Last month, the Jewish United Fund hosted its annual Lion of Judah Event in Skokie, IL. Lion of Judah unites 18,000 Jewish women around the world with the women of Chicagoland. The event featured New York Times bestselling author Rachel Goldberg-Polin speaking about her grief after the death of her son in Hamas captivity and what she had learned living with a Jewish identity during this time. Fellowship Stewardship Manager Lindsey Orenstein covered the evening:
Recently, Rachel Goldberg-Polin stood before hundreds of people and shared a message that will always resonate long after the evening ended.
Two years ago, she buried her son, Hersh, who was murdered in Hamas captivity at the age of 23. Speaking not only as a grieving mother but as a voice of extraordinary courage, she reflected on how to live in a world forever changed by Oct. 7.
Two ideas stood at the center of her remarks.
First, she asked: How do we walk through this world as Jews? How do we become comfortable in the Jewish skin that has been bequeathed to us?
Then she offered a truth that was both simple and profound: We must get used to the fact that we will never get used to the facts.
Nearly three years after Oct. 7, those words continue to challenge and inspire.
Time has moved forward, but some truths remain impossible to grow accustomed to. There are losses that cannot be measured, questions without answers, and wounds that continue to shape the lives of individuals, families, and an entire people.
Yet perhaps the challenge is not to understand everything. Perhaps it is to refuse to let tragedy define the limits of who we are.
Since Oct. 7, many Jews have found themselves navigating a world that often feels different than the one they knew before. Long-held assumptions have been challenged, some have encountered hostility where they expected understanding, judgment where they hoped for empathy, and isolation where they sought solidarity.
Amid those experiences, Rachel’s question remains: How can Jews walk through this world with confidence, dignity, and pride in who they are?
The answer may begin with remembering that Jewish identity has never required permission from others. It is an inheritance passed down through generations who preserved their faith, traditions, and peoplehood through centuries of hardship to ensure that future generations could carry it forward.
The aftermath of Oct. 7 has prompted painful reflection within Jewish communities around the world. But it has also revealed extraordinary resilience, courage, and unity. In the face of hatred, many have chosen not to retreat, but to stand taller. Not to hide, but to embrace their identity more fully.
That may be one of the most important lessons carried forward from this moment.
The facts of Oct. 7 may never become easier to bear. The grief may never fully disappear, but pain does not have to diminish identity. Loss does not have to silence pride and tragedy does not have to determine the future.
The Jewish people have always carried forward with resilience and determination. They have mourned, rebuilt, remembered, and continued. That legacy remains unchanged today.
As the years pass, the challenge is not merely to endure what has happened, but to move forward without surrendering any part of who we are.
To walk through this world with confidence in the identity passed down through generations.
To embrace that inheritance with pride.
To live fully, without apology.
And to carry it forward, unafraid, unashamed, and unbowed.