The day after Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s death was announced, Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz, the senior rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom, flew to Israel for his funeral. He memorialized the Israeli-American victim of Hamas: “He was a gentle spirit, he had a loving nature, and we appreciated how good he was with our [three] kids.”
It was a personal remembrance, as the Lebovitzes and Goldberg-Polins have been friends for more than a decade, when the Lebovitzes settled in Jerusalem and met Hersh’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, who also have two daughters. The families were drawn together after learning of their shared Chicago roots.
Hersh, a fun-loving 23-year-old, was at the Nova Music Festival in Re’im on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists struck. Hersh and a friend fled to a shelter, but Hersh lost part of an arm and his friend was killed.
Before Hersh’s body was discovered along with those of five other hostage murder victims on Aug. 31, Rabbi Lebovitz spent his daylight hours combing social media for hopeful signs. A day later, he flew to Israel for the funeral.
Dozens of VBS members have prayed fervently for Hersh and family since Oct. 7. The news of Hersh’s death “was a sobering, shocking reminder that this war is not a conflict across the world. This war touches us. Not even one degree of separation.” At the Democratic National Convention last month, an emotional Rachel Polin pleaded “Hersh, Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you. Stay strong. Survive.” Since Oct. 7, she said she and his father had “lived on another planet.”
Deaths and the war have changed lives. The Shabbat morning of Oct. 7 “we began praying for people inside the community who had friends or loved ones who had been murdered, kidnapped or had been called up by the IDF,” the rabbi said. With Lebovitz at the helm, the Valley’s largest Conservative shul placed a cardboard poster that remains in the vast entryway, where anyone can write the name of any loved one to pray for. Months later, the rabbi is still amazed that VBS, in busy Encino, drew “dozens and dozens and dozens of Israelis off Ventura Boulevard who had heard of this cardboard. They wanted to write down the names of their loved ones.” VBS leadership also posted pictures of the remaining 109 hostages on a stairway to the second floor.
Everyone who attends a VBS service is reminded of Oct. 7, he said. “Every Shabbos morning, we recite the names of fallen soldiers from the week. Every Shabbos morning as a community, we sing ‘Hatikvah’ for the release of all those being held in captivity. ‘Hatikvah’ not only is a statement of our Zionism, but it’s a piece of liturgy that the flame, the passion for Israel be strengthened.”
“Every Shabbos morning, we recite the names of fallen soldiers from the week … as a community, we sing ‘Hatikvah’ for the release of all those being held in captivity. ‘Hatikvah’ not only is a statement of our Zionism, but it’s a piece of liturgy that the flame, the passion for Israel be strengthened.”
“We also created an Israel Emergency Fund here in the community that has raised more than $100,000 to help support organizations that we visit and to build relationships with actual Israelis,” Lebovitz said.
It was also a time for action. Rabbi Lebovitz has made three support trips to Israel, one with the Board of Rabbis and two while leading sizable VBS delegations. A third community trip is planned for the end of this year.
While the shock was fresh, leaders began planning a Valley Beth Shalom mission in December that would coincide with Hanukkah in Israel. “People wanted to volunteer and go help support the war effort,” the rabbi said, “to support the recovery from the attack, help support displaced families and help Israel in every way possible.” The dozens who signed up for this early trip to the heat of the war zone “made me incredibly proud,” he said
During the first mission, normalcy was making a comeback. “By then, Israel was united behind the war effort,” Rabbi Lebovitz said. VBS’s volunteers had little time to rest. They went to the border of Gaza, they made sandwiches for soldiers, they prepared the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Base in Jerusalem for Shabbat, they welcomed home soldiers, they visited trauma centers for IDF soldiers. “We met with soldiers who were absolutely gung-ho, spirited that this war was winnable, and that Israel was 100 percent going to prevail.”
When the second Lebovitz-led delegation returned, he noted how Israel had changed since last November. On the Board of Rabbis mission, he found Israel in a state of shock. “Businesses were closed, and you didn’t see a functioning society reemerging,” he said. “Restaurants weren’t all open. Stores weren’t open. Israel was trying to figure out where to go.”
By VBS’s June mission, Israel’s mood had sharply changed again. Rabbi Lebovitz called it “the saddest version of Israel I have encountered. I think many in Israel believe the war and Hamas are just the beginning of a whole series of wars. We have spent so much energy trying to strengthen the relationship between our two communities. But we need even more effort now with Iran poised to strike.” Rabbi Lebovitz has spoken to families of hostages in Israel and the U.S. without detecting meaningful differences. “I hear the same degree of pain and suffering both places,” he said.
Before the latest bodies were found, the rabbi was optimistic the hostages would be released but cautioned: “We are dealing with the most evil form of human existence. There’s nothing compassionate about these terrorists.” Seeking to lead by example, he said “my heart not only breaks every day they are in captivity, but I wake up every day and continue to fight.”
Fast Takes with Rabbi Lebovitz
Jewish Journal: Do you have unfulfilled goals, apart from redeeming the hostages?
Rabbi Lebovitz: My goal is to bring a greater sense of Yiddishkeit, of Judaism, into the lives of the Jewish people in the San Fernando Valley. That materializes in growing the synagogue so we reach more people and it materializes in welcoming more students to our Day School, our Religious School and our ECC in raising the next generation of Zionists. We’re going to be here a long time.
JJ: What book have you read more than once?
RL: Every year around Yom Ha’atzmaut, I read “The Jewish State”
JJ: Your favorite Shabbat food or meal?
RL: It has to be pretzel challah.
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