Hersh Goldberg-Polin was remembered as a playful, adventurous, peace-loving sports fan by friends and family during a memorial service Sunday in Skokie.
Hundreds gathered at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue to honor the memory of the 23-year-old with Chicago ties who was killed by Hamas after being held hostage for nearly a year.
His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, both Chicago natives, thanked the community members who packed the synagogue. Their message was pre-recorde on video. They hoped their son’s death would spark a “revolution” in the way people treat one other, using Goldberg-Polin’s own all-too-brief life as an example.
“He lived respectfully, respectful of all around him, the people above him, his peers, people below him when he was in positions of responsibility,” Polin said. “Hersh, from the time he was young, he innately was curious to understand people, and it was a trait that he always took very seriously.”
They also urged the community to continue raising awareness of the 100 or so hostages still being held by Hamas.
“We know that time is of the essence, and every single second there is so dangerous, and so scary,” Goldberg said.
It’s a message his parents also delivered when they spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month.
Several elected officials attended the memorial, including Sen. Dick Durbin, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Ald. Debra Silverstein of Chicago.
Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jan Schakowsky attend Sunday’s memorial for Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Goldberg-Polin’s aunt Abby Polin is a member of the synagogue. Many at the memorial wore tape with the number 352, drawing attention to the number of days the remaining hostages have been held since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 last year.
Goldberg-Polin was taken hostage that day while attending the Nova Music Festival when the militant group attacked Israel, taking 251 people hostage and killing about 1,200 people.
His body was found Aug. 31 along with the remains of five other hostages in a tunnel under the city of Rafah in Gaza. Thousands attended his funeral in Jerusalem this month.
Emily and Madison Reisler, Goldberg-Polin’s cousins, recalled seeing the crowd of mourners who attended the funeral, proof to them that his story resonated globally.
“Face after face after face streaming with tears,” Madison Reisler said, adding that the mourners shared messages of “remorse, repentance, despair, anguish, grievance, profound devastation with or without ever having met Hersh.”
Leah Polin, Goldberg-Polin’s grandmother, said it was her grandson’s love for music that drew him to the music festival on Oct. 7. Music was one of the three things he loved the most, she said, the other two being having fun and coming up with business ideas.
“I can say with certainty Hersh was the perfect grandson for me,” said Leah Polin, Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s grandmother. She talked about his love of music, having fun and coming up with ideas for new businesses.
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
She also said he was always very respectful, and treated people with kindness from a young age. She recalled playing board games and attending sporting events with her grandson.
“I can say with certainty Hersh was the perfect grandson for me,” Leah Polin said. “He was always respectful, helpful and full of chayim,” using the Hebrew word for life.
Marci Goldberg, Goldberg-Polin’s other grandmother, said her grandson from a young age was caring of others. She told a story about when 9-year-old Goldberg-Polin was in Israel and stood up for a friend who had recently arrived in the country from Ethiopia and was being bullied.
“I wouldn’t give up one second of Hersh’s 23 years that we were blessed with,” Goldberg said.
Hersh’s mother offered a note of hope for the future.
“We know that we are going to survive, and we know that we are going to thrive,” Rachel Goldberg said. “We know it is what Hersh wants, we know it’s what we want, and so we know it will happen.”