Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of hostage Hersh who was executed by Hamas while still in captivity, spoke to Arutz Sheva - Israel National News about her unique perspective on the hostage deal.
"First and foremost, we feel a tremendous sense of relief for those families," she began. "We know the specific and unique brand of torture that the families of all of these beloved hostages have been going through, so the relief and the elation that these young women are coming home is extremely palpable."
"As human beings, we can actually have many different feelings at the same time. We're concerned about the remaining 90 hostages who are still there and extremely cautiously hopeful and optimistic that we're going to get every single one home."
"At the same time, we're at the very very beginning of the journey of how we live the rest of our lives with a dagger sticking out of our heart. I'm happy to see the pictures of the young women coming home, but I'm still very much in a very tender place of just having lost and buried my only son."
She spoke about her practice of prayer throughout her ordeal. "Prayer has been a lighthouse. I believe that all of the millions and millions of prayers that have been said in these 479 days, whether they were for specific hostages or for all the hostages or for the soldiers or for Israel, those prayers went up, and the culmination of them we now see is beginning to come down. It's on us to continue until we get every single one home."
Rachel explained her decision to continue to act for the benefit of the remaining hostages and to continue writing the number of days the hostages have been held on her shirt. "We received a crushing blow, but there are still others for whom nothing has changed. Every single day we work until we can get these people home."
Rachel reminds us all of one of the darker truths behind the photos of the hostages being released. "They are smiling, but it's a facade. When Hersh was found, along with the others, they were severely emaciated. They have recently been fed more not out of kindness, but as a necessity to keep them in good condition. Also, the psychological and emotional trauma is not something that you can see on someone's body, and who knows what these cherished people have endured?"
The deal, she says, is not an easy one to make. "This deal is not easy, but it's something that we must do in order to still be recognizable to ourselves. We already know that we need another solution, and we need people to keep coming home. I feel so blessed that we have these incredible soldiers who are there giving their all for the purpose of freeing their brethren, but why send our soldiers to die when we can stop this diplomatically?"
At Hersh's funeral, Rachel exclaimed 'You are finally, finally, finally free!' She explained the emotions behind that statement: "I wish he was back home with us, but at least I have the solace of knowing that he is not enduring any further torment."
She summarized her current feelings with a quote from Robert Frost: "The only way out is through. I'm going through hell missing Hersh, but I'll keep pulling through."