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How can I ever find the words to
express the amazement, the wonder and the gratitude I feel! The massive
demonstration for you last night in Gan HaVradim (the Rose Garden) was like a
story book fantasy! It lasted for 5 hours and was well-attended from start to
finish - even with people coming and going. The speeches and songs gave way
at 8 PM to a full blown concert starring the popular music star Aaron Razel.
He told me that it was a great honor to sing for you. Every song he sang,
every tune they played was introduced by relating it to you and your deeds and
devotion to and for Am Yisrael. Again the youth - our beautiful sweet
hope for the future - were there in full force. Singing, dancing , chanting,
cheering, praying and very often crying for you. I get tears in my eyes just
thinking of some of the young people who came up to speak with me. How many
of them stood there with tears running down their cheeks, telling me to tell
you to be strong, that they will not rest until you are home. The girls
hugged and kissed me and squeezed my hand while blessing me and blessing you.
The boys stood shyly around me, respectfully at a distance, but with all the
same blessings and words of comfort, cheer and utter determination to see you
home. I can picture you now, laughing and
smiling, and saying to me, “Esther, slow down! Start from the beginning! I
want to hear everything that happened, from start to finish! As always, I
have to protest, “But Jonathan, I am not like you! I can’t remember
everything! And I can’t remember it all in chronological order! That is a male
trait. I remember things like a female - emotionally - how it felt, more than
anything else. I’ll try to tell you everything, but please, indulge me if I
lead with my heart not my head.” And then you flash this cute Pollard-Bear
smile which radiates love and amusement and very great patience. That is my
signal to go ahead, and I shall: When I first arrived at Gan HaVradim,
there were already about 2000 people there. The Rose Garden is a huge expanse
of territory, so the crowd - though substantial - seemed dwarfed by the
vastness of the place. The sun was very hot and there was little or no shade
where the stage and the chairs were set up. But that did not deter the crowd.
All the chairs were filled and the large overflow of participants sat on the
grass or under trees a little distance away, to escape the sun. People kept
arriving as Harav Shlomo Aviner was speaking. He was followed by HaRav
Ben-Tzion and then HaRav Eran Margalit. As HaRav Margalit was speaking the
crowd suddenly rose to their feet almost in a wave, to show respect to HaRav
Dov Lior of Kyriat Arba, who had just arrived. Like those who preceded him,
HaRav Lior spoke eloquently and from the heart about you. For the last few days, I have attended
numerous speeches by respected Rabbonim, all speaking about you, as part of
the week-long Pollard Event in Gan HaVradim which culminated in the massive
demonstration. At the demonstration we were treated to more of the same by
some very prominent Rabbonim. In my typically female fashion, I remember less
what they said, than how their words affected me. Each time another rabbi
gets up and begins to speak about you, I want to rub my eyes and ask myself
if I am dreaming! Rabbi after rabbi speaks of you with the utmost love and
respect and deep concern. They use different words and different drashas to
make their points, but they all praise your dedication and devotion to Am
Yisrael. They speak of your selflessness, your devotion, your overwhelming
love and concern for Am Yisrael; and of your heroic battle to survive these
18 years of indifference and injustice at the hands of our own government and
our so-called best ally. They deplore the government’s lack of action, and
they worry aloud about the consequences of our failure as a nation to show
you the love, and the HaKarat Tova (gratitude) you deserve. Worse still they
worry about the on-going consequences of our failure to rescue you. None of
the rabbonim have a real command of the legal case, but broad brush, they
speak of the massive injustice done to you and of the urgency of rescuing
you. And each relates parallels between you and our Biblical heroes. Most
often, the theme of Yosef Ha'tzaddik is drawn upon. But others as well. I
watch this. I listen. And I wish you could see it, because I know you would not
believe your own eyes or ears as well. All these extraordinary Rabbonim
-after all these years that we were so sure they just did not know or did not
care - and now here they are speaking publicly about you with such love and
admiration, praying for your release, exhorting the public to become
involved.... it is deeply touching and quite miraculous! There were so many amazing speakers!
