BERKELEY — Hersh Goldman-Polin, a young man who grew up in Berkeley and was held hostage by Hamas terrorists, has been killed along with five others in Gaza. He had become known in the Bay Area and around the world for his parents’ efforts to bring the hostages home. Now a devastated Jewish community says it has an “obligation” to keep hope alive.
The news arrived Sunday morning in an Instagram post with a somber black background. The family announced the death of their beloved Hersh, a cheerful 24-year-old who was kidnapped by Hamas at an Israeli music festival on October 7. Aaron Katler is a longtime family friend who lives in Berkeley and was part of “Team Hersh,” which worked to free him.
“It’s not the way the story was going to end or how we thought it was going to end,” Katler said. “We all really believed he was coming home until there was a reason not to believe.”
Hersh and five other hostages were reportedly executed by their Hamas captors on Friday as Israeli forces moved in. Hersh had become a household name in the crisis when he was forced by the terrorists to make a propaganda video. His parents brought the Democratic National Convention to tears as they described the abduction of their only son.
“We’ve been living on a different planet ever since,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin told the convention audience in August. “Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can imagine the fear and the anguish that John and I and all the hostage families endure.”
According to Katler, Hersh’s parents worked tirelessly to turn the hostage crisis into something other than a geopolitical struggle.
“John and Rachel made this a human and humanitarian issue,” Katler said. “They made it real. And hopefully Hersh’s memory and his legacy will make the world a better place … and make that part of the world a better place.”
There was a larger crowd than usual at the Lafayette Freeway overpass on Sunday morning. Yoav Harlev, who organized the weekly demonstration, said no one was giving up.
“Hope is not optional. It’s mandatory,” Harlev said. “And that’s how we operate now. You have to have hope. These are real people with real lives, with families waiting for them.
Despite the heartbreaking reports about the hostages, protesters said they felt obligated to remain optimistic for the remaining prisoners.
“I always have hope,” said Ilana Pearlman of Berkeley. “You look at Hersh’s mother … How can I, without a child in captivity, say I don’t have hope? That’s unfair. So I’m going to hope and keep showing up. I have to do it.”
Yael Nivam Kirsht understands the crushing pain. Two of her relatives were abducted on October 7. Her sister-in-law was eventually released, but her brother-in-law was murdered.
“The remaining families who still have captives do not have the luxury of giving up hope,” he said. “And we are here today as a community to say that we are not giving up hope. We are still standing with you. We will remain with you until the hostages are returned.”
The hostage crisis, like the situation in Gaza itself, is a problem for which there is no clear answer. Does the hope for their return lie in a military operation or a negotiated settlement? And how much confidence can anyone have in a deal surrounded by so much inhuman cruelty?
John Ramos
