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It wasn’t supposed to end this way. He was supposed to come home.
We saw her on TV, listened to her on podcasts, watched her and her husband, Jon, give speeches, and I even met with her this summer with a small group of us rabbis in Jerusalem. Rachel Goldberg-Polin inspired us with her strength, her faith, and her mantra, “Hope is mandatory.” She represented every Jewish mother, fighting to the bitter end for her son’s safe return.
But Hersh Goldberg-Polin never made it home. Instead, he was murdered by savages alongside five other young, beautiful souls:
Carmel Gat
Ori Danino
Eden Yerushalmi
Alex Lobanov
Almog Sarusi
Hersh’s mother, Rachel, represented the best of us. A mother who would do anything to get her son back, who had faith in a future of peace, who believed in people. People worldwide knew his name, writing about him on social media, sharing his image, learning about his love of the local basketball team, travel, and adventure. Right until the very end, we believed. She made us believe. She made us feel that when you fight so hard for something and give every piece of yourself for a cause, you are bound to succeed. “HERSH!” She screamed while standing at the border of Gaza just last week. “Stay strong, survive!” she reminded him, reminded us.
And that is why this is so painful. Because sometimes things don’t end the way they should. Sometimes, it feels as though evil has prevailed. Sometimes, it feels like there is no justice. This week’s Torah portion includes the famous phrase, tzedek, tzedek tirdof - justice, justice you shall pursue. How are we supposed to pursue justice when fighting against an enemy with no moral compass? The enemy doesn’t play by the rules of justice and morality laid out so clearly and powerfully in this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim.
There are moments when we may feel like all of this is too much; we need to block it out and go back to binge-watching TV shows to escape the world's brutality. And the Torah recognizes that impulse.
A ritual is supposed to take place before soldiers go to war. “Before you join the battle, the priest shall come forward and address the troops,” it says in Deuteronomy. After releasing anyone starting a marriage, a family, or building a home, “the officials shall go on addressing the troops and say, ‘Is there anyone afraid and disheartened? Let him go back to his home, lest he not melt the heart of his comrades.’” Anyone not in an emotional state to go into battle must return home, for their fear and lack of motivation will only make it harder for all the other troops, who must have faith in their mission. After this week, some of us may feel broken and disheartened, but make no mistake, we need you back soon.
We are in a war right now, and that war is not limited to the Gaza Strip. We are dealing with a much larger enemy, an enemy that sees the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people as just the first step in a war to conquer Western civilization and Western democracy.
Defeating this evil force will require us to fight on the battlefields of social media, college campuses, K-12 schools, in the court of public opinion, and in the halls of justice. It will require a determination and focus that we have not had to harness in a long time, if ever.
Those six beautiful souls, Hersh, Carmel, Ori, Eden, Alex, and Almog, had a strength that the rest of us cannot even begin to fathom. We owe them, their families, the remaining hostages, and the Jewish people our deepest commitment to showing up for this long and arduous battle against the forces of injustice.
Justice, justice, we will pursue. We will not allow our current state of despair to become permanent. We will face this enemy with strength and unrelenting faith because we are Am Israel. Above all, we will remember what Rachel Goldberg-Polin, a great Jewish mother, has taught us in her deepest hours of pain - Hope is mandatory.
May the memories of Hersh, Carmel, Ori, Eden, Alex, and Almog forever be a blessing.
Shabbat Shalom,
Joel
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