{"id":578090,"date":"2026-08-08T01:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/578090\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:04:15","slug":"hundreds-gather-to-remember-hersh-goldberg-polin-on-second-anniversary-of-his-murder-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/578090\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds gather to remember Hersh Goldberg-Polin on second anniversary of his murder in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds gathered on Friday in Jerusalem to remember Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American citizen taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and murdered in captivity in August 2024.<\/p>\n

The ceremony, organized by family and friends, marked the official Hebrew calendar date of Goldberg-Polin\u2019s death, when he and fellow captives Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lubanov and Ori Danino were executed by their Hamas captors at close range in an underground tunnel in Gaza, as IDF troops unknowingly approached their location.<\/p>\n

Goldberg-Polin was one of the most well-known globally of the 251 people taken hostage in the October 7 attack. That was largely due to the relentless efforts of his parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, who traveled the world advocating for their son\u2019s release and spoke in a variety of high-profile forums.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s event was held in the courtyard of the Baka community center, where the Goldberg-Polins\u2019 synagogue, Hakhel, is located.<\/p>\n

Ayelet Haas, a family friend, opened the ceremony, noting that the space where everyone was gathered was where Hersh grew up playing games, praying with his community and dancing with his family and fellow synagogue members \u2014 doing so for the last time on October 6, 2023, Simchat Torah night, before he went to the Nova festival that was attacked on October 7 by Hamas terrorists.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHersh grew up in this place,\u201d Haas said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA memorial ceremony for Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was killed two years ago in Hamas captivity in Gaza, August 7, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n

Speakers included Hersh\u2019s parents, his sisters Leebie and Orly, and several of his friends, including two from the fan club of the Hapoel Jerusalem soccer team, of which he was an active member.<\/p>\n

Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose words in public and in her book, \u201cWhen We See You Again,\u201d have come to embody the grief and loss of October 7, spoke of being stuck in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI live in a place where my clock has no arms,\u201d she said. \u201cThe big and the little hands broke off, and the second hand is not there either. So it\u2019s just a face with numbers that used to mark the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cI\u2019m trying to unpack the trying. You gave us the chance to try and maybe it is the trying that saved us, even though we couldn\u2019t save you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\t(Clockwise from top left) Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Almog Sarusi, 25, Carmel Gat, 40, and Alex Lobanov, 32.<\/p>\n

Goldberg-Polin also addressed the crowd of friends and neighbors sitting outside the Baka community center in the warm Friday afternoon sun:<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us here, we ran, and begged and prayed and screamed and drowned and rose and boiled and baked and tore and kneeled and keeled and stood and pled and bat and cracked and kicked and crashed and thrashed and tried and cried and lied and grabbed and fell and waited and shrieked and died and lived and live and loved and loved and loved and love and love and failed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cOh dear God, we failed, but we tried. And we tried because you kept yourself alive for us to try. You were and are our why. So thank you, the most precious boy of my lifetime \u2014 thank you, my golden forever thirst for whom I will always be parched.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jon Polin spoke in Hebrew about the need for unity, emphasizing the importance of listening to one another before striving for unity in Israel\u2019s divided reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay, \u2018I will try to hear what you\u2019re saying and listen even if I don\u2019t agree,\u2019\u201d said Polin. \u201cUnderstanding comes before peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tJon Polin (center), family and others at a memorial ceremony for hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was killed two years ago in Hamas captivity in Gaza, August 07, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n

His final message was to his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cHersh, the revolution is still the goal,\u201d said Polin, referring to the refrain repeated after Hersh\u2019s death, \u201cMay his memory be a revolution.\u201d The family has spoken of the need for a societal \u201crevolution for goodness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA memorial ceremony for Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was killed two years ago in Hamas captivity in Gaza, August 7, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n

The memorial began with a song performed by a group of musicians, fellow fans of Hapoel and friends of Hersh, who explained that they had put the band together in Hersh\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

They played a haunting song based on a chant repeated at games, turning it into a plaintive ballad about the loss of Hersh in their lives.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tThe Hapoel band, named for murdered hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, performs at an August 7, 2026, memorial in Jerusalem (Jessica Steinberg\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

Two friends from the Hapoel fan club spoke about how Hersh exemplified openness in his deep connection to Jerusalem, adding that they would continue decorating his grave with the latest scarves and symbols of the Hapoel team.<\/p>\n

Hersh\u2019s sisters each spoke briefly about Hersh, and of how his image had become as familiar and known as that of a celebrity, but to them, he was still simply their brother.<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tHelp us report truthfully on social media\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform \u2014 from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.<\/p>\n

This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tSupport our work\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tSupport our work\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tYou’re a dedicated reader\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re really pleased that you\u2019ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month. \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.<\/p>\n

So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven\u2019t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.<\/p>\n

For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n

Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds gathered on Friday in Jerusalem to remember Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American citizen taken hostage by Hamas terrorists…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1514,34258,190782,85,46,190783,43,67947],"class_list":["post-578090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-hamas-hostages","tag-hapoel-jerusalem","tag-hersh-goldberg-polin","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jon-polin","tag-news","tag-rachel-goldberg-polin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}