(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Hersh Goldberg-Polin's family has roots in Chicago. His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jonathan Polin, were born and raised in the city and attended Ida Crown Jewish Academy, where Rabbi Leonard Matanky is dean.
Matanky's known both the Goldberg and the Polin families for decades and said they're "so very well known in our Jewish community."
"It's not something that happens 6,000 miles away, but it's something that happens here," he said. "Hersh's two grandmothers both live in Chicago, and we see them regularly. They're prominent families in Chicago."
The rabbi said when he heard the news of Goldberg-Polin's murder, he hoped it wasn't true.
"Once it was confirmed, it was a punch to the gut," Matanky said. "We've been praying that he would be returned, and it's so very painful to hear that Hersh and five others were murdered right before the moment when they could have been saved."
In August, Goldberg and Polin spoke at the Democratic National Convention and urged world leaders to help bring the hostages home. Matanky said the pair are "pillars of strength and grace."
"What Jon and Rachel have done, they've raised the bar of humanity, of what we should expect from people, of the good that we should find in this world — and contrasted it with the absolute evil [and] terror of Hamas," he said.
Matanky said the Chicago Jewish community mourns with the family, and he described their son as a symbol of hope.
A funeral is expected to take place in Israel on Monday.
"There will be hundreds, if not thousands of Chicagoans watching that funeral, sharing in the grief and most likely being inspired by the strength of a family who have shown the entire world what it means to be human beings, and to care for each other, and to work for goodness," he said.
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