Hersh Goldberg-Polin's parents deliver heartbreaking eulogy after son slain by Hamas
JERUSALEM - A funeral was held in Jerusalem on Monday for Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the 23-year-old who grew up in Berkeley and was taken hostage and killed by Hamas.
His body was found, along with five other hostages, over the weekend.
Thousands gathered to mourn his death, with vigils being held all over the world.
Goldberg-Polin became one of the most recognizable faces of the devastating hostage crisis in the Middle East.
He was taken by Hamas while celebrating his birthday at a music festival on Oct. 7. During the attack, he lost his arm trying to remove a grenade that was thrown into a bunker he was hiding in.
In the 330 days since then, his parents, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, have been fighting for a ceasefire deal.
They even worked with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke at the United Nations and the Democratic National Convention.
Rachel Goldberg and Jonathan Polin, parents of Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, attend a demonstration by the families of the hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
"Amidst the inexplicable agony, terror, anguish, desperation and fear, we became absolutely certain that you were coming home to us alive. But it was not to be," Rachel Goldberg-Polin said in her eulogy. "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, deeply and desperately, I’m sorry."
Hersh's father spoke of his childhood in the Bay Area.
He said Hersh was a curious, intelligent little boy.
"I knew that as we walked hand in hand to get my Sunday morning coffee in Berkeley, I better be ready for some challenging questions from a 3 and a half year old Hersh," Jon Polin said.
Now Hersh has become a global symbol for peace.
Polin said he hopes Hersh's death is the fuel needed to help return the remaining 101 hostages.
"Hersh, we failed you," his father said. "We all failed you. You would not have failed you. You would’ve pushed harder for justice. You would’ve worked to understand the other, to bridge differences. You would have challenged more people to challenge their own thinking."
President Joe Biden weighed in on the young man's death.
"I am devastated and outraged. Hersh was among the innocents brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in Israel on October 7. He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during Hamas’ savage massacre. He had just turned 23. He planned to travel the world," Biden said in a Saturday statement.
Biden added that he has gotten to know the Polins over this last year.
"They have been courageous, wise, and steadfast, even as they have endured the unimaginable," Biden stated. "They have been relentless and irrepressible champions of their son and of all the hostages held in unconscionable conditions. I admire them and grieve with them more deeply than words can express," he said.
Biden added that he has "worked tirelessly to bring their beloved Hersh safely to them and am heartbroken by the news of his death. It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages."
On Sunday night, people gathered at Beth Israel in Berkeley to celebrate his life and call for the release of all the hostages.
Another local vigil is planned at Anshey Sfard synagogue in San Francisco on Monday night at 6 p.m.
Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of killed US-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin whose body was recovered with five other hostages in Gaza, react during the funeral in Jerusalem on September 2, 2024 (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP
This story was reported from Oakland, Calif.