los Angeles, recalled a fond memory of Goldberg-Polin’s family in 2010. Abrams was visiting Israel with his wife and three young sons, and after meeting Goldberg-Polin’s parents through a mutual friend, the family invited them to their apartment for a Sabbath dinner.

“Out of nowhere, this nice, lovely young family, with similarly aged kids, expressed one of the core Jewish values, which is to welcome the stranger,” Abrams said. He remembered Goldberg-Polin, then 9, as a “boy with big curly hair riding his tricycle with glee.”

Goldberg-Polin’s family has roots in Chicago, where his parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, were born and raised. In the 11 months since their son was taken captive, they became one of the most outspoken hostage families, delivering speeches, meeting with elected officials and even addressing the Democratic National Convention in their hometown last month.

At the convention, they each wore a piece of tape on which the number 320 was written, representing the number of days their son had been in captivity.

“Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you,” Goldberg said at the convention. “Stay strong. Survive.”

There are still seven U.S. citizens in captivity in Gaza. Israeli authorities say more than 60 living hostages and the bodies of about 35 people believed to be dead remain in Gaza. The Israeli military on Sunday said the six people whose bodies were found this weekend were killed by Hamas.

Hamas initially did not directly address the accusations but said in a statement that responsibility for the deaths lay with Israel. Later, without providing evidence, the group said in another statement that the hostages were killed by the Israeli military’s bullets.

When Goldberg-Polin was abducted, he was attending a music festival, and he lost a part of his arm while defending an emergency shelter from Hamas gunmen.

Goldberg-Polin’s parents both graduated from Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago. Mark Semer, a classmate of Polin’s at the academy, said it had been difficult to see his friends in so much pain.

“At the same time, we, along with millions of people around the world, have been inspired by the grace, inclusivity and energy that Rachel and Jon embodied in their efforts to save Hersh and all the hostages,” Semer said. “And, above all, their insistence that we never lose hope.”

Rabbi Leonard Matanky, head of the academy, has known Goldberg-Polin’s family for decades. Tragedy in the world often seems to be anonymous and far away, he said, but for the Ida Crown community, Goldberg-Polin’s capture was “very close.”

After Oct. 7, Matanky said, the school displayed a photograph of Goldberg-Polin and a prayer for the safety of the hostages around the building. When students return this week, his photo will still be there.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.