Four Years Later: The Prophetic Warning Esther Pollard Left Behind

This is an updated version of an article originally published in 2022, shortly after Esther Pollard’s passing. At the time, her final words were seen as a powerful call for unity and spiritual clarity. Four years later, in the shadow of October 7 and the war that followed, those same words read differently. What once felt like a warning now feels almost prophetic.

At the conclusion of the shiva, a memorial evening was held in her honor, where rabbis and public figures spoke. Jonathan Pollard then rose to speak about the woman he called his beloved wife and his greatest teacher, and about the message she insisted he carry forward.

“My Teacher in Faith”

“It is important that everyone understand who and what Esther really was,” Jonathan began. “She was my beloved wife, a woman anyone could only dream of. But she was also my teacher, who taught me what faith is.”

“For more than three decades, what she taught me was not only for me, but for the people.”

He recalled that near the end of her life, Esther woke up and said clearly, “My soul returned to this world for two missions. The first, to bring you home. The second, to bring you back as a Jew and not as a gentile.”

“The first mission,” she said, “was the easier one. It is easier to bring a Jew from exile to the Holy Land than to remove the exile from the Jew. Now that I have finished my mission, I can go home.” Shortly after saying those words, she passed away.

Jonathan thanked Hashem that Esther merited to pass away in Eretz Yisrael. “Thank God she did not pass away on the other side of the river. She reached the Land of Israel.”

He shared that when they landed in Israel, Esther sang into his ear the song We Are Home. Every morning after birkot hashachar she would sing it again, out of gratitude for having made it home. At Jonathan’s request, members of KipaLive performed the song at the memorial in her memory.

A Warning Before She Left

Jonathan revealed that near her passing, Esther struggled to speak. Her breathing was labored, yet she insisted she had something important to say.

“There is a war approaching,” she told him in broken breaths. “And I will not be here to help you face it.”

Four years later, those words feel painfully relevant.

“She told me there is a wall around the State of Israel,” Jonathan said. “And in that wall there is a very small window.”

She explained that just as every airport has passport control, so too entry into the Jewish nation must be guarded. “The wall around the State of Israel is the halacha. Whoever wants to enter must come through the Rabbinate gate.”

“There are those who want to bring into that wall elements that will divide us from within,” Jonathan quoted her. “We must guard that wall with all our strength so that we remain a united and pure people, from whom leaders will arise who can lead Hashem’s wars. Never be ashamed of that,” she told him. “It is necessary to protect the people.”

Unity Above All

Yet alongside her firmness, Esther’s central message was unity.

“She took me to Geula and Mea Shearim and said, look at these good people. They may not look like you, but they are your family. You must respect and love them.”

Then she took him to a very different place in Tel Aviv. “Look at these people,” she said again. “They may not look like you, but they are your brothers. Treat them with love and understanding.