Message from the OU's Dept of Day School and Educational Services
Re: Jonathan Pollard - Letter Circulating in House of Representatives

October 5, 2010

Dear Colleagues,

We hope this e-mail finds you well, inspired anew by a very pleasant, meaningful holiday season and excited to begin the new school year.

As you will see below, Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, together with Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York, Congressman Ed Towns of New York and Congressman Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, are leading an initiative to send a letter to President Obama asking the President to grant clemency to Jonathan Pollard. Congressman Frank is circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter to other members of Congress asking them to add their signatures to the letter to President Obama (a copy of the letter can be found below). The goal is to present the letter to the President within the next two weeks.

The Orthodox Union has long been supportive of efforts to secure Mr. Pollard's release. A letter signed by many members of Congress could have a powerful impact in helping make this happen. It is important that we encourage as many Congresspersons as possible to sign onto the letter. Therefore, we request that you please share this information with your students, and encourage them to bring this information home to their parents and enlist their parents' aid in contacting their Congresspersons to urge them to sign this letter. Questions about this can be addressed to Congressman Barney Franks' office.

With best wishes for a spectacular school year,

Sincerely,

Rabbi Saul Zucker
Director of Day School and Educational Services

Rabbi Cary Friedman
Associate Director of Day School and Educational Services

Orthodox Union
11 Broadway, 14th floor
New York, NY 10004
Phone: 212-613-8165
Fax: 212-613-0748
www.OU.org

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TIME TO ACT VIGOROUSLY ON JONATHAN POLLARD'S BEHALF.
25 YEARS IN PRISON IS ENOUGH.

Please help with this mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim. Every Jew could make a difference with a two-minute phone call.

Congressmen Frank (D-MA), Pascrell (D-NJ), Weiner (D-NY), and Towns (D-NY) are circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter in the House of Representatives. It is addressed to the President, requesting that he exercise clemency on behalf of Jonathan Pollard. This is the first time that such a letter has ever been so circulated.

All Jewish constituents must call their Congressperson and urge him/her to sign Rep. Frank's letter. This effort can be very successful in garnering a high number of signatures. Congresspersons listen to their constituents' requests, especially before an election.

To quickly determine who your Representative is, please go to www.contactingthecongress.org, scroll down, and type in your City, State, Zip code and call your Representative ASAP.

(This initiative has already been endorsed by prominent Gedolei HaTorah, including HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky, Rosh Hayeshiva, Talmudical Yeshivah of Philadelphia as well as by the Agudath Israel of America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, National Council of Young Israel, Orthodox Union, and the Zionist Organization of America.)