Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center met with U.S. President George W. Bush and other Jewish leaders during a round table meeting in the White House last week.
During the one hour meeting, which covered foreign policy and the situation in the Middle East, the President assured the group that he was committed to both the State of Israel and the war against terrorism.
"I have never heard any American president, from Reagan to Clinton, ally himself so closely with the Israeli position," said Rabbi Hier.
The President also pledged that the U.S was determined to rid the world of terrorism and said that it was "wrong and immoral to blow people up" while specifically naming the Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah terrorist groups.
Also in attendance were National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice and Press Secretary Ari Fleisher.
| Please
do your part by sending in your contribution so that the Center can continue
its fight against anti-Semitism, extremism, and terrorism.
Please forward this email to family and friends so that together our voices can be heard. |
This is my response:
Shame on you, Rabbi Marvin Hier!
You have the audacity to boast about your wonderful meeting with the US President, where practically all matters of concern for the Jews were discussed and where you, as well as the other self-appointed "leaders" of the American Jewish community, didn't have the courage to raise the issue of Jonathan Pollard. I don't know what kind of rabbi you are. Maybe you are Reform and choose for yourself which Mitzvot you want to observe. Otherwise it is inconceivable how a rabbi can act as if he has never heard of the Mitzva of pidyon shvuim, regarded by Maimonides as the most exalted one among all the mitzvot. In case you forgot this, let me to refresh your memory:
“Pidyon Shevuyim takes precedence over feeding and clothing for the destitute, and there is no greater Mitzvah than Pidyon Shevuyim, for the captive is counted among the hungry and the unclothed, and his very life is endangered. He who turns a blind eye from his redemption transgresses four separate negative commandments, and neglects at least four positive commandments. There is no Mitzvah as exalted as Pidyon Shevuyim.”
Can you, as a rabbi and a as a Jewish leader, explain to the Jewish people why you excuse yourself from observing this clear-cut injunction?
And if you cannot - then we must conclude that your timid galuth mentality, your deeply suppressed feeling of being a second-class citizen of a great nation in which you so comfortably dwell, prevents you from opening your mouth before the President. This fear of irritating the Goyim is so deeply imbued in you that you are unaware that it is part of you. This is why you do not feel the shame you ought to feel by being silent about Pollard. Your decision with other "Jewish leaders" not to raise "hard questions" with the President constitutes a betrayal of your fellow Jew and a violation of the most important among the Mitzvot.
Is this how you fight anti-Semitism?
I dare say that a Jew who fears man more than G-d cannot successfully fight anti-Semitism, because his very timidity arouses contempt for Jews and this contempt breeds Jew-hatred. It requires proud, God-fearing Jews to put an end to anti-Semitism, because such a Jew will win the respect of the mankind. This is the only way to glorify God's name, which is the only purpose and justification of our existence as a nation.
Acting the way you "Jewish leaders" do, you make a mockery of G-d's Chosen people.
Shame on you!
For this I won't contribute. But I'll certainly do my best to send this message out as widely as possible, so that every Jew could take a stand on this matter.
Sincerely,
Eleonora Shifrin,
Member of Israel's Committee To Bring Jonathan Pollard Home