For Rachel: Your pain is my pain

Why is my heart so broken? I didn’t know Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the American whose body was found this past weekend deep in a tunnel under Rafah. The death and suffering of the last year weighs heavily on me each and every day, but in these last couple of days, I have found myself virtually non-functional over six executed hostages that I never met. Every Jew I have seen, talked to, or texted since the news broke has expressed sheer anguish. Vigils have popped up across America in synagogues, local Jewish Federations, and other communal spaces for people to come together in their grief.

It is Hamas’s intent to conduct maximum psychological trauma, to use Jewish pain as a sick bargaining chip for their political agenda. The silence of too many Americans and the whitewashing of terrorism by the media has left Jews feeling once again alone; just as was the case after the atrocities of October 7^th. The world has gone quiet in the face of Hamas barbarity.

I find myself weeping with Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the immeasurably strong mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin who tirelessly advocated for the release of her son for 332 days. Rachel represents the best of the Jewish spirit. She is the lioness who dug in deep despite unimaginable agony to give endlessly to her son. Rachel’s voice was a call of hope. For 11 months, she singularly held up Jews around the world with the sheer force of her will. Rachel showed the world the power not of brute strength, but of vulnerability and authenticity.

Since October 7^th, I have been working to fight escalating antisemitism in my own backyard. In the last year, I have joined together with two other Jewish mothers- all of us differing ages to oppose the rise of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hatred in our City Halls, County Boards, local schools and Universities.

Back in January of 2024, I drove to Los Angeles with my two activist friends to seek the assistance of a high profile Rabbi who has connections to levers of power all over the world. The three of us went into this meeting beautifully prepared with binders of evidence and strategies for change. In some ways, we were not so different than Rachel who circled the globe asking heads of State and the Pope to negotiate for Hersh’s release. After presenting to this prominent Rabbi, he just smiled at us and said, “don’t give me this nonsense that you are only three Jewish mothers; go and do those things- write articles, give speeches, and meet with legislators.” I left that meeting deflated and angry. I felt that the Rabbi was asking too much of us. We had gone there with the hope that he would take up the fight for us. We feared we couldn’t meet this moment without the help of a person of influence. This weekend, as I listened to Rachel eulogize her son, I realized that he had been right all along.

The rise of antisemitism is not a Jewish issue. This is an American issue. It is an American issue not only because Hersh was an American. American pluralism is only as strong as its citizens willingness to advocate for its survival. Our freedom and liberty depend upon our collective will to protect each other.

The Hamas propaganda machine is using our own cherished democratic principle of free speech as a weapon to tear us apart. But, it is not only “protestors” marching with Hamas flags in city squares and students who hide their identity while chanting Hamas slogans who have First Amendment rights. Everyone in America has the power to emulate Rachel; everyone can use their own voice to counter hate. Rachel’s pain must be all of our pain as we face this threat to our democracy. We must all be willing to stand up and speak out against it. Until we do, the antisemitism that surrounds us will continue to fester and divide us.

Throughout his captivity, Rachel Goldberg- Polin publicly gave her son the priestly blessing- that Hersh may grow to be like the Jewish forefathers Ephraim and Menashe. May all of America’s children, Jewish and non-Jewish, grow to have the courage and strength of Rachel Goldberg-Polin. May they all seek truth and have the will to speak it.

I have not made the global impact that Rachel Goldberg-Polin made on the world. I pray that I will never have to make her sacrifice. But, everyday, I wake up and try to channel her resolve.I will use my voice. Rachel’s pain is my pain.

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Julie Marzouk is an attorney, author, and activist