Among them: HaRav Shlomo Aviner, HaRav Dov Lior, Harav Eran Margalit, Harav
Moshe Hagar, Harav Chanan Porat, Harav Bedichi (he was the right hand of
HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook ztl.), Harav Taibak and more. Nadia Matar and Shifra
Hoffman also spoke very beautifully. Did I tell you Ken Lasson was there? He
and his wife Barbara attended. Ken spoke as well, and Eli translated for the
crowd. I kept watching the speakers and watching the crowd, and I kept
thinking to myself, “If only Jonathan could see this! He would be stunned to
see all these people gathering here for him! He would shake his head in
disbelief at the outpouring of love and concern!” The caring and deep
commitment and longing to see you home was so all pervasive throughout the
crowd that it was almost palpable. Jonathan, Larry always reminds me that
a famous rabbi told him years ago, “He who controls the buses, controls the
public’s presence at demonstrations.” And it is true. In Israel, all the
large demonstrations get their numbers by providing free transportation from
all parts of the country and from various points within Jerusalem. That way
the crowd comes together, is forced to stay until the end, and then leaves
together. In our case, we did not provide buses from anywhere. We simply have
no funds to do that. So, it is all the more amazing then to consider of the
substantial crowd which participated yesterday - that every single person was
committed enough to get there on their own! Many came from other cities. They
came and they stayed. Not because they were forced to wait for return buses,
but because they wanted to. Most people stayed for hours. And then left on
their own. As they left in trickles, new faces kept arriving throughout!
There was never a moment that the grounds were not full of Pollard
participants from the time the rally began at 5:00 PM until the time it ended
at 10:00 PM! I wish I could describe every exciting
thing that happened; every speaker; every private conversation; all the
wonderful people who came, and how they would come up to me and hug me and
clasp my hand and bless you and bless us, and express such wonderful
thoughts. But there are simply too many moments to describe so let me focus
on a few, and G-d willing very soon when you are home I will have all the
years until 120 with you to fill in all the details! Amain! Let me tell you about my on-location
interview with Channel One News (The Govt. TV station) who were covering the
event. I talked about how your release has already been promised by the
former president of the United States as an integral part of the Wye accords.
How Israel lived up to its end of the deal but when the US failed to deliver
on your release, Israel did nothing. I noted that the commitment still
stands, and especially in light of all the US pressure for Israel to make
gestures, it is high time that Israel collected on the American promise to
release you. I pointed out that after 18 years, in light of Israel’s numerous
and egregious prisoner releases made at the behest of the United States,
there simply are no more excuses for Israel’s failure to collect your
release. In response to the interviewer’s
questions I also covered a number of other issues, including the deeply
hostile attitude of the current Prime Minister to the plight of an Israeli
agent in peril; and of the repeated failures of a series of Governments of
Israel to behave with honor or integrity towards you. It was made quite clear
that the Government of Israel has not only failed to seek your release all
these years, but it has also sabotaged and undermined our efforts and
callously and calculatedly ignored opportunity after opportunity to bring you
home. This was approximately the point at
which the assimilated reporter from the Government TV station leaned towards
me, smiled, and tried to knock me for a loop. “Esther,” he said, “Look at the
crowd here today. There are a couple of thousand people, not tens of
thousands. And most of the people here today are wearing kipas. Where is
everyone else? Do you think that the nation is trying to tell you something?
