Chicago native Rachel Goldberg, whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin is a Hamas hostage, spoke at the rally. ‘We hostage families have lived the last 39 days in slow motion torment.’
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, “our anxiety has grown over the past weeks so tremendously,” said Michael Lorge on Tuesday, one of many from the Chicago area at the March for Israel on the National Mall, a rally that saw thousands show unity with Israel in its war against Hamas, push for the return of Hamas-held hostages and deplore rising antisemitism.
And a way to do that, Lorge said, “was to come together in massive numbers to find strength and to speak out loudly.”
Lorge, an attorney — the son and father of rabbis — came to Washington for the rally with a contingent from Temple Beth Israel in Skokie, including its rabbi, Rachel Marks.
The event was co-sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and comes as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is sparking a surge in antisemitism, igniting fears never before experienced by generations of American Jews.
Some 1,200 Israelis were brutally murdered by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 and about 240 were taken hostage that day, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The death toll among Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli bombardment since Oct. 7 has topped 11,000, according to Palestinian officials.
Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg grew up in West Rogers Park and Skokie and now live in Jerusalem. His grandmothers live in Chicago and Evanston.
Goldberg was one of the speakers at the rally.
