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Dear TBZ Community and friends,
On Saturday night we learned that six of the hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Alex Lobanov, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino and Almog Sarusi were murdered by Hamas terrorists in a tunnel in Rafah. After 330 days of agony for these families, who prayed and hoped that their loved ones would come home, that the Israeli government would make them a priority in this war, the story ended with the worst nightmares of their lives. Our hearts are broken for the lives that have been lost and for the suffering of these families, their parents and siblings and friends and loving communities. For the people of Israel and for all of us.
These families refused to give up hope that their loved ones will return home. For the last 330 days, we have heard the plea of a nation to their government to fulfill one of the most important mitzvot of returning the captives, of doing everything that is in our hands to bring them home. Our hearts are broken, but also, many of us feel furious: we believe that there was another way. While I recognize there is a range of opinions at TBZ I share here in this message my thoughts, beliefs and experience and as always I welcome conversation in our disagreements: I stand with hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have taken to the streets with the call for a Deal Now. This does not minimize the brutality and horror of the Hamas massacres. People are anguished and enraged. Besides protests all over the country, today, Monday, there was a general strike in the country to demand from the government to come to a deal. To bring the hostages home, to stop endangering the lives of so many young soldiers and to end the suffering of the Palestinian people. In the words of Rabbi Sharon Brous: “We must hear those who are most proximate to the pain, and use our moral voices to amplify their call to end this terrible war. There must be a deal to bring the remaining hostages home. Neither the people of Israel, nor the people of Gaza, deserve this endless anguish.”
While these six precious lives were indeed terminated by murderous Hamas terrorists, it is important to not be silent about the choices the government of Israel has made that contributed to this terrible tragedy.
For those who might say, this is not the time to assign responsibility beyond the terrorists of Hamas, but just to grieve and cry, let’s remember the many times we have criticized “thoughts and prayers” as a response to gun violence and other preventable tragedies. We are devastated and our hearts are broken and even paralyzed. But we must shake our hearts into action: there are still lives at stake, still hostages in Gaza, still Palestinian people suffering and dying, still a war raging in the region.
Our Jewish tradition teaches us:
לְפִיכָךְ נִבְרָא אָדָם יְחִידִי, לְלַמְּדָךְ, שֶׁכָּל הַמְּאַבֵּד נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת כְּאִלּוּ אִבֵּד עוֹלָם מָלֵא.
"Humans were created singly, to teach you that whoever destroys a single soul, is it as if they had destroyed a full world” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5)
Six entire and beautiful worlds have been taken from us.
Hersh Golberg-Polin z.l. and their family feel close to many, and many in our own community know the Goldberg-Polin family. They are American-Israelis and they have been one of the most visible families for the English speaking communities. And Hersh’s parents, Rachel and Jon, have been a force of hope and resilience during these terrible times.
During my time in Israel I stayed in the neighborhood where they live. Which meant posters, photos and graffiti of Hersh were in every street, on every wall and in every corner. When walking the streets with my daughters, they asked me why there were so many photos of Hersh (more than other hostages). I explained this is his neighborhood and this is his home. Yesterday as I shared with my daughters the news I said to them: do you remember Hersh? Realizing that Hersh has become someone that even those of us who didn't know him feel like we got to know him. I had a chance to meet Rachel and Jon this summer. Rachel came to speak with my group at the Hartman Institute. She shared with us about Hersh’s life. What he loved, what he was like. She spoke about hope being mandatory, about not giving up, about how she can’t imagine going through what she is going through without God at her side. Being in her presence was inspiring, heart wrenching, painful and an experience that I can’t really put into words. I saw Jon at every protest that I participated in, and I met him at an evening of singing in Jerusalem for Hersh. People from Jerusalem gathered for a couple of hours to sing, no words, just songs. Jon sang and cried and was joined by our voices. I approached him and told him that we, in the communities in Boston were praying and fighting for Hersh to come home.
Today, at the funeral of Hersh (which you can watch on YouTube), Rachel still wore the number 332 for the days since the hostages were taken and she asked for forgiveness from Hersh saying: “If there was something we could've done to save you and we didn't think of it, I beg your forgiveness we tried so very hard so deeply desperately – I'm sorry. Now my Hersh I ask for your help, as we transform our hope into grief, in this new unknown brand of pain, I beg of you Hersh, please do what you can to have your light shine down on me."
I also had a chance to meet one of Carmel Gat’s family members here in Boston, Maya Roman, as I had the opportunity to organize an encounter between her and interfaith leaders to learn about the story of Carmel and Maya’s cousin Yarden Roman who was in captivity for 54 days and returned home. The shiva announcement for Carmel lists the weekdays for visiting days for the shiva and says that Saturday night instead of sitting shiva they are all going to protest to fight to save the remainder of the hostages. This is how we are asked to remember Carmel, by not giving up for the rest of the hostages and for the soul of Israel.
Alex Lobanov was from Ashkelon. When I visited my mother in law there, giant posters of him were all over the city. I took many pictures and when I arrived home I tried to learn more about his life. I encourage you to learn about the lives of each of them, Almog, Eden, Ori, Alex, Carmel and Hersh.
I pray that the memories of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi be a blessing for all and that their life inspire us to love in times of darkness, to not give up on the possibility that the world can be just and to keep fighting for a better world.
Rav Claudia
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