1.
A few minutes after the memorial service for the thirtieth anniversary of Esther Pollard's passing began, someone approached me and quietly asked if, as the moderator, I might know when Jonathan Pollard would speak. I told him that according to the plan, he was supposed to close the evening, in about an hour and a half.
""Thank you very much," he told me with a half-apologetic smile, "I'm asking when he's speaking, not for me, I have the patience to wait until the end of the event, but for them.".
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He pointed to his two sweet children, who are less than ten years old, and said: "I brought them here especially so they could see Pollard speak and I hope they don't fall asleep until the end of the memorial.".
I did a quick math: Pollard was released from prison in the summer of 2015, which means that in a few months it will be seven years since his release, which means that these kids didn't grow up during the great struggles for Pollard's release. They weren't at the protests, they didn't wear stickers, and they probably don't know the phrase "Yonathan Ben Malka.".
They were born, that is, they grew up, into a reality where Pollard is already out of prison (albeit under strict restrictions in the United States). Yet it is important to their dear father to take them to Jerusalem to the Yeshurun Synagogue late at night so they can see Pollard speak.
He wants to burn an experience into them, and more than that: he wants to burn a hero into them. It's impressive.
2.
Who are our childhood heroes? Who are our children's childhood heroes? Who would we want their heroes to be? These questions are worth in-depth discussion. Life-shaping questions. But let's leave it to the children for now. Not only for them, but also for you adults, it's worth the trouble to see Pollard in real life.
First of all, it's exciting. To meet a Jew who for thirty years we prayed for his release and now, by the grace of God, he is free and lives here among us in Jerusalem. He is essentially "the one who blessed" a walker.
I must confess: Every time I went up to the synagogue stage to invite another speaker to Spud, Esther Pollard, and her tears, I felt, alongside the great pain, joy. I remembered well that I was at a memorial service for a dear woman who passed away prematurely. Of course. I am well aware of Pollard's terrible tragedy. But what can I do, it was out of my control. Every time I saw him sitting in the front row in front of the stage – I was moved anew. He came home. He is here. The place took pity on him and brought him out of trouble into relief, and out of darkness into light.
One could be content with the excitement of the release itself, but meeting Pollard goes beyond that. There is something radiant about his personality.
What does it radiate? Well, for that you'll have to see it for yourself. When you stand in front of it you feel something. Some greatness of spirit, gratitude, humility, faith and a few other illuminating things that are hard for me to define. Actually, I have a definition: sublimity. There's something uplifting about it.
3.
And it's a great wonder. A person in his condition, who has been through what he has been through, after thirty years in isolation under such difficult conditions, after all the severe restrictions in the United States in the years after his release, is supposed to be bitter, sullen, sad, turned off. I would completely understand if it was the Pollard who would have gotten off the plane. The fact that he is even sane is not a given. But what can be done when Pollard is not only a sane person but much more than that.
Oh, and he also has a good sense of humor. And that's not trivial at all. I heard that at an event held a few days ago - an evening intended to raise funds for an exciting project that Pollard is leading, the establishment of the 'Children of Esther' center, a complex of kindergartens that will provide Jewish education to hundreds of children a year in Tel Aviv, in memory of the woman who, because of the Americans' vengefulness, was not blessed with children of her own - Pollard was about to give a speech and while he was speaking, his cell phone started ringing.
He put the device aside and said with a smile: "I never imagined that after I was finally released from prison, such a small thing would take over my life." And even earlier, when he entered the place, he said: "Wow. It's just a miracle that I'm here. An open miracle!".
The hosts thought he was talking about being released from prison after all these years, but Pollard continued: "It's a miracle I found parking in this area of Tel Aviv.".
4.
At the memorial service held in Jerusalem, the speakers all spoke about the dedication of Esther Pollard, Eileen Zeitz by her original name, who could have remained a teacher in Canada but could not stand by and dedicated her life to the struggle. And Pollard, who calls her "my spiritual teacher," recounted the heartbreaking farewell to her: "In her last moments, Esther told me this: 'My soul descended into this world for two missions. The first mission was to bring you home. The second mission was to bring you home as a Jew and not as a Gentile. And the first mission was easier... Thank God, it took me thirty years, but I completed my missions,' and then she closed her eyes and passed away.".
In one of the highlights of the evening, the Kippa Live band sang together with the entire audience the verse that Jonathan chose to engrave on the tombstone erected this week on Esther's grave: "I remember the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.".
