The Forgotten Exodus, a limited podcast series brought to you by American Jewish Committee (AJC), explores the untold stories of Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews who left or were driven from the Middle East and North Africa.
Syrian Jewish Playwright Oren Safdie, son of world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, who designed Habitat 67 along with much of modern Jerusalem, knows loss, regret, and longing. Oren and his father explore their Syrian heritage and their connection to the Jewish State that has developed since Moshe’s father left Aleppo, Syria and moved, in the mid-20th century, to what is modern-day Israel.
This heartfelt conversation with Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of 23-year-old Hersh, was recorded before the 23-year-old, Israeli-American was murdered by Hamas terrorists in captivity in late August 2024. In this episode, Polin and Goldberg detail what they knew about their son’s abduction from the Supernova music festival on October 7 and the challenges they faced in trying to secure his rescue.
How many hostages does Hamas have? What hostages are being released today? And have any Israeli hostages been released? Here is what is known about the people taken hostage on October 7, the history of Hamas’ hostage-taking, and how Israel has responded in the past.
At 6:30 a.m., October 7, Hamas, the Iran-backed terror group controlling Gaza, launched an unprovoked and vicious surprise attack on Israel. See these AJC resources, as we follow the latest in the evolving situation.