Special to IMRA - May 27, 2003 B"H
May Be Reprinted*
Why did His Eminence HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu choose June 4th as a day of special prayers for Jonathan Pollard? And why did the Rav mandate a massive prayer Assembly at the Kotel? These are the questions that have been asked recently. Jonathan and Esther Pollard have asked me to respond. They hope that the answers will encourage every single person to participate in this great Assembly.
Our tradition has always taught that as a nation every individual is indispensable and the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. This is especially true in the world of Jewish prayer. According to the Zohar, Judaism's esoteric text, the power of prayer increases exponentially, as the number of people who join together to pray increases. A Jerusalem sage, HaRav HaGaon Mustafi, teaches that according to a formula derived from the Zohar:
According to the Ben Ish Chai ztl, Israel succeeds in prayer only when the nation is united, not only in their prayer, but also in their kavanah (intent.) Of all the issues in the Jewish world today, there is no issue that unites us more than the heartfelt desire to see Jonathan Pollard released from prison and speedily returned home to Israel. Just imagine thousands or hundreds of thousands of people together at the Kotel, on the same day, at the same time, all fulfilling one of the foremost mitzvahs of the Torah -the redemption of a captive - by praying with one heart for the immediate release of Jonathan Pollard. The spiritual strength of such a unified Jewish Assembly is staggering to contemplate!
That is why on June 4th at 3:00 P.M. Jonathan's rav, HaRav Eliyahu, the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, will lead a massive prayer Assembly for Jonathan at the Kotel [the Western Wall]. Every single person that participates in the Assembly has an exponential value that far exceeds his or her individual worth, were he or she to stay away and pray for Jonathan on their own.
As for the timing of the event, when Jonathan and Esther asked HaRav Eliyahu why he chose this date to call the nation to battle stations for Jonathan before the Almighty, there were a number of reasons. I would like to share one with you.
June 4th, the 4th day of the Hebrew month Sivan, is the eve of the Jewish Holiday of Shavuot, which the Jewish People celebrate to commemorate receiving of the Torah at Har Sinai. The Torah and its 613 mitzvoth is what distinguishes the Jewish People as a nation. On Shavuot, we not only celebrate the precious gift of Torah and mitzvoth with great joy and thanksgiving, we also do everything we can to honor the Torah and the Almighty.
By performing an important mitzvah together as a nation, we honor the Borei HaOlam and His Torah. The Mitzvah of Pidyan Shvuyim, the redemption of a captive, is one of the foremost mitzvahs of the Torah. It is such an important mitzvah that we are permitted to desecrate the holy Sabbath, if necessary, in order to fulfill it. We are even permitted to sell a Torah Scroll, if necessary. What greater praise to the Almighty, and what greater merit for the Nation, than to inaugurate the holiday of Mattan Torah, by performing such an awesome mitzvah from the Torah! This is one of the important reasons that HaRav Eliyahu chose June 4th, the eve of Shavuot, to assemble the Jewish People at the Kotel in prayer to the Almighty. May this Assembly be pleasing in the eyes of the Almighty and in the merit of the mitzvah of Pidyan Shvuyim may Jonathan be speedily redeemed.
Jonathan has given 18 years of his life and freedom in prison for passing information to save Israel from enemies who were plotting to destroy her. HaRav Eliyahu is asking every person to give one day (June 4th) and one hour (3:00 P.M.) for Jonathan Pollard - to come to the Kotel, to stand united before HaShem as a nation, and to fulfill the mitzvah of Pidyan Shvuyim. We should all, every single one of us, do our utmost to honor the Rav's request.
But what if you do not live in Jerusalem, you ask.? What if a person is too ill to come to Jerusalem, or too old? What if a person has severe problems or extenuating circumstances and cannot make it to the Kotel? What if a person lives abroad ? What about our non-Jewish friends and supporters? Can they share in this mitzvah too? The answer to all the preceding is a resounding YES!
Heaven does not expect more from any one person than he/she is able to do. Each must do according to his own ability. There are different levels of participation in this mitzvah. Every level has its reward and every level is important to Heaven. Remember the greater the effort one puts into participating, the greater the value of the mitzvah in Heaven, and the greater the blessings are that will accrue both personally and nationally. Here is what you can do:
None of us has the ability to free Jonathan Pollard. Only the Almighty does. When all Israel is united in thought and deed and intent, we are partners with Him. All He asks of us, His beloved Nation, is to stand before Him in unity, as we did at Har Sinai. If we do that, He will do the rest.
In the merit of our unified participation in the Mitzvah of Pidyan Shvuyim at the WALL on June 4, may Israel be saved from this time of sorrow and distress and may Jonathan Pollard be speedily returned home to his wife in Israel to celebrate Shavuot along with all of the Nation of Israel.
*[A condensed revised version of this OpEd for US and foreign publications is available from Justice for Jonathan Pollard upon request. Email pollard@jonathanpollard.org]