Key Takeaways
- Rachel Goldberg‑Polin, an American‑Israeli mother, turned her son Hersh’s abduction on October 7 2023 into a global advocacy effort for the release of all hostages.
- Hersh survived the initial attack at the Nova music festival, was wounded, and taken captive; he was later executed in a Gaza tunnel on August 31 2024.
- Throughout his captivity, Rachel kept a daily count of days on a piece of tape, spoke repeatedly to world leaders, and used Hersh’s mantra—“He who has a why can bear any how”—as a source of strength.
- The release of fellow hostage Or Levy in February 2025 gave Rachel confirmation that Hersh had maintained his spirit, shared his belief in purpose, and even told Or that he had heard his mother’s public appeals.
- Rachel’s grief is ongoing and nonlinear; she now views it as a “badge of love” that reflects the continuing bond with Hersh, even as she struggles with feelings of failure despite her exhaustive efforts.
- Her forthcoming book, When We See You Again, articulates the chronic, circular nature of bereavement and seeks to give voice to the pain of families who have lost children in the conflict.
Rachel Goldberg‑Polin’s story begins with the Hamas attack on October 7 2023, when her son Hersh and his friend Aner Shapira were at the Nova music festival near the Gaza border. The assault killed 378 people and wounded hundreds. Inside a cramped bomb shelter, Hersh sent two text messages to his mother at 8:11 a.m.—“I love you” and “I’m sorry”—which would become the last communication she received from him. Aner, who threw back at least ten grenades before being killed, allowed Hersh and others to survive the initial blast, though Hersh suffered a severe wound: his left arm was blown off, with bone protruding from his forearm.
Four days later, Israeli soldiers showed Rachel a video recovered from a terrorist’s phone that depicted Hersh being forced into a pickup truck, his injury visible. The footage confirmed that he had been taken alive, a fact that gave Rachel and her husband Jon a sliver of hope amid the horror. Over the ensuing months, Rachel became the public face of the hostage crisis. She met the Pope, addressed world leaders, and gave hundreds of interviews, always wearing a piece of tape bearing the number of days since the hostages were seized. Each day she repeated the mantra “I love you. Stay strong. Survive,” a phrase that also served as an internal command to keep herself moving through waves of emotional and physical pain.
On the 201st day of captivity, Hamas released a propaganda video showing Hersh’s arm stump, reinforcing the family’s resolve. By day 328, Rachel and Jon joined other families in Gaza‑directed vigils, shouting their loved ones’ names into a microphone. Unbeknownst to them, that was the day Hersh was executed in a tunnel in Rafah. Israeli soldiers recovered his body on August 31 2024; he had been shot six times at close range alongside five other hostages. Thousands lined the streets of Israel for his funeral, a somber testament to the national trauma.
Despite Hersh’s death, Rachel and Jon continued to advocate for the remaining hostages. In February 2025, a breakthrough came when hostage Or Levy was released along with two others. Or disclosed that he had spent three days with Hersh in a tunnel, during which Hersh laughed about his missing arm and shared the mantra “He who has a why can bear any how,” drawn from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. Or told Rachel that Hersh had said, “My mother spoke to the secretary of state in the U.S.”—a comment that revealed Hersh had heard his mother’s public appeals on the news, giving her profound comfort that her voice had reached him even in captivity.
Or’s release also carried a personal tribute: he tattooed Hersh’s mantra on his arm, telling his young son that the letters spelled his name, symbolizing that Hersh had become his “why.” Rachel reflected on this encounter as a life‑affirming CPR from beyond, prompting her to ask herself what her own “why” would be now that she had lost her son.
Rachel’s grief is not linear. She describes it as chronic, ever‑present, circular, and gnawing—a feeling she explores in her forthcoming book When We See You Again. Initially dreading grief, she now sees it as a “precious badge of love” that continues to grow because her love for Hersh persists. When the last hostage’s body was returned in January 2025—843 days after the October 7 attack—Rachel and Jon finally removed the tapes they had kept on their wall, a ritual that marked both an end to the count and a lingering sense of failure, despite acknowledging they had done everything humanly possible.
In Hersh’s preserved room, the remnants of that tape lie alongside his belongings, a tangible reminder of the love, hope, and relentless fight that defined Rachel’s journey. Her story encapsulates the personal toll of the conflict, the power of maternal advocacy, and the enduring quest to find meaning in the face of unimaginable loss.