Welcome Home, Pollard!

I’ve waited for this day for about as long as I can remember.

 

I waited with baited breath for years while he languished in jail for the crime of saving the Jewish people living in the Land of Israel. Passing classified information which the State of Israel was entitled to according to the treaty with the US – but the US illegally was withholding. That information enabled Israel to protect itself in time.

 

While the average jail sentence for the “crime” of going above his superiors and passing on the information without their permission to a US ally is only 2 – 4 years, with a maximum of 10 years. When he signed a plea agreement which the US government then violated, sending him to jail in a dungeon in maximum security prison – for 30 years.

 

I wasn’t the only one who waited. One of the many Rabbis and tzaddikim who supported him was Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu zt”l. He told Jonathan that his imprisonment and eventual release is the key to the final redemption (read the entire incredible article here: Remembering Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt”l, by Jonathan and Esther Pollard.  Rabbi Eliyahu also wrote a clear decision in Jewish law that Jonathan Pollard risked his life for the Jewish people and has suffered for the Jewish people, and as such, helping to free him is “the highest form of the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim (the mitzvah to redeem a captive, already considered one of the highest commandments possible to perform). He himself never got to see this moment in his lifetime, although I am sure he is also dancing in Heaven.

 

I waited with baited breath for years while he remained stuck in New York with a GPS monitor strapped to his wrist on parole.

 

Finally, on Nov. 20, 2020, his 5 year parole ended. Jonathan’s wife Esther cut the monitor. And I waited with baited breath to hear that finally, finally, he was coming home.

 

Today, my wait ended. This morning, Dec. 30, 2020, just 40 days after ending parole – Jonathan Pollard flew home on a private jet.

 

He and his wife walked down the stairs from the airplane. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Prime Minister Netanyahu came forward to greet him. He held up one finger as if to say, “Just one moment.” Then he took off his mask and spent a long minute kissing the holy ground of the Holy Land.

 

Only afterwards did he greet the Prime Minister, who greeted him with the blessing “matir asurim” – Blessed are You G-d who releases the bound (literally “releases the prisoners”) and a “Welcome home.” The Prime Minister then handed Jonathon and his wife their new Israeli identity cards.

 

Some moments later, the Prime Minister very emotionally said, “What a moment, what a moment! It’s an emotional moment for me. Jonathon and Esther have come home, how good that they are home. As we say, “Shehechiyanu, v’kiyamanu, vihigiyanu lazman hazeh.” [Thank you Hashem] for giving us life, and kept us alive, and brought us to this day.” 

 

Jonathan then said, “We are ecstatic to be home at last, after 35 years… we hope to become productive citizens and soon and as quickly as possible, and get on with our lives. This is a wonderful country, it has a tremendous future, it is the future of the Jewish people. And we are not going anywhere. A profound thank you.”

 

A Role Model

I don’t want you just to read a nice happy ending. And maybe cry tears of gratitude like I did. Thank you Hashem for this wonderful news, and thank you Hashem for some good news in a world drowning with difficulties.

 

Rebbe Nachman explains in Likutei Moharan 1, and Rabbi Arush strongly reinforces in The Garden of Emuna, that we must “find the wisdom in everything.” This means that we must look to find a hint from Hashem in everything we learn and in everything that happens around us. To ask ourselves, “What can I learn from this? How can I change because of this?”

 

There is a lot that we can learn from Jonathan. And the first thing that comes to mind is that he actually made Aliyah and moved to Israel at his very first opportunity, even with a number of obstacles to making the big move, or at least delaying it!

 

Jonathan wasted no time getting on a plane and coming home to Israel in just 40 days. Jonathan isn’t just running from America – he is eagerly running to Israel. He knows this is where a Jew belongs. He knows the future of the Jewish people is here. He knows his best future is here. He knows better than anyone about the unfortunate reality of antisemitism in America, which cannot be ignored or shrugged off. Of course, he had high-level assistance making the move in record time, but that isn’t the point. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Because he had the will, Hashem helped him find the way.

 

His wife is fighting for her life, battling cancer. They could have easily decided to wait to make the big move until after her treatments ended, but they didn’t. They left a top-notch medical team behind in New York to come to Israel. Of course they had top-level assistance to coordinate continuation of care, and the date of the flight was even coordinated with her treatments, but that isn’t the point. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Because he had the will, Hashem helped him find the way.

 

Don’t look at Jonathan and shrug the story off, thinking to yourself that he had help surmounting his obstacles to moving to Israel, while you don’t. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. If you have the will, which means praying and asking Hashem to help you every day, and doing whatever you can do right now including just opening that Aliyah file and getting your documents in order – Hashem will surely help you find the way.

 

On behalf of the staff of Breslev Israel, we wish Jonathan and his wife all the best in their new home in Israel, we pray for them to have good health and a speedy and complete healing, and a happy and long life together on the holy soil.

 

We all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Jonathan, because we are only here in Israel because of his sacrifice. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you! Finally, you can also enjoy living in the land you sacrificed so much for.

 

And for the rest of you – I hope to be welcoming you home soon, too!