There sure is a lot to do in order to prepare for Rosh HaShannah. Two days of Rosh HaShannah means four holiday meals. That in itself means that there is a lot of shopping to be done. I can see it now. Jews in Jersey, Jews in Jerusalem, filling the shopping cart with delicacies. Of course this means that there is a lot of work to be done in the kitchen. I can smell the sweet aroma of chicken being cooked in wine, pineapple and honey now! Then there are those that are invited to eat elsewhere, to spend the holiday with good friends or close relatives. The change in scenery is in itself invigorating, a mechaye. The women of the family certainly want to greet the High Holy Days with some new clothes to say "shechechiyanu" on. It's time to pull out the credit card! Of course one must prepare good divrei Torah, the kind that will be interesting to children as well adults. We certainly have enough tasks to keep us busy.
I know of one Jew who will be spending the holiday alone. No one has invited him to spend the holiday with him. New clothes? No way! As for delicacies, I am not even sure that he has kosher food to eat. He's going to be spending the holiday locked up in a United States prison, just as he as done for over twenty years. The reason he is still in jail for the crime he committed is because he is a Jew.
Please forgive me, Jonathan Pollard. Forgive me for not doing enough for you. Please forgive the various Israeli governments for doing next to nothing to to get you out of jail, in spite of the great service that you did for them. Please forgive the Jews of the United States of America. You are their biggest nightmare. The mention of your name instills fear in their hearts, fear of the demon of the accusation of dual loyalty. This demon hovers above them as they sit in their comfortable US Government jobs and chat with their gentile colleagues about politics, sports, and the latest sitcom. The demon haunts them in their medical and law practices. He scratches them under the white collar and under the blue collar. When they mow their lawn, when they go the shopping mall, the demon is with them. They will do nothing for you for they dread the demon.
May this be the year that the demon is slain! May this be the year that Jonathan is set free, that his great stain of injustice will be removed from America once and for all. Amen, Kein Yehi Ratzon!
Update: Dry Bones has his say.
A Jew's view from the capital of Israel and the future site of the Third Temple, may it speedily be rebuilt.
4 comments:
It is truly amazing how, out of all the suffering people in the world Jonathan Pollard is the one who concerns you most. I don't understand why someone who has repeatedly sabotaged his own case by breaking his plea agreement before sentencing and not asking for parole now that he is eligible for it, whose release was petitioned against by seven US secretaries of defense (were they all antisemites?), who allegedly tried to sell secrets to Pakistan before approaching Israel, and who has become a continual walking advertisement that American Jews (especially religious ones) are primarily loyal to a country other their own, should be such a hero to you. And given that Pollard gets kosher food, medical care, and visitors, and was sentenced by a proper judicial system for a crime he indisputably committed, it's not even clear whether the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim applies to him. Why don't you beg forgiveness from Gilad Shalit? From Ron Arad? Both of whom are suffering much more than Pollard, and who unlike him betrayed nobody's trust and willingly endangered their lives to save Jews. That is real injustice. Pollard is just getting what he has coming to him, and taking a lot of idealistic people down with him in the process.
Eric,
Of all the other shevuyim in the world, Jonathan Pollard is the biggest Hidush, since he's being held captive by a friendly country, and his release should theoretically be easier to attain than those held by our enemies.
The mitzvah of Pidyon Shevuyim most definitely applies to Pollard, whose sentence was exponentially longer than those who have committed similar crimes.
His case concerns Cosmic, it concerns me, and it should concern you too.
Shalom Eric.
I don't think that I ever called Pollard a hero. Read what I wrote here to get a better understanding of my position.
Yaak,
Baruch Tih'ye! I see that you have also blogged quite a bit about this.
I don't know much about the specifics of the Polard case and why it is so hard to free him but I'll join you in the wish that he would finnaly be released
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