Rachel Goldberg-Polin's Stirring Yeshiva University Commencement Speech

Rachel Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli activist and mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a hostage brutally murdered by Hamas in 2024, delivered a stirring commencement address at Yeshiva University on May 22, 2025, captivating over 5,000 students, faculty, and families. Honored with an honorary doctorate, her speech was a testament to her unyielding strength and a call for unity in a fractured world.

Addressing the graduates, Goldberg-Polin expressed profound gratitude for the Jewish community’s unwavering support, saying, “Your agony is my agony. Your pain is my pain. Your son is my mother’s son, and so your son is my brother.” Drawing from Jewish tradition and the story of Ruth, she praised the students for standing with hostage families despite differences in practice or worldview, urging them to focus on shared humanity: “You said, I will not leave you, even after your son died. Your fate is my fate.”

Her message was clear: in a world tempted by divisive extremes, true impact lies in action, not just words or beliefs. “We are not what we say, we are not what we think, and we are not even what we believe. In this life, we are what we do,” she declared, echoing the teachings of Rambam to seek balance and moral clarity.

Despite her personal tragedy, her son’s 332 days in captivity and his murder in a Gaza tunnel, Goldberg-Polin’s grace and resolve shone through, inspiring graduates to be “beacons of hope” and to act with compassion to mend a broken world.

Honestly though, if anyone is beacon of hope, it is this incredibly inspiring woman, who has faced the deepest darkness and come out on the other side. Her speech, infused with gratitude and spiritual depth, left an indelible mark, reminding us all that unity and action can transform even the deepest pain into a force for good.