Six Murdered Hostages

Six Murdered Hostages

Reflections by Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

September 6, 2024

This week has been one of the saddest and most difficult weeks of the past year, and until now I had no words with which to express the many emotions within me. The following will have to do. For now.

We woke up Monday morning only to be reminded of the cruelty and evil that still surround us, filling our days and nights with anger and frustration as well as heartbreak and grief. Since then we have come to know almost personally the six hostages--six among the 251 men, women, children and elderly people abducted by Hamas 11 months ago--who were murdered in cold blood only hours before the IDF could rescue them. The names of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt. Ori Danino at this point are so much more than just labels. They have come to represent the horrors unleashed on October 7 on the State of Israel and the entire Jewish People. 

Each of the six victims of Hamas terror had not only a name. They had families—now broken physically as well as emotionally. They had dreams and ambitions that now will never be fulfilled.

The parents of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Jon and Rachel, spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month, and a video of Rachel calling out to him on a loudspeaker circulated widely on the Internet just a day or two before his body was discovered. President Biden reminded us all that during the attack, Hersh "lost his arm while helping friends and strangers during Hamas' savage massacre." 

Carmel Gat was visiting her parents at their home in Kibbutz Be'eri on that dark Saturday morning. The terrorists murdered Carmel's elderly mother, Kinneret, on the spot and abducted Carmel. Yet even in captivity, inside the cavernous tunnels where Hamas held and continue to hold their victims, Carmel helped other hostages and kept them by her side when darkness and terror loomed ahead. 

Master Sgt. Ori Danino had already saved some of those who were attacked in the early morning massacre and went back to help others when he himself was kidnapped. 

Alexander Lobanov is survived by his two-year-old child and five-month-old children, the youngest having been born while he was in captivity in Gaza.

Almog Sarusi and his sister were at the Nova music festival. Almog was kidnapped even as he was helping his sister, Shahar, who was wounded in the attack and did not survive. Almog was described on the Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s Instagram page as “A vibrant, positive person who loved traveling around Israel in his white jeep with his guitar. 

Like so many of those who were murdered or kidnapped from the music festival, Eden Yerushalmi was only in her 20’s. She spent her 24th birthday in captivity. Eden was a Tel Avivian who loved going to the beach, and whose plans included becoming a Pilates instructor.

A day after the bodies were recovered, Hamas released a series of videos showing the hostages delivering what became their final messages to their families. "I barely recognized her," Eden Yerushalmi's aunt told Israeli media. "She looked extinguished." “I am strong,” Carmel Gat says; “I hope I have a family to return to.” The six hostages had not been able to take a shower in weeks or months, and their bodies showed proof of ill-treatment and neglect. 

That is the face of evil. Lest we forget. At this time of heartbreak and rage, even as we hold the families of these murdered young men and women close to our heart, we must always remember the difference between love and hate, between goodness and evil. 

And as we pray for the safety, health and strength of the remaining 101hostages still held in captivity in Gaza, we send our heartfelt condolences to all the hurting families. May God’s Presence bring you comfort and consolation. May your loved ones’ memories be a blessing.