Pollard is nearing the end of this 18th year in American prison for having spied for Israel. His wife Esther wrote him an enthusiastic, optimistic and dramatic letter, describing the event she called a "runaway success." Excerpts:
"I am so glad you called last night so that you could hear the excitement in my voice and the sheer delight when I returned home from the protest march and demonstration in honor of your birthday! This event was a runaway success, the likes of which we have never seen before! More than 10,000 people poured through the streets of Jerusalem today, singing, clapping, shouting, chanting and calling your name! The energy was electric!
"Eli Joseph and I led the march and the crowd fell in behind us... We poured out of Gan Ha'atzmaut and marched to the Knesset, singing songs, carrying signs, and calling out slogans for your return home. Over and over again throughout the crowd there were spontaneous outbursts of "Happy Birthday Jonathan!" and the song would move like a wave through the crowd until everyone was singing... As we marched and clapped and sang, people along the route to the Knesset came out of their houses and stood on the sidewalk and clapped and sang with us as we marched by them...
"The crowd was so massive it overflowed the streets of Jerusalem and the police had to shut the roads down for us. Every now and then I would turn around to look at the crowd following behind us and I just stared in delight and disbelief. Wave after wave of people kept thronging forward. I could not see the end of the mass of people; it ran for city blocks and it looked like there was no end. As we went down the hill towards the stoplight at Wolfson, just where you make the turn towards the Knesset, I looked behind me and the crowd stretched all the way up the hill and back into the city center! I kept thinking, "If only Jonathan could see this! He would never believe it! If only Jonathan could see this!" ...
"The hardest thing to describe about this event was the ruach, the spirit of the event, the atmosphere, the energy. It was so intense, so genuine, so alive, so infused with devotion that it was as if the Shechinah (G-d's own presence) rested upon us. Although it is a substantial walk from Gan Ha'atzmaut to the Knesset, I never felt the distance. The crowd thrived on collective consciousness and it carried us along, fueled by a collective sense of Ahavat Yisrael [love of Israel]...
"The air was charged with energy and enthusiasm which spread through the crowd like wildfire! Eli tried to begin the program of speakers, but every time he opened his mouth or mentioned your name, the cheering, shouting, clapping, whistling, and chanting would start and drown him out! Groups of people kept bursting into spontaneous chants, thundering slogans like "Arik! Arik! Heetorair! Et Pollard l'shachrair!" (Arik! Arik! Wake Up! Free Pollard Now!) ...
"I finally had to put my hand up to request silence and a hush fell over the crowd. I thanked everyone for coming and for their wild enthusiasm which has deeply touched our hearts. Gesturing towards the Knesset building behind me, I told them that I do not care what kind of impression this gathering of the nation may be making on the politicians, because salvation is not going to come from them. The only place where our voice truly matters is in Heaven. I told them that their shouts and their chants for Jonathan are heard in Heaven as prayer and that the Almighty Himself welcomes their outcry. They started to cheer again and the cheers and chants again drowned out my words..."
"Again I thanked the crowd for their heart-felt outpouring of love and support for Jonathan and asked them to please join us now in a more formalized kind of prayer. I explained the Pollard/ Nishmat Kol Chai prayer card, how we worked with HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu to design it so that it can be used to daven (pray) for Jonathan now and still be used to daven for him after he is released. I told the crowd, 'Today we are saying Nishmat Kol Chai as a segula and request for Jonathan's release; G-d willing, tomorrow we will gather together to say it in thanksgiving and praise to the Almighty for sending Jonathan home to us! Amain!' The applause was deafening!..."
The entire letter can be read
on the Pollard website . Photos of the demonstration can be seen there as well.
The prayers were led by former Prisoner of Zion Rabbi Yosef Mendelovitch, and other speakers included Eli Joseph - who spoke about Raoul Wallenberg as a parallel to the Pollard story - as well as young Pollard activist Adi Ginzburg, Minister Benny Elon, MKs Michael Eitan, Uri Ariel and Yuli Edelstein, and others.