That perhaps Jonathan is not one of us?” I smiled at him and looked straight
into the camera as I replied, “You look at the crowd of people gathered here
today and all you see are external appearances. I look at the same scene and
I see a MIRACLE! It a miracle that there are SO MANY people here today! After
18 years of the best efforts that both governments have invested in
slandering Jonathan, sabotaging his case, and stifling all attempts to
publicize his plight, it is nothing but a miracle that there is such a large
crowd today! Not only that, look who is here today! Look at the overwhelming number
of young faces that are here with us today! These children were not even born
when Jonathan was arrested! The Ministry of Education refuses to allow
Jonathan to be part of the education curriculum, the Government never wanted
our youth to know about him. But in spite of all efforts to prevent it, 18
years later our youth DO know, and they DO care, and they ARE here today! If
that is not a miracle, I do not know what is! And while we are on the
subject, if you are so concerned as to why the non-religious public is so
scarce today, you had better look to yourselves. We have had 3 highly
successful demonstrations this month and your station never covered any of
these events, so whose fault is it if the people do not know? If you cover
this current rally and you broadcast honestly, I am certain that there will
be as many secular people with us next time as there were when we held our
major event at the Kotel.” The interviewer assured me that of
course they would do an honest broadcast and cover this event fairly on the
evening news . I am told by those who monitored the news that the clip of my
interview did not appear. Nor did the interview with Larry Dub. In fact the
demonstration was not covered at all! Par for the course. A woman in Tel-Aviv
who lives with 15 cats is evicted from her home because the neighbors
complain of the stench and the filth. Half a dozen do-gooders show up and
stage a protest on her doorstep. They receive night and day extensive
coverage from the bleeding-heart government-run TV station. But the
miraculous major demonstration for an Israeli agent in peril after 18 years
of abandonment and betrayal, doesn’t even merit a mention on the nightly
news! Welcome to Israel. Another journalist I met at the
demonstration also lamented the fact that there were so many religious people
at the event, and insisted that we will get nowhere unless there is greater
involvement by the non-religious community. I pointed out that we had a much
heavier mixed participation at our last two events which were more readily
accessible and which received greater publicity. I also explained that Heaven
looks at numbers differently than we do. I reminded her of my earlier
presentation to the crowd. She said she had missed it. So I repeated for her
something I had said earlier: That the very fact that there are a couple of
thousand people present is nothing but a miracle which two governments and an
elitist, indifferent media did their best to prevent. And contrary to what
Channel One News may think, these few thousand are sufficient numbers to be
the vehicle for the miracle of Jonathan’s release. I said that there are
times in the life of our nation, like that of the story of Purim when the
entire nation unites as one, and does whatever is necessary to invoke the blessing
of Heaven. Heaven responds to the unified prayers and deeds of the nation
with the miracle necessary for our salvation. But, I said, there are also
other times, such as the story of Chanukah, when it is only a handful of very
dedicated and brave individuals who are able to come together with
single-minded devotion to do Kiddush HaShem and to protect and defend the
nation. In those circumstances where the best we as a nation can do - under
repressive, fascistic regimes, or deceitful regimes - is to produce a small
group of fearless heroes to be representatives of the entire nation, Heaven
responds and the miracle needed is granted as well. G-d willing, Heaven will smile upon the
thousands of people who have showed up at demonstrations for you in recent
weeks, and regard their prayers and actions as representative of the entire
nation. Just as the few overcame the many, and the weak overcame the mighty
at Chanukah, may it indeed be so for us as well! Amain! Another highlight of the event, was the
unexpected arrival of a delegation of Azzam Azzam’s family. They have pitched
a tent outside the Prime Minister’s office and have vowed not to leave it
until the Government acts to free Azzam Azzam from prison in Egypt. They say
they are tired of the Government’s empty gestures and broken promises. Sami
Azzam, Azzam Azzam’s brother and his cousin sought me out. The came over to
introduce themselves and asked if they might show their solidarity with
