*SPECIAL* Pollard's Visit to Judea/Samaria This Week

By Hillel Fendel

Jonathan Pollard was noticeably moved by his tour on Tuesday of several new and old Jewish communities in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria. Pollard, who served a full, unprecedented 30-year sentence in the U.S. on charges of espionage against a friendly country (Israel), recently lost his beloved wife, and the leader of the struggle for his release, Esther.

The visit was orchestrated by former Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel's office, as well as several of Pollard's long-time friends and supporters. The goal was to introduce, or reintroduce, Pollard to several different aspects of life in Judea and Samaria (Yesha). He learned of the concept of the "young settlement" enterprise and how it seeks to expand the Jewish presence in Yesha in an exponential manner; he saw blossoming communities in Binyamin, built in the same places in which incontrovertible evidence of the beginnings of the Jewish People continues to be found (see re: Tel Shilo, below); he met with children and adults of all ages and heard their love and appreciation for him and his late wife; and he paid a moving shiva [consolation] visit to the family of Noam Raz, killed last week on a military mission to apprehend Palestinian terrorists.

The visit began with a trek to a Jewish farm southeast of Maaleh Adumim. Reachable only via a few kilometers of dirt road, it is run by one very dedicated family of parents, three children – and a large herd of sheep. The sheep are actually the strategic weapons at play here, because by taking them daily to graze, large swathes of state-owned land are preserved for the Jewish People. How so? Compare this farm to a nearby Jewish town: Beautifully built-up, it has 300 families and occupies several hundred dunams (quarter-acres) – but because it has a fence around it, the Arab/Bedouin shepherds come right up to the fence with their sheep, thus effectively claiming that land as their own. In the fenceless farm, however, which does not even have an official supply of electricity or water, one family watches over and preserves thousands of dunams of land!

Of course, this type of "building the Land" is not for everyone – and that's why self-sacrifice of this nature is rare, and therefore oh-so-necessary.

Unfortunately, the nearby nomadic Bedouins are no longer as nomadic as they used to be, but are rather settling down in place and establishing more permanent residence than in the past. This is due to European Union meddling, Pollard learned, in gifting them the means by which to purchase and transport water, instead of them having to travel to find water sources.

Veteran pioneer leader Uri Ariel (former Yesha Council head and the first mayor of Bet El) said that today's pioneers are more self-sacrificial than in his day. He explained that in contrast to the last generation, today's pioneers are spending and risking their own money, which they too often lose because of demolitions commissioned by the IDF Civil Administration. 

From the farm, Pollard and entourage were taken to see what might possibly be the other extreme of Yesha pioneering: the internationally-known boutique Psagot Winery and Visitors Center. The Deputy Chief of the Binyamin Regional Council was on hand as well, and explained to Pollard that the strategy at present to offset the Administration's pro-Arab bent is to try to have less of an emphasis on "Judea and Samaria" as a distinct region. Rather, he said, the goal is to emplace Yesha's affairs in the hands of the relevant ministry. That is, agriculture should be under the auspices of the Agriculture Ministry, health should be under the Health Ministry, and the like – and the Civil Administration should return to its previous role of dealing mainly with local Arab affairs.

Pollard, of course, with his scientific background, was full of ideas as to how to advance Yesha industry and security. He fascinated his listeners with his creativity and deep interest in the welfare of the Yesha settlement enterprise. 

After a brief stop in Maaleh Adumim – the third-largest city in Yesha, population: over 40,000 – they continued northwards to Shilo, particularly the site of the ancient Tabernacle at Tel Shilo. Eliana Passentin, Foreign Affairs Director in the Binyamin Regional Council, provided a moving and running supply of background information. She explained how she and her husband, when they moved into their permanent home in the neighboring hilltop community of Eli, purposely designed their living room picture window to open up to a perfect view of the site of the original Tabernacle below. "After all," she said, "the Mishna teaches that in Jerusalem, holy foods can be eaten only in the vicinity of the Temple – but in Shilo, they can be consumed anywhere the Shilo tabernacle is seen!" (That explains why she found 3,000-year-old shards of holy vessels in her backyard when she first moved in…) 

Another special feature of the trip to Tel Shilo was the sound-and-light show (in the structure pictured above) which recounts the story of Hana coming to pray at the Shilo Tabernacle nearly 2900 years ago. She prayed for a baby – who turned out to be the Prophet Samuel. With this in mind, the group then prayed the afternoon Minha service at that very site.

"This is one of the most inspiring sites I have visited in Israel," Pollard said, "and this tour has brought everything to life for me. Here is where the Jewish people became a nation - here it all came to the fore: the Nation of Israel, in the Land of Israel, according to the Torah of Israel!"

Next on the itinerary was the community of Givat Ahiya, a five-minute drive eastward. Eliana noted pointedly that it was named for the Biblical figure Achiya HaShiloni – Ahiya of Shilo! Here, home to 70 families, dozens of children lined the road to happily greet Jonathan Pollard with smiles, flags, and songs. He then then addressed the townspeople with a moving speech featuring stories of his tribulations in prison, his love for the people of Yesha and all of Israel, on whose behalf he gave so much of his life. He even had some advice for marital harmony. He explained how his wife Esther helped him formulate his instinctive opposition to a deal in which he would have been freed in exchange for dozens of murderous Palestinian terrorists. "I could not let down the families of the victims in this way," he said, "nor weaken Israel's deterrence against terrorists by indicating that others had little to lose by following in their footsteps. But Esther reminded me that there was also a 'Jewish' reason – and that was that a proud Jew need not be freed in this humiliating manner: I would either be released without conditions, or die in prison, or come home to Israel as an old man, bending over from my wheelchair to kiss the ground." 

Finally came an emotional visit in the next-door community of Kida, where the family of senior Elite Unit Officer Noam Raz is sitting shiva for him. Raz was killed on Friday during a military operation against Palestinian terrorists. 

"Our soldiers have tremendous self-sacrifice," Pollard told the family, "but that which can be done by bombs [such as fighting terrorists] should not be done with the blood of the best of our sons."

He then asked the family, "What can I do for you? If there is anything, please tell me." Noam's mother said, "In truth, there is something. Can you help us raise money for the new synagogue that the community here will be dedicating in my son's memory?"

Noam's wife also had a proposal for Pollard: "I notice that you and my husband have much in common: You are both very important catalysts for national unity. Look at all the people of all stripes who have come from all over the country to console us – and you, too, were a cause around which the entire country rallied. Please help us figure out a way to keep this unity going!"

Jonathan Pollard then returned home to Jerusalem, but most certainly, this will be one of the goals for which he will continue to strive.