On April 28, Rachel Goldberg-Polin visited Nashville to discuss her new book, When We See You Again. Rabbi Laurie Rice, of Congregation Micah, moderated the conversation. The event was a collaboration between Vanderbilt University, Congregation Micah, Vanderbilt Hillel, Vanderbilt Chabad, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville. Below is Rabbi Rice’s reflection on the conversation.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin — a mother whose strength moved the world. After her son Hersh was taken on October 7 and later murdered in captivity, Rachel refused to let grief silence her. Instead, she carried her pain into the public square and became one of the most powerful voices fighting for the hostages and their families. With courage, dignity, and unwavering love, she spoke to leaders, communities, and the world, demanding humanity and the return of every captive. Even through unimaginable loss, she kept fighting — not only for Hersh, but for all the hostages and the families living through the same nightmare. Rachel reminds us of our matriarch Rachel — Rachel Imeinu — the mother who cries for her children and refuses to be comforted. A mother’s love that does not give up. A voice that the world cannot ignore.
Jon and Rachel Polin have become, for many, the personification of an entire nation’s pain. They didn’t want this. They surely didn’t ask for it. “We’re the manifestation of everybody’s worst nightmare,” Rachel said. And yet, it is precisely that fact, coupled with the almost supernatural grace they brought to their international advocacy for Israel’s hostages, that helped make Hersh one of the most recognizable faces among the captives and why his death hit so hard. It’s also why so many of us have looked to them as exemplars of how to respond to one of the worst periods in Jewish history. Despite all they’ve gone through, and all they continue to endure, Hersh’s parents still see this as a moment of opportunity.
I was so nervous to meet Rachel, and yet when she walked into the room behind the stage and we shook hands, she instantly put me at ease. Rachel and Jon are disarming. Their kindness walks into the room before they do. And yet, I couldn’t help but gaze at this woman, this mother, who had been through something unimaginable to me and remained so wise, so astute, so articulate—a north star for anyone navigating intense grief.
“Rachel… I think you are one of the 36,” I said to her in the moments before we stepped out onto the Langford stage. “No, I’m really not,” she said. “I wrote this book in part to show everyone that I am not the ‘golden calf Rachel Goldberg Polin,’ that I have all kinds of flaws.” To which I said, “That’s just it. We don’t see you as a golden calf. We see you as each of us. Every one of us could have been… could be you.”
So many things will stay with me forever about this incredible opportunity I had to meet and interview Rachel. Beyond that she is tiny in stature but immense in wisdom and warmth, I will forever think of the Modeh Ani prayer a little differently. Rachel talks about the power of prayer as a tool she uses daily. Every day, she opens her eyes and immediately says the line that many Jewish people say upon waking, thanking God for giving her back her soul and saying that God has tremendous faith in her, and that’s why she woke up that particular morning. The idea that God has faith in us so we must get up and get moving. God has faith in US?
Rachel says, “When I go to do my morning prayers, it’s such a relief. It’s the best therapy. You know, Rabbi Nachman, the famous mystical Kabbalist, said, ‘Life makes warriors out of all of us, and the most potent weapon is prayer.’ And so, I say to people, use it. Everyone has their pain, and we have this toolkit accessible to us. I pour my soul out in the morning, and then I can start my day. How has it changed since Oct. 7? I think I use it more. I lean on it more. I think that it’s more transformative. All of us have a different idea of God. What is God? Nobody knows what God is. It’s very confusing. But I have this idea of God, and I’ve been in a relationship with this idea of God. I’m so thankful, because when Oct. 7 happened, I wasn’t approaching a stranger. I’m thankful that I still have that.”
I will be forever thankful to the wise words of Torah from my teacher, Rachel Goldberg Polin. I, like Rachel, feel eternally grateful for my faith and the words of our tradition to narrate and give meaning to my life. I imagine that those of you who have read her book and heard her speak undoubtedly feel the same.
Out of reverence for Rachel and Jon and the wisdom they continue to share with each of us, I offer these poetic words penned by my colleague, Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi, entitled “In Clusters”:
Those grim walls saw everything, but we will never know:
Who played chess.
Who wrote in a journal.
Who was shot first.
Who lost courage.
Who brought comfort.
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Who hummed a prayer.
All we do know is this: it was a blessing you six were together.
Together, tight just like grapes growing in clusters.
That’s why their sweet juice was chosen for kiddush.
To remind us that we too live and die and grow in community.
If we are worthy… Like each of you most certainly was.
Blessed are you six, precious fruits of the vine.
(Written during shloshim for Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, and Almog Sarusi, who were kidnapped during the October 7th attack, and brutally murdered in late August. On August 31, 2025, their bodies were found underground in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip and returned to Israel for burial.)
May the memory of Hersh be a blessing, and may the strength of mothers like Rachel continue to inspire us all.