Commemorating the 3RD Anniversary of the Tragic Events of October 7TH

HON. JENNIFER A. KIGGANS

of virginia

in the house of representatives

Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record remarks submitted at the request of a Virginia Beach constituent, Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman of Temple Lev Tikvah, and are a reflection of his views:

Commemorating the 3rd Anniversary of the Tragic Events of October 7th

What a gift author Rachel Goldberg-Polin—Chicago native

and educator living in Jerusalem with her family—bestowed on

us in her recent book, When We See You Again. New York:

Random House. 2026. Her heart-wrenching as well as heart-

warming account of the unique bond with her 23-year-old son

Hersh who was murdered in a Gaza tunnel by Hamas terrorists

on his 328th day of captivity following the October 7, 2023,

most vicious massacres. With him were executed Ori, Almog,

Alex, Eden and Carmel after enduring untold torture and

excruciating suffering. Travel-loving and ever curious,

artistic and musically inclined Hersh already had a ticket

for a much-anticipated trip to India, following an Israeli

post-military service tradition to go abroad preferably an

exotic destination not without danger.

This book, which is bound to be a classic, is a sacred and

searing intimate sharing of a bereaved mother's yearning to

contend with the enormity of her loss even as an Orthodox Jew

she is reassured that upon death she would reunite with

Hersh, reflected in the book's title, “When We See You

Again.” Her sustaining faith is anchored to inflicted Job's

succinct response to his overwhelming anguish with four

powerful words, “God gives, God takes” (P.130), describing

it movingly, “For me the most profound, impactful statement

in This World comes from the Hebrew Bible itself” (P.129).

And yet tenaciously, deeply wounded mother struggles to

accept her heart-breaking loss of tragic separation from an

enchanting, beloved son.

Goldberg-Polin shares an intriguing eight-page letter

received from a woman who sought to console by referring her

to the near-sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham in a

great Biblical drama, questioning if the author upon God's

command would have attempted to kill her own son. In a

circuitous response the author asked her husband Jon—who

contributed the book's penetrating Afterword—for his take to

this horrific dilemma. Jon's immediate response that he would

negotiate with God.

In her unique writing style, both prosaic and poetic with a

healthy dose of humor, the author succeeds in creating an

essential guide to bereaved parents and all humans who will

find a measure of consolation and strength through her heroic

journey to come to grips with the unfathomable loss of a

promising young life so cruelly cut short. Particularly

touching that Hersh, the eldest child in his family with two

younger sisters, was named after no less than Hershey's

chocolate in Oakland, California, where he was born. Indeed,

he turned out to be sweet and caring to all. At age 13 he

already got involved in helping Eritrean refugees in Israel

and often recalled his family relatives who perished in the

Holocaust. In Gaza's painful captivity he found deep support

quoting renowned Austrian Holocaust survivor and founder of

Logotherapy, Victor Frankl's classic, “Man's Search for

Meaning,” which he shared in the tunnel to strengthen his

co-captives, challenging them with the book's famous remedy

of finding a “Why” in trying circumstances. Hersh and his

parents' dual Israeli and American citizenship failed to

protect Hersh's life while the most dedicated parents

traversed the world meeting with statesmen and celebrities to

no avail. However, this special family has touched millions

globally with Hersh turning into an iconic figure, hopefully

assisting in transforming an anguished humanity from

tomorrow's blight and hate of the other. Hersh's memory and

that of all innocent victims in the worst day since Israel's

1948 founding is an abiding blessing! The must-read of a both

shattering and reviving work of intricate art with a rare

outpouring of an amazing soul is concluded with a message of

eternal hope, “I will see you again, Hersh. I will. Do you

hear me? I will it. Nothing will have changed, but my love

for you will be even greater than it is now, or now, or now,

or now. My love will be spilling forth from my cup

overflowing, as it says in Psalm 23, all over my hand holding

it. My goopy love, gushing all over the ground”(P.259).

Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is founder of Temple Lev Tikvah

and Honorary Senior Rabbi Scholar at Eastern Shore Chapel

Episcopal Church, both in Virginia Beach. He was raised in

Israel and is a family member of the Holocaust's surviving

remnant.