"I am so glad you called last night so that you could hear the excitement in my voice and the sheer delight when I returned home from the protest march and demonstration in honor of your birthday! This event was a runaway success, the likes of which we have never seen before! More than 10,000 people poured through the streets of Jerusalem today, singing, clapping, shouting, chanting and calling your name! The energy was electric!
"Eli Joseph and I led the march and the crowd fell in behind us... We poured out of Gan Ha'atzmaut and marched to the Knesset, singing songs, carrying signs, and calling out slogans for your return home. Over and over again throughout the crowd there were spontaneous outbursts of "Happy Birthday Jonathan!" and the song would move like a wave through the crowd until everyone was singing... As we marched and clapped and sang, people along the route to the Knesset came out of their houses and stood on the sidewalk and clapped and sang with us as we marched by them...
"The crowd was so massive it overflowed the streets of Jerusalem and the police had to shut the roads down for us. Every now and then I would turn around to look at the crowd following behind us and I just stared in delight and disbelief. Wave after wave of people kept thronging forward. I could not see the end of the mass of people; it ran for city blocks and it looked like there was no end. As we went down the hill towards the stoplight at Wolfson, just where you make the turn towards the Knesset, I looked behind me and the crowd stretched all the way up the hill and back into the city center! I kept thinking, "If only Jonathan could see this! He would never believe it! If only Jonathan could see this!" ...
"The hardest thing to describe about this event was the ruach, the spirit of the event, the atmosphere, the energy. It was so intense, so genuine, so alive, so infused with devotion that it was as if the Shechinah (G-d's own presence) rested upon us. Although it is a substantial walk from Gan Ha'atzmaut to the Knesset, I never felt the distance. The crowd thrived on collective consciousness and it carried us along, fueled by a collective sense of Ahavat Yisrael [love of Israel]...
"The air was charged with energy and enthusiasm which spread through the crowd like wildfire! Eli tried to begin the program of speakers, but every time he opened his mouth or mentioned your name, the cheering, shouting, clapping, whistling, and chanting would start and drown him out! Groups of people kept bursting into spontaneous chants, thundering slogans like "Arik! Arik! Heetorair! Et Pollard l'shachrair!" (Arik! Arik! Wake Up! Free Pollard Now!) ...
"I finally had to put my hand up to request silence and a hush fell over the crowd. I thanked everyone for coming and for their wild enthusiasm which has deeply touched our hearts. Gesturing towards the Knesset building behind me, I told them that I do not care what kind of impression this gathering of the nation may be making on the politicians, because salvation is not going to come from them. The only place where our voice truly matters is in Heaven. I told them that their shouts and their chants for Jonathan are heard in Heaven as prayer and that the Almighty Himself welcomes their outcry. They started to cheer again and the cheers and chants again drowned out my words..."
"Again I thanked the crowd for their heart-felt outpouring of love and support for Jonathan and asked them to please join us now in a more formalized kind of prayer. I explained the Pollard/ Nishmat Kol Chai prayer card, how we worked with HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu to design it so that it can be used to daven (pray) for Jonathan now and still be used to daven for him after he is released. I told the crowd, 'Today we are saying Nishmat Kol Chai as a segula and request for Jonathan's release; G-d willing, tomorrow we will gather together to say it in thanksgiving and praise to the Almighty for sending Jonathan home to us! Amain!' The applause was deafening!..."
The entire letter can be read
on the Pollard website . Photos of the demonstration can be seen there as well.
The prayers were led by former Prisoner of Zion Rabbi Yosef Mendelovitch, and other speakers included Eli Joseph - who spoke about Raoul Wallenberg as a parallel to the Pollard story - as well as young Pollard activist Adi Ginzburg, Minister Benny Elon, MKs Michael Eitan, Uri Ariel and Yuli Edelstein, and others.