INN News Item: A'aleh et Pollard al rosh simchati
I shall elevate Pollard above my foremost joy
Afraid the holy words* in your wedding invitation may be desecrated should the card end up in the garbage? Rabbi Shlomo Aviner has a suggestion, "We can link our simcha to the release of Jonathan Pollard." This plus another 11 ways to work for the release of Jonathan Pollard.
Hillel Fendel - IsraelNationalNews - July 29, 2008
(IsraelNN.com) Supporters of Jonathan Pollard refuse to allow him to drop from the news - and have ideas as to how to ensure he is pardoned soon.
Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem, co-Chief Rabbi of Beit El, and a long-time outspoken supporter of Pollard, has publicized a list of 12 ideas, many of them new, as to how to keep Pollard on the agenda. The goal, he writes, is to ensure that outgoing U.S. President George Bush issues him a pardon, and the way to do that is to have the Israeli government make an official request for such - and the way to do that is to keep Pollard high in the public awareness, so as to influence the government.
On November 21 of last year, Jonathan Pollard entered his 23rd year of a
life sentence
for his activities on behalf of Israel. He was convicted not on charges of treason, as some mistakenly believe, but on one count of passing classified information to an ally. The median sentence for this offense is 2-4 years, but Pollard received a life sentence - the result of a plea bargain which he honored and the U.S. government violated.On Rabbi Aviner's list of ideas are the following:
- Talk about Pollard wherever possible - with friends, in the store, in classes, on the radio, in written articles, and wherever possible.
- Wear a blue Pollard bracelet. [Available from The Committee to Bring Jonathan Pollard Home - email:
freepollard@gmail.com
] - Recite prayers [for Yehonatan ben Malka Pollard] including public prayers in the synagogue during the Torah reading.
- Mention Pollard in wedding and Bar-Mitzvah invitations and Grace After Meals cards.
[Include Pollard in blessings at the event, especially under the chupah!]
- Post "We want Pollard Home" bumper stickers on cars and wherever permitted.
- Give to the cause. Helping to redeem captives is the best charity there is. Contact
freepollard@gmail.com
for more information. - Involve non-religious people. "For some strange, illogical reason," the rabbi writes, "almost all those who have joined the struggle for Pollard are religious. If you know high-ranking secular people, please try to interest them in the struggle..."
Write
to MKs, Prime Minister Olmert, and U.S. President Bush.- Write to Pollard himself, though only in English. He cannot respond, but deeply enjoys the letters he receives and refers to them as "oxygen".
His address:
JONATHAN POLLARD 09185-016
P.O.B. 1000
BUTNER N. C.
U.S.A. 27509-1000
Former officials of the U.S. government such as ex- CIA director James Woolsey and former top U.S. Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross have come out in favor of clemency for Pollard.
*J4JP Note:
The reference is to the traditional quote which often appears in Jewish wedding invitations taken from Psalm 137:"Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I fail to recall you, if I fail to elevate Jerusalem above my foremost joy."