On Day 331, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, received the news they most feared since Oct. 7, 2023, when their son was kidnapped from an outdoor music festival in the south of Israel.

On Sept. 1, the Israel Defense Forces informed Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin that their son was one of six hostages in Gaza who had been shot dead by the Hamas terrorist group that had invaded Israel, killing at least 1,200 – mostly civilians – and kidnapping about 250.

It was Rachel who had initiated the daily practice of wearing a piece of masking tape marking the number of days since Oct. 7. It was also Rachel and Jon who had grabbed the world’s attention as they met with world leaders during the past nearly 11 months, seeking support for returning the hostages to Israel. Hersh was one of several Israelis who also held U.S. citizenship. His family had immigrated to Israel when he was 7 years old.

It was not long after that his extended family started attending annual Passover retreats at Camp Ramah Darom in north Georgia. “For nine years, Hersh was here at Ramah Darom for our Passover retreat,” said Eliana Leader, director of the Kaplan Mitchell Retreat Center at a memorial for Hersh with members of the LimmudFest community. “He started as a Passover camper and then was in the first cohort of homegrown Passover counselors.”

The Goldberg-Polin family, including Hersh’s sisters Leebie and Orly, his grandmother Leah Polin and grandparents Marcy and Joe Goldberg, extended even further to many Atlanta cousins.

Bob Deutsch, who called himself a “second cousin twice removed,” described Jon and Rachel before Oct. 7 as “low key and unassuming people. Since the kidnapping, Rachel’s maternal instincts have come out and Jon has been so supportive.” When Deutsch – who has an apartment in Morningside and a home in Asheville – last saw Jon in Israel in May, “he told me that Hersh will be astounded about how many people know about him all over the world and how his parents spoke to many world leaders, including the Pope.”

Deutsch, who has two children and grandchildren in Atlanta, noted earlier this year that “there are ripples of Hersh through many ponds. He had a huge community who knew him.”

Deutsch’s daughter, Robin Deutsch Edwards, is a member of Congregation Shearith Israel. Last December, she had installed an exhibit in honor of Hersh and two other hostages. Rabbi Ari Kaiman said his congregation planned to express their grief for Hersh on Sept. 3 as the month of Elul began.

In an email message to his congregants Sept. 1, Kaiman noted the names of the six hostages killed in the past few days, but stated, “our relationship with Hersh and his family was closer.” He cited the extended family’s Passover celebrations at Ramah Darom and explained that “these are some of the reasons why we said his name every week when we prayed for the safe return of all the hostages in Gaza. This is why there is a seat waiting for him at the Shabbat table in our sanctuary.”

The plan was to recite the El Malei Rachamim prayer for Hersh at that table and blast the shofar for the beginning of the month. “May this month be the month that every hostage comes home.” He also said that this coming Shabbat “we will say the names of Omer Neutra and Elkanah Rohbot,” but leaving out Hersh this time which he said, “will be painful.”

Pain was among the emotions that Fred Levick, former Ramah CEO, expressed as he learned of the sad news. “I felt all different kinds of emotions. I grieve for Hersh and cry for his parents and family, and I rage at the leadership of the Israeli government for turning its back on the Israeli hostages. I also feel shame that I didn’t do enough.”

Levick said he last saw the family at a large demonstration in Washington, D.C. in November.

Kaiman told Rough Draft that he last saw Rachel Goldberg-Polin in Israel this summer when he was part of a cohort organized by the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. “The moment was seared into our hearts,” he recalled. “I’ve never seen such strength in a person. Yet, in her own mind, her strength is completely ordinary.”

More proof of the impact on Atlantans of Hersh’s murder are the fact that several local residents, including Kaiman, wrote condolences on the Hersh Goldberg-Polin Facebook page. In addition, several spontaneous gatherings in the Atlanta Jewish community popped up in the days after Hersh’s murder was announced. The memorial Kaddish was prayed in Decatur Square in front of the John Lewis statue, and other groups gathered in downtown Alpharetta and in Candler Park.