“The last time I stood in this exact courtyard for a Tefillah (prayer) service, it was on Oct. 6,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, said in a speech last Thursday evening. She was describing her family’s attendance at synagogue that morning to those before her. “We celebrated with this,” she said, gesturing to the crowd with her hand, “our beloved Hakel community. We each danced right here with the Torah.”
Last Thursday evening, Jon and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Hersh’s parents, led a large procession through the streets of Jerusalem. Jon stood under a canopy with a Torah scroll, a crowd walking around him down Yehuda Street and ending at the Baka Community Center. It would be almost impossible to lose one’s way as attendees were guided – and constantly reminded why they were there – by the stark yellow ribbons and flags that lined Yehuda Street.
Before the procession, there were 120 letters missing from a Torah scroll. By the end of a touching night, those missing letters were inscribed into the Torah scroll as a dedication to the hostages still being held captive by Hamas. This tradition, known as a Hachnasat Sefer Torah, the Jewish ceremony performed upon the completion of writing a Torah scroll, was led by the Goldberg-Polins, who raised money to write this Torah for their synagogue. Although this Torah scroll is now complete, the people of Israel will never feel complete until Every. Single. Hostage. Is. Home. This is a sentiment constantly echoed by the Goldberg-Polins.
Rachel never made it back to synagogue on Oct. 7. “My plan was to return the next morning, for Shacharit (the morning prayer), for the Simchat Torah morning service, but that was not to be,” she said. “So many of us never got to have the end of the Torah read for us, or to hear ata hareita (the verses recited at a Hachnasat Sefer Torah ceremony) on that fateful Shabbat morning of October 7.”
For the week of July 14, Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin launched a “week of goodness” in hopes that acts of kindness will help bring the release of all remaining hostages taken captive by Hamas terrorists during their brutal attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The powerful week, which included a worldwide day of study to complete the entire Jewish bible, culminated with this Hachnasat Sefer Torah.
“One of the fascinating things about this exquisite torment in which we find ourselves is that we can still see beauty, kindness, love, benevolence, and blessings,” Rachel said in her speech at the ceremony. “We have endured 286 days of an indescribable existence, but we have been nurtured, cared for, nourished, held, loved, and never alone.”
Hersh Goldberg-Polin is a 23 year old Israeli-American who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists from the Nova Music Festival on October 7. Hersh, who is the oldest of three and only son of Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin, was born in California and moved to Israel with his family at the age of eight.
For the Goldberg-Polin’s, this ceremony and reading of the Torah scroll was in remembrance of the verses so many people never got to hear that day. “Tonight I am looking at this moment as completing the cycle of what was stolen from all of us on Oct. 7,” Rachel said.
After the reading of the Torah, attendees sang songs together, their arms wrapped around each other. Prayers were recited for the hostages and Israel Defense Forces soldiers, and the verses that are traditionally recited at the end of a Hachnasat Sefer Torah were said out loud by members of the community in unison. “We would have never made it to this moment without God blessing us with you,” Rachel said, pointing to the crowd. “You have kept us alive to have this moment: you.”
One onlooker, who came to Israel with her daughter to volunteer, felt an obligation to attend this event. “We came because we have been living this monstrosity… this nightmare, for nine months,” she told Israel365 news. She wore a dog tag reading “Our heart is captive in Gaza. Bring them home now,” a yellow ribbon tied around the top. “Normally dedicating a Torah is a very happy experience… and this was somber, because Hersh is alive but he is not here.”
Jane Seidemann, another attendee at this event, emphasized the Goldberg-Polins’ strong global presence and advocacy for the hostages. “I really felt like I knew them, because they made themselves so known, and they made Hersh so known,” Seidemann told Israel365 news. “I just felt like during the singing and during the Tehillim (Psalms), and all the other prayers… at this moment, they should just deliver Hersh,” she said. “That would be a great ending to this very emotional evening.”
At the end of her speech, Rachel emphasized that the entire Jewish nation continues to plead to God for the fulfillment of this prayer. “May we merit the joyous news we are starving for in the blink of an eye,” she said. “May we merit that news tonight.”
Although the formal “week of goodness” has ended, Rachel emphasized that everyday is a day to do good in the merit of the hostages speedy release. She concluded her speech surrounded by her community, calling out to her son.
“Hersh, we love you. Stay strong. Survive.”