5.
Then Rabbi Yehuda Ben Yishai came up. Speaking of shining role models, then you should meet him too, or at least watch his classes on the Meir channel. I remember that after an interview with him was published during the shiva about his daughter and son-in-law, Rabbi Udi and Ruthie Fogel and their children, the "D" Rabbi, the television critic of "Ma'ariv" wrote in bewilderment: Why haven't we seen such a figure on television until now? Where has he been?
The painful answer is that Rabbi Yehuda Ben Yishai has always been here, or at least since he immigrated to Israel from France, but before the terrible massacre in Itamar, the media (excluding the Meir Channel) wasn't exactly interested in figures like him.
But what is the connection between Rabbi Ben Yishai and Esther Pollard? Why was he chosen to eulogize her at the 30th anniversary rally? The answer is that the connection between them is perhaps the most moving eulogy for her, and also for her husband, who will be separated for a good and long life.
""With the permission of our brother, dear Jonathan," he began, "the truth is that I am moved because I stood here in the Yeshurun synagogue 11 years ago in our thirties, it happened in the month of Adar. And I remember Esther, may God bless her, coming into our house for shiva. She brought such cute teddy bears, three. This is the first time we see Esther, and she says: I am Esther, and I have come on Jonathan's behalf.
""We look at her, stunned. What? On Jonathan's errand? Jonathan is in prison, in America. And she said: We spoke on the phone and Jonathan asked to come to your house to comfort you and bring toys for the children, for Tamar, for Roi and for Lishi... I'm on an errand. That's actually him. We received these gifts and you could say that maybe that was the most moving moment, when we suddenly saw a person who was so far behind bars, connecting with us and identifying with us and encouraging us in such difficult moments when we cried for a daughter, a son-in-law and three children.
""When the Prime Minister visited our house, Tamar immediately said to him: 'What are you doing to get Jonathan out of prison?' He was very surprised, and he told her: 'We are trying.' Thank God, this effort was successful. Thank God.".
6.
But the story of the miraculous bond that was forged between the Jewish prisoner sitting in an isolated cell in a high-security prison in North Carolina and the Ben Yishai and Fogel families who lived together in Jerusalem does not end here.
""We decided to return the visit," said Rabbi Ben Yishai. "And I want to talk about the tremendous providence, with the help of Rabbi Pesach Lerner, who is here tonight, and another very dear person who has since passed away and I must mention his name here – Rabbi Shlomo Zakheim, a blessed righteous man. He called us and said: You come and we will arrange everything. And we went to Yonatan. Endless miracles happened. We saw how the Holy One, blessed be He, took us, and 12-year-old Tamar was approved to be brought to visit the prison, something that had never happened in the history of America. No one stopped us.
""We sat with Jonathan, and he gave us a lesson on the book of Joshua, the book of entering the land. I told Jonathan: We came today to fulfill three commandments. The first commandment is the commandment of redeeming captives. To encourage and strengthen our brother who gave his life to save his people and his inheritance. The second commandment is to visit the sick. Jonathan was not feeling well at that time and we were so moved that we could come and hug him. And what was the third commandment? Jonathan was sitting in a shiva for the death of his father. We arrived exactly on the shiva for the death of his father, after they did not let him go to his father's funeral! And we, after Esther came to us on the shiva, came to visit exactly when Jonathan was mourning his father. How the Lord of the universe rolled things around...""
""Then we realized that there really is no distance between us," concluded Rabbi Yehuda Ben Yishai. "We realized how Jews are close and connected and bound by blood ties, above and beyond every wall, every barrier. That's how it was. We sat with Jonathan for two hours. There was someone from the prison next to us who heard and listened to every word, so that Jonathan wouldn't give us any secrets, but he told us the main secret: that he loves the people and he loves the land and he is connected to them.
""And the people of Israel brought us here. I stand here today exactly 11 years later, next week is the memorial service for our children, and I want to say to Jonathan: You comforted us. You gave us strength. And I am so happy that we came to you. And together we will continue this path. You still have so much to give to the people of Israel. With God's help, you will do and succeed, also with the strength of Esther, who is now praying from above, she will surely pray for the people and the land that you love so much. Jonathan, we are brothers.".
I really hope these two sweet children didn't fall asleep.
• The column is published in the newspaper 'Bisheva''
