Thousands arrived at the Kehillat Yerushalayim Funeral Home near the Har Hamenuchot Cemetary in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon to pay their final respects to American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was murdered in captivity by Hamas terrorists last week.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke at the funeral. "Dear Jon and Rachel, Libby and Orly, and the entire family, Michal and I have gotten to know you very well over the past eleven months."
"Like millions, we too have watched you travel around the world and watched you speak from your own, as you call it, 'private planet of terror and anguish,' with a courage and clarity that moved mountains," Herzog said. "As you told millions just a few days ago, Jon, the hostages being held by Hamas are not a political issue; they are a humanitarian issue. And that is why it is the duty of every single one of us across the globe to ensure that every last one comes home immediately."
"Jon and Rachel, against the senseless hatred and unthinkable brutality of Hamas terror, pure barbaric evil, you have taught the world about human dignity. As a human being, as a father, and as the President of the State of Israel, I want to say how sorry I am, how sorry I am that we didn't protect Hersh on that dark day, how sorry I am that we failed to bring him home," he said.
"In his life and in his death, Hersh has touched all of humanity deeply. He has changed our world and woven his essence of light and love into the story of the Jewish people and into our human story forever," the President said.
23-year-old Hersh's body was located and recovered by IDF forces in a tunnel in Rafah on Saturday night together with the bodies of five other hostages: Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Master Sergeant Ori Danino.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th. He was wounded in the arm by a grenade that was thrown into a shelter in which he was hiding after fleeing the party. Forensic examinations found that the six hostages were murdered in cold blood by gunshots at close range to their heads only 48-72 hours before they were found.
Hersh's mother, Rachel, said at the funeral, "For all these months, I have been in such torment and worry about you for every single millisecond of every single day. It is such a specific type of misery that I had never experienced before. I tried hard to suppress the missing you part because that, I was convinced, would break me. So I spent 330 days terrified, scared, worrying, and frightened. It closed my throat and made my soul throb with 3rd degree burns."
She said that the family had been "absolutely certain" that he would be returned alive, "but it was not to be. Now I no longer have to worry about you, I know you are no longer in danger."
“I pray that your death will be a turning point in this horrible situation we are in,” she said. “Because finally, my sweet boy, finally, finally, finally, finally you’re free. I will love you and I will miss you every single day."
Hersh's father Jon said while eulogizing his son, ""Hersh, we failed you. We all failed you. You would not have failed you. You would have pushed harder for justice. You would have worked to understand the other, to bridge differences. You would have challenged more people to challenge their own thinking. And what you would be pushing for now is to ensure that your death, the deaths of all the soldiers and so many innocent civilians are not in vain. Your starting point would be returning all of the hostages."
"For 330 days, Mama and I sought the proverbial stone that we could turn over to save you. Maybe, just maybe, your death is the stone, the fuel, that will bring home the remaining 101 hostages," he said.
Born in Oakland, California, Hersh immigrated with his parents to Jerusalem at a young age.
Speaking with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News last month, Rachel, Hersh's mother, recounted the last time she saw her son: “We are a religious family and Hersh came to us a couple of years ago and said he's not going to be keeping Shabbat the way that we keep Shabbat for now. He's always been very respectful, and he had said on October 6th, ‘I'm going to come with you to beit knesset (synagogue), I'm going to come with you to Shabbat dinner.’ He came with us and he said, ‘But I'm bringing my backpack, because after dinner I'm going to go with Aner, who was his best friend, and we're going to go do something fun. We're going to go camp somewhere.” We said fine. I'm very happy that he still wants to do things like that, so he came with us to beit knesset. He danced with the Torah. He came with us to Shabbat dinner. At 11:00 pm he kissed Jon, he kissed me. He turned around in the doorway, and he looked at me and said, ‘I love you, see you tomorrow.’ That was 311 nights ago.”
She continued: "The next morning, Shabbat morning, Jon left for beit knesset at 7:30. At around 8:00, I heard the bomb sirens going off, so I woke my girls. We got into our safe room and waited ten minutes. We didn't hear anything, so we came out. Normally I don't use any sort of technology on Shabbat, but I knew somewhere in the country there are rockets falling and I knew the boys were sleeping outside. So I said to my girls, ‘I'm turning on my phone. It’s an emergency. I have to make sure Hersh is okay.’ I turned on my phone at 8:23. Two Whatsapps popped up that had come in simultaneously at 8:11 from Hersh to John and me. The first text said, ‘I love you’ and the second one said ‘I'm sorry.’ We now know from the recording from the migunit [public bomb shelter] that was just released two weeks ago, that at 8:10 is when Hersh says, ‘Ein li yad’ [in Hebrew ‘I don’t have a hand’], he was texting us with his other hand, because I think he thought he was dying, so he was saying ‘goodbye, I love you and I'm sorry.’ He knew that we were going to be in a lot of pain and we know from the witnesses that shortly after that the gunman came in and ordered Hersh and three of the other young men to stand up and come outside. When he stood up everyone was able to see that his dominant arm, his left arm from the elbow down, had been blown off.”
Two weeks ago, Hersh's parents Jon and Rachel moved the Democratic National Convention to tears in an emotional address. During the address, Jon stated: "This is a political convention, but needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue."
US President Joe Biden lamented the murder: "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. I have gotten to know his parents, Jon and Rachel. They have been courageous, wise, and steadfast, even as they have endured the unimaginable. 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. I know all Americans tonight will have them in their prayers, just as Jill and I will. I have 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."