Author Sara Rigler on Friday paid a shiva (condolence) call to Jonathan Pollard, following the recent death of Pollard's wife Esther.
During the visit, Pollard spoke of his late wife, saying, "She was royalty. She was my teacher, and I learned a really important lesson about the power of women from her."
"She always told me, 'Women are our future,' and I looked at her, typical male, and said, 'What are you talking about?' And she said, 'We were the ones who stayed true to Hashem with the eigal hazahav (Golden Calf -ed.) from the beginning.' She said, 'You remember that.' So, I remember that."
"Her advocacy for me was indistinguishable from her advocacy for Eretz Hakodesh and Am Yisrael. It was completely indistinguishable. And she was so insistent on having people understand what was involved in the case, because she wanted to generate in people's mind an awareness that we were lost. She said, 'We have to defend Eretz Hakodesh with emuna and bitachon (faith).'
"She said, 'My husband will be brought home when the kos shel tefilos (cup of prayers - ed.) are filled.' She said, 'Hashem (G-d) is waiting to see who the Jewish people put their faith in.' And she said, 'When that kos is filled my husband will come home and other things will happen back home.' Because she felt that only by demonstrating to Hashem, where our ultimate source of salvation comes from that we will reach the geula (redemption) with a kiss rather than a swipe."
"Joining the streams of people climbing the stairs to the small Kiryat Moshe apartment, I felt like I was on a pilgrimage," Rigler said afterwards. "Indeed, since his wife’s passing, Jonathan Pollard has become an eloquent teacher for Am Yisrael (the People of Israel -ed.)."
She added that the "incredible conversation" during the visit "made everyone in the room feel elevated and inspired."