Hundreds of people gathered in Skokie for the dedication of a new 24-hour kosher community fridge honoring Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the Israeli-American hostage who was murdered by Hamas after being taken from a music festival. Organizers say the fridge, stocked entirely by neighbors, is the country's first kosher fridge of its kind, and Goldberg-Polin's parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, were among those in attendance.
Goldberg-Polin was 23 years old and was found dead in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip, according to ABC7 Chicago. The station reports that the fridge is designed to give recipients privacy and dignity while picking up food, and that it will be open to anybody who needs it. Rachel Goldberg-Polin said she valued how easily everyone could participate in the meal spot, per the same report.
The project was built by Solu, an Orthodox Jewish social services organization co-founded by Executive Director Rabbi Hody Nemes and Rabbi Ari Hart, which established the fridge, known as Hersh's Fridge, as the nation's first 24-hour outdoor kosher community fridge, according to the Walder Foundation. It sits at 8825 East Prairie Road, across from Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue, in a village that is home to more than a dozen synagogues.
An Idealist Remembered With a Mural
A new mural and portrait of Goldberg-Polin were unveiled next to the fridge as part of the dedication. The permanent pavilion housing the memorial artwork was created by local artists Alana Elias, Rena Grosser, Ariela Robinson, and Joey Wertheimer, according to organizer accounts.
Jon Polin described his son as an idealist who sought to make the world a better place, per ABC7's coverage of the event. Goldberg-Polin himself valued working toward a world without hunger and without conflict, the outlet reported, a value organizers say the fridge is meant to carry forward. Amanda Goldstein said organizers want to pursue Hersh's goals in as many places as possible, adding that the fridge aims to preserve people's pride, comfort, and positive feelings when obtaining food.
Deep Roots in Skokie's Jewish Community
The tribute lands in a village with a long-standing connection to Goldberg-Polin's family. He was born in Berkeley, California, in 2000 before immigrating to Israel at age 7, and both of his parents grew up in the Chicago area and attended Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Skokie, according to the Jewish Journal. Skokie's Jewish population peaked in the mid-1960s at roughly 58% to 60% of the village and today makes up an estimated 28% to 30% of its 65,000 residents, according to WTTW. The suburb also became home to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in 2009, reflecting its history as a major settlement center for Holocaust survivors after World War II, WTTW notes.
Teens Built a System to Keep the Fridge Kosher
Keeping an outdoor fridge kosher around the clock required a volunteer infrastructure, since kosher-certified groceries typically cost 20% to 50% more than non-kosher groceries, a burden that falls hardest on observant families facing food insecurity or disruptions in SNAP benefits, per The Forward. Roughly 100 high school students at Ida Crown Jewish Academy formed what they call Hersh's Fridge Club to clean, restock, and label homemade kosher items with certifications verifying they meet Orthodox halachic standards, the outlet reported. The fridge itself is split into three sections: one for groceries with commercial kosher certification, another for meals cooked in kosher homes, and a dry pantry cabinet for shelf-stable goods.
The student effort is guided by the halachic principle of Bal Tashchit, which prohibits senseless waste, according to The Jerusalem Post. Volunteers use that principle to redirect surplus food from weekly Shabbat celebrations into the fridge rather than letting it go to waste. During its soft launch, the fridge was accessed about 50 times a day, and organizers described demand as through the roof.
An Interfaith Effort Beyond One Community
Although built to meet kosher standards, Hersh's Fridge operates as an interfaith project, with volunteers from local churches and mosques joining in to package and stock meals for any neighbor in need, per The Jerusalem Post. Organizers have actively partnered with non-Jewish religious groups across Skokie, Evanston, and Morton Grove. Hoodline previously reported on the grief that swept Chicago when Goldberg-Polin's death was confirmed, as vigils were held across the region alongside similar tributes in Massachusetts and legislative recognitions in Arizona.
