Free Jonathan and Esther Pollard, free ourselves for geula!

18 Nisan 5780 | Hol haMoed Pessah | Day 3 of the Omer


HaShem lives and is beyond life as we have understood it until now, because He created it and is the One who gives it and takes it away. He has command of many, many messengers, including non-human ones.

He made the Golden Rule, "do to others as you would have them do to you." Or, as Jewish people learn it from our sage Hillel, "Whatever is hateful and distasteful to you, do not do to your fellow man. This is the entire Torah, the rest is commentary. Go learn."

The vast majority of the world's nations are now infected with the coronavirus, making the plague a truly worldwide phenomenon. Along with all the things most informed people are doing to guard against it, it is good to take stock spiritually as well.

As my colleague Devash asked,

"Tell me, is the novelty of being home from work beginning to wear off, your patience with the constraints beginning to wear thin, and the restrictions of movement starting to chafe?  There is a holy, righteous Jew who sacrificed his entire life  - his family, his marriage, his career, his health and his freedom for Klal Yisrael's benefit, and he is all but forgotten.  That Jew is Yehonatan (Jonathan) Pollard, the man Rav Mordechai Eliyahu, ztz"l said is "the Yosef HaTzadik of our generation." 

I admit to following her on this topic. Freeing prisoners, especially Jewish ones who have been treated especially harshly (to say the least in this case) because they're Jews, is a great mitzvah, one that every Jew should want to be part of, any way we can.

Therefore, don't think we're separating Jonathan Pollard from other Prisoners of Zion. R' Mordechai Eliyahu, zz"l, declared that freeing Jonathan is the key to freeing all of them — and thus, all of us.

See, we don't have to make it harder on ourselves than it has to be. If to free the one is to free them all, then let's focus on the one. The one most hated by the world, and the most beloved by us, especially those among us who owe their very lives to him because of what he did that put him in the position he's in now. It's merely derekh eretz for him to be freed to come home to Israel now.

We've heard all the objections from the Gentiles and their Jewish supporters, and dismiss them all. Many others have been spies against America (which Jonathan wasn't. He was for Israel. That, it seems, is the major crime he was punished for...) and spent far less time in jail; furthermore, their parole, if any, wasn't as harsh as it is currently for Jonathan. I'm not going to bother going over all that again, as if we still have to prove the case. It is well proven, and we are more than well-acquainted with the antisemitism — and the aim at every single Jew in the world through Jonathan and other Prisoners of Zion — that is the source of this demand for constant proof.

To those of you who are against: Study the case or shut up. Or maybe you prefer to be constantly under lockdown, quarantine or on a hospital respirator before freeing a Jew who is being way overpunished?

(And, oh, I thought you would want to be rid of Jews who are loyal to Israel. Now's your chance to hide your nefarious methods behind corona!)

Or, maybe ALL OTHER SPIES AND TRAITORS ARE ALLOWED TO BE FREE IN AMERICA. ONLY THE JEWS MUST PAY NOT ONLY FULL PRICE, BUT THE PRICE THE OTHERS WOULD HAVE PAID IF THEY'D PAID IN FULL. Sounds familiar...


And I'll add an answer to another, more recent objection that I haven't read yet: Jonathan and his wife Esther have been under far worse than the lockdown we are in now, on a continual basis since Jonathan was released from jail in 2015. Where are they suffering this? In New York City, one of the most infected cities in the USA as I write. Effectively, they're still in jail, considering their age, health conditions and the prevalence of corona where they live.

Back to us: Putting them on a plane to Israel with as many possessions as it can hold, and finding them a place to live, should be no problem for Israel, if corona is the obstacle. They are not as likely to be infected as others in their neighborhood.
 
I imagine that they'll need to be quarantined under the same rules we are, not so much for our protection, but for theirs.

I hope they have a great view and plenty of room to live in. And no ankle bracelet!

Bibi, are you listening?

Mr. Trump, can America afford to hold on to the Pollards under these conditions? She didn't have the decency to make it possible for Jonathan to have a job and support himself while on extreme parole; so the cost is not his fault.

While I'm on this thought train, I'd like to address how we deal with the Jewish media, meaning any public forum, whether newspaper, television program, social media or the like.

I commented to Devash:

...I think we need a long-range strategy, G-d help us. Tactics aren't enough, and we can't wait for normalcy to return -- if it ever will. Which I doubt. I'd rather have geula.

Just one suggestion for now: Perhaps media that calls itself "Jewish" or is thus associated need to be called out for their horrible language regarding their fellow Jews and the tribulations we suffer. The UK Jewish community seems to have succeeded in eliminating two of its "Jewish" media organs, the Jewish Chronicle and the Jewish News (which was going to merge with the Chronicle) because of their obsession with "virtue signaling" to our enemies. Jews there just stopped buying their dirty rags, and Muslims didn't accept them either.

David Singer, in an Arutz 7 article, calls on those who call our goal to restore Jewish sovereignty "West Bank Annexation" to stop this insidious practice. I'd like to see what happens with that. Maybe we can support this call, and more calls for better behavior by our news purveyors.

"Restoring Jewish sovereignty" is not "West Bank annexation"

We consumers of "Jewish" media can name and shame many media centers meant for our consumption, and demand that they portray Jonathan and other Jewish prisoners prominently and sympathetically as well — among the many other issues we have with them. And, even boycott them for good measure when they don't comply.

I really think that our media somehow portray us in general as agreeing with Jonathan's punishment, and this influences the media at large, which in turn influences the politicians and government officials. This, by leaving out the voices of the many of us — perhaps the majority of world Jewry — who disagree.

If Jews in England can cut off media that no longer represent their primary audience, why not we in Israel? Need I say more? 

Here is the latest article posted to Jonathan's web site.


I add my greeting to those in the following video. Have a miraculous Pessah, everyone!

in Hebrew and (some) English!

Title: "To the dear Pollard family"

More translation here in the comments.