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Commentary;
These two items hit my email log on Monday and Tuesday and on Wednesday, I started connecting dots.
Rabbi Nahman Holtzberg, father of slain Mumbai Shaliach Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg z’l penned a letter to Olmert pleading that they not evict the Jews from Beit HaShalom. (Monday, 1 Dec 2008)
President Bush penned a condolence letter to the “Chabad-Lubavitch movement.” (Tuesday, 2 Dec., 2008)
Firstly, that Rabbi Nahman Holtzberg, amidst his mourning, saw it urgent and important enough to plead on behalf of his fellow Jews at Beit HaShalom and that the Israeli media — Yediyiot Achronot saw fit to print the letter despite it’s anti-religious, anti-land agenda.
Secondly, it dawns on me that no other sector of religious Jews seems soo revered among successive Presidents as Chabad has been, and carries the scope of influence that Chabad does; i.e. President Bush’s own words;
The compassionate individuals of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement dedicate their lives to sharing G-d’s teachings with people throughout the world, offering strength, hope and guidance in the unique spirit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory. Through countless acts of love and kindness, the lost members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community in Mumbai represented the best of the human spirit, and their memories will live on in the hearts and souls of those they touched.
Thirdly, the unhappy reality is that successive prime ministers and regimes would sooner see Pollard languish and pass from this world while imprisoned, rather than freed to be reunited with his wife and his brethren. No Israeli prime minister or regime prior or after Benjamin Netanyahu has lifted a finger to facilitate Pollard’s freedom. They have all stone-walled as Pollard has aged over the past 24 years and his health has deteriorated.
Basically, we have 47 days before the obama presidency begins. We have 47 days to secure clemency — commutation of Pollard’s sentence to time served and his freedom from incarceration.
In short, going on the theory that the reverence with which Chabad seems to be held by President Bush, that the apparent huge lobby apparatus which Chabad seems to have in place — the reality may be that a Chabad effort on Pollard’s behalf could well circumvent the Olmert-Barak-Livni stone-wall which threatens to insure Pollard’s incareation for his remaining days.
I have made a number of calls to Chabad families in Kfar Chabad as well as a Chabad Sofer friend of mine regarding speaking of this with Rabbis Holtzberg and Rosenberg, as well as asking that Rabbi Holtzberg and/or Rabbi Rosenberg pen a letter in their own styles and make an in-person public appeal to President Bush covering points including those mentioned in a recent letter to the President by Congressman Anthony Weiner.
Further, I call upon Anshe Chabad worldwide to beseech their Rabbinic leaders on the highest levels to make similar appeals to President Bush via Chabad’s legislative and lobbying channels in the name of Pidyon Sh’vu’im.
All of the information about Jonathan Pollard’s case, the circumstances of his prison sentence and prison term and more can be found on Jonathan Pollard’s official website; http://www.jonathanpollard.org/
We learn, as we end Sefer Bamidbar and begin Sefer Devarim, that after 40 years in Bamidbar, the B’nai Yisrael finally desired to accept Moshe Rabbeinu’s teachings and his Mussar which was meant to bring about the perfection of the Jewish people in emulation of the ways of Hashem as they were about to enter Eretz Yisrael.
May it be that Anshe Chabad, arguably the sector of Jewish people held in the highest regard by successive American Presidents, express the importance of gaining Jonathan Pollard’s freedom to its highest leaders and urge these leaders to take up the call for Pollard’s clemency with President Bush in the truest, noblest Jewish tradition of Pidyon Sh’vu’im. MB
From the Justice for Jonathan Pollard website:
Rep. Weiner Renews Call for Clemency for Jonathan Pollard
(Justice4JPnews – December 1, 2008)
In a powerful and heartfelt letter, New York City Representative Anthony Weiner (D Queens and Brooklyn) today renewed his call for President Bush to grant clemency in the case of Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a life sentence for passing information to Israel. The full text of the letter from Rep. Weiner to President George Bush appears below.
December 1, 2008
Honorable George Bush
President
The White HouseDear President Bush:
I write to request that you grant clemency to Jonathan Pollard.
This year Mr. Pollard celebrated his 54th birthday. This is the 23rd year that he has celebrated his birthday in prison. No other person convicted of espionage on behalf of a United States ally has ever been imprisoned for so long.
Mr. Pollard has admitted that he broke U.S. laws. He has expressed sorrow for what he did. Mr. Pollard cooperated fully with the investigation into his activities and he waived his right to a jury trial. He has served more than enough time for the crime of passing information to an ally.
The life sentence which Jonathan Pollard is now serving is not a
reflection of the severity of the crimes he committed, but rather the result of past ineffective counsel and a damage assessment report written by an intelligence community that was badly shaken by unrelated espionage cases earlier that year. In a review of Mr. Pollards case, Former federal Judge George Leighton wrote, “[t]he evidence shows that the government engaged in serious misconduct that went unchecked by an ineffective defense counsel, Richard Hibey, and… these constitutional violations severely prejudiced Mr. Pollard, and resulted in his sentence of life in prison.?Mr. Pollard did commit a serious crime and he deserved to be punished for his action. However, after reviewing the facts of the case and receiving multiple classified briefings on this matter, I believe that he has served a sentence that far exceeds the appropriate term for the crimes he has committed. Mr. President, the time has come to free Jonathan Pollard. I respectfully urge you to grant him clemency and send him home to Israel.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Sincerely,
ANTHONY D. WEINER
Member of Congress