As the American chapter of the book on Jonathan Pollard is coming to a close, a new, more hopeful sequel is about to be written
Aside from the tens of thousands of air miles he logged on his numerous visits to Pollard in prison, since his release on parole, Rabbi Lerner speaks to Jonathan anywhere from three to five times a day and drops by constantly to make sure his needs are taken care of. When I asked what Pollard’s newfound freedom means to him after 30 years of self-sacrifice on his behalf, Rabbi Lerner says it’s like a long battle won.
“He was given the harshest sentence of anyone who ever spied for an ally,” Rabbi Lerner said. “He didn’t give away any American secrets. He gave away information America was supposed to give to Israel by treaty and didn’t. We’re thrilled that it’s over and that he is ‘going home’ [to Israel] to live a normal life.”
If there’s any one person who deserves the credit for strengthening Jonathan Pollard’s will to live in prison, it’s his wife Esther. Little has been written about her, but Mishpacha’s Rachel Ginsberg got the scoop in March 2007 when she sat down with Esther Pollard, née Zeitz, a special education teacher originally from Montreal.
Jonathan and Esther wed secretly, in a halachic ceremony, while Jonathan was incarcerated. The details remain a secret between husband and wife, but Mrs. Ginsberg learned that the couple actually met for the first time in 1971, when they were both teenagers on Israeli youth programs. They would talk about their mutual love for the land and people of Israel, but each returned to home — he to South Bend, Indiana, and she to Montreal — and they forgot about each other.
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