Jonathan by participating. I assured them that they were most welcome. Eli
Joseph, the director of events, privately asked me if it would be all right
to have Sami address the crowd, and I responded that both you and I would be
very happy if he would, by all means! Sami spoke passionately and well for
both your release and that of his brother Azzam Azzam. He said his family
understands too well the Government’s penchant for words, not deeds. They are
deeply distressed by how much is being said in the Israeli press for Azzam
Azzam and how little is being done. He said that in light of recent events
and of all the prisoner releases Israel has bowed to, there is no excuse why
you or Azzam Azzam should continue to be political pawns. Sami’s voice shook
with emotion as he said, “They are freeing the terrorists that murder our
children! But they cannot find it in their hearts to free our sons, Jonathan
and Azzam Azzam?!!” Sami Azzam was well-received by the crowd and received
much applause and support. In between speakers there were
musicians and songs written especially for you. One of my favorites, Reuven
David, sang Acheinu Kol Beit Yisrael. The whole crowd joined in. He was
accompanied on the keyboard by Mordecai Fischer. Fischer and his wife Techiya
schlep his musical equipment, amplifiers and paraphernalia to every Pollard
event to sing his special song, Achinu Yehonatan (Our Brother Jonathan). That
is the song that Rabbi Yoav Malka composed out of an article written by HaRav
Shlomo Aviner. The music is deeply moving, and no matter how many times
Mordecai sings it, he does so with great feeling. Only one MK, Gilad Erdan showed up. He
addressed the crowd and spoke of a new law that he is introducing into the
Knesset to assure that no agreement can be signed unless your release is a
part of it. I explained to Erdan that our Government does not respect written
agreements. That the agreement at Wye guaranteed your release but the
Government has never acted upon it. I reminded him that our Prime Minister
does not bother to sign agreements when he unilaterally frees murderers or
hands over territories. Sharon even stated flatly that he has no obligation
to consult the Knesset over the Road Map since it is not a signed agreement.
That for all these reasons and more, the law Erdan is proposing is a waste of
time. Time that should be much better spent rallying his colleagues to bring
pressure on Sharon that NOTHING further be negotiated, agreed, or handed
over, and NO MORE PRISONER RELEASES, until Jonathan Pollard is released.
Nevertheless I did thank Erdan for coming and for his interest in the case. After Erdan spoke and I gave my closing
remarks, there was a break for Mincha prayers. When we resumed, Eli announced
the arrival of a special guest, popular singing star, Aaron Razel! Aaron is a
phenomenal songwriter, singer and entertainer. He is well-known in Israel and
very popular with the younger generation.. Aaron spoke beautifully about you
and gave you many many blessings and then started the concert. The next two
hours were nothing but song and dance - all of it focused on you - in a huge
Pollard Bash. Razel’s music is lively without being an assault on the ears.
It just makes you want to get up and dance, so that is what every one did.
The girls quickly fashioned a makeshift mechitzah (partition) and invited me
to come dance with them. The boys and men danced on the other side. It will probably surprise you that I
did dance. You know that I usually refuse to participate in any “joyful”
activities or entertainment as long as you are in prison. But this was not
entertainment, and it was not wanton joy. The dances we participated in were
very focused. Very pure. Every song was dedicated to you. All the words were
about you. All the music was for you. All around us were huge signs, posters
and portraits of you. There was an overwhelming sense of unity in our
dancing. It was not just dancing. It was dancing for Jonathan. Dancing for
Kiddush HaShem. Dancing for Achdut Yisrael (Jewish Unity.) For as long as I
live, I will never forget the sense of connectedness and unity of purpose I experienced
last night while dancing with my sisters. I felt the same way watching as our
brothers danced with single-minded devotion to Jonathan and to HaShem! It was
the first time in my life, that I so keenly experienced music and dance as a
form of prayer and a supplication to Heaven. May the Almighty receive our all
of prayers; may He hear and answer them to the good and soon! Amain! May we
be privileged as a nation, very very soon, to welcome you at Ben Gurion
Airport and to go out on the tarmac and dance again, with you this time, in
thanks and praise to HaKadosh Baruch Hu - the living G-d of Israel! Amain!
Ken Yihi Ratzon! All my
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