Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
JesuiticalDecember 08, 2023
A photo of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 (Courtesy of the Goldberg-Polin family)

On this week’s “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley are honored to welcome Rachel Goldberg, the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the hostages taken into Gaza following Hamas’s massacre at the Nova music festival in Southern Israel on Oct. 7. In the weeks since Hersh and 240 other hostages were brutally kidnapped, Rachel has met with a host of people, including the pope and the president, to share her son’s story. She was gracious enough to bring that story to “Jesuitical,” and she and the hosts shared a moving conversation.

They discuss:

  • Rachel’s family life and Hersh’s passion for reading and adventure
  • The last time Rachel saw Hersh on Oct. 6 and her experience learning about the massacre on Oct. 7
  • Rachel’s meeting with Pope Francis and the power of dialogue in sustaining hope
  • How Rachel’s Jewish faith has been challenged and served as a source of strength in the wake of unthinkable tragedy

The latest from america

Catholics across Texas and the world, including Pope Leo XIV, are offering their prayers and support after deadly flooding struck Texas on July 4.
Each year at this time, near the Fourth of July, we contemplate freedom. But maybe we are also being called to do an extended examination of our own fears.
George Drance, S.J.July 07, 2025
Is it possible to embrace the idea of a special, evenly divinely ordained mission for America without violating Christian ethical principles?
Thomas J. MassaroJuly 07, 2025
Pope Leo XIV arrived in the papal summer retreat of Castel Gandolfo on Sunday to start a six-week vacation, giving the hilltop town back its most illustrious resident after Pope Francis stayed away during his 12-year pontificate.