The synagogue at Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley was filled to the brim Sunday with hundreds of community members crying and praying. They gathered to mourn the six Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and found dead in Gaza.
One of those hostages in particular, many at the synagogue have a personal connection to.
"We weep for Hersh," Rabbanit Meira Walkenfeld told the congregation as she fought back tears.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was a 23-year-old Israeli American.
"Hersh was born in this community," said Rabbi Yonatan Cohen. "Here in Berkeley, in this space, was where Hersh was named."
Cohen described Hersh's parents as "true pillars of this community" and noted that many in the congregation still have memories of when they lived in Berkeley around two decades ago.
Aaron Katler of Berkeley attended the memorial on Sunday. Katler is a lifelong friend of Hersh's parents, Jon and Rachel, and shared memories of living in Berkeley with them.
Katler said Hersh "was a very sweet kid."
"He loved going out and getting a beer with his dad, he loved his sisters, he loved his mother to death," Katler said. "There’s no other way to say it, just a very sweet pure soul."
Hersh was kidnapped at a music festival in Israel on October 7, and his arm was partly severed by a grenade. Since then, his parents have continually pleaded for his release and for the release of all hostages.
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Recently, they made that plea at the Democratic National Convention.
“Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you. Stay strong, survive," Rachel Goldberg, Hersh's mom, said from the state at the DNC, still hopeful that her son would come home alive.
Katler said that he, too, had been holding out hope that Hersh would come home safe.
"It's not the way the story was supposed to end," he said of Hersh's death.
Jonathan Mintzer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area also attended the memorial.
"We also want to send [Hersh's family] that strength and let them know that their congregation back in Berkeley loves them and is thinking about them," Mintzer said.
At the memorial, community members lit candles and wrote notes to the Goldberg-Polin family. Elected officials from Berkeley and El Cerrito were also in attendance.
"We’re here to mourn and grieve that some of those prayers did not come to fruition as we had hoped," Rabbi Cohen said. "We’re also here to insist on continuing to pray, to pray for the return of all hostages swiftly back to their homes, to pray for the possibility of peace at a time when peace seems so far away."
Those in attendance wiped away tears and prayed for the hostages still in captivity.
"There’s still 101 bodies and souls that are stuck in those tunnels, and there are innocent civilians and innocent Palestinian civilians that are being killed every day, it’s all terrible, and we all want that to end," Katler said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom Sunday morning released a statement regarding Bay Area-born hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
"Jennifer and I join the Goldberg-Polin family and everyone grieving the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh," the governor said in a statement in response to the news that Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who spent his early years in Berkeley, was among hostages killed in Gaza.
The governor met with Goldberg-Polin's family during the governor's visit to Israel last year.
"Held captive under brutal conditions, Hersh's story and the plight of other hostages was shared with the world through the brave and tireless advocacy of his family," the governor said in the statement.
"We keep in our prayers all the victims and loved ones impacted by this heartbreaking tragedy," the governor said.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
