Holidays in Captivity and Letters to Jonathan Pollard

Justice4JPnews - September 21, 2009

Our sages teach that captivity is the worst of all possible afflictions
because it includes all the other afflictions:

"The sword is worse than death, famine is worse than the sword, captivity is
worst of all"
(Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 8a)

The worst days in captivity for a Jewish captive are Shabbat and Jewish
holidays. Even without a Jewish calendar, the neshama of the captive senses
the extra Kedusha (holiness) of these days, and its suffering is increased
exponentially, not only because of the afflictions it is enduring, but
especially because of its inability to act upon the Kedusha.

There is little consolation for a soul that is fettered and deprived of the
most basic Jewish expression at holiday times - how much more so during the
Yamim HaNoraim - The High Holidays.

The letters that Jonathan is receiving at this time are his lifeline, his
reassurance that people on the outside care very deeply. Jonathan often
remarks to his wife, Esther, how very much he enjoys the letters and how
varied they are. They run the gamut, he said, from one end of the spectrum
to the other in terms of stories, anecdotes, prayers, and personal life
experiences. Some people write of how they much are praying for Jonathan,
others recount personal problems so severe that Jonathan is now praying for
them (along with all of his prayers for Am Yisrael).

Most people express the hope that Jonathan will write back, but he simply is
not able to. Why not? Because all of his out-going mail is routed via the
National Security Agency in Washington where it is supposedly "vetted" to
ensure that it does not contain classified information. In the process of
being "vetted" somehow all of his out-going mail gets lost or destroyed. It
does not reach its destination. This is an age-old vengeful technique that
is intended to demoralize a prisoner.

Fortunately, Jonathan does receive all of his incoming mail. Incoming mail
goes directly to the prison mailroom where it is checked to ensure that the
letter is in English and does not contain any contraband. (No bubble gum,
stamps, glitter, stickers, money etc permitted). Only letters and photos are
permitted (Photos in modest quantity: up to 5). Letters in Hebrew are shown
to Jonathan very briefly (not sufficient time for him to read) and then
discarded; it is clearly preferable to write in English.

As soon as the mailroom staff checks the mail, it is distributed and
Jonathan receives all of his letters, without exception.

Especially now at holiday time, please keep writing! Please know that all of
your letters reach Jonathan as long as they are correctly addressed and
contain no forbidden enclosures. Please know as well, how very much these
letters mean to him.

Here is Jonathan's address:

Jonathan Pollard #09185-016
c/o FCI Butner
P.O. Box 1000
Butner, NC
U.S.A 27509-1000
Feel free to send a copy of your letters to justice4jp@gmail.com.
With your permission we will share copies of some of the letters with our
readers.

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See Also:
The Pollard Affair - To Free A Captive Is To Free G-d - By Rabbi Ephraim
Sprecher http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2009/070109.htm
Living Al Kiddush HaShem - A Letter to Jonathan Pollard
by Yigal Kamintzky, Chief Rabbi of Gush Katif
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2009/060809.htm

A Letter of Redemption to Jonathan by HaRav Shmuel Yaniv

http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2009/081409.htm

JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN POLLARD
Website: http://www.JonathanPollard.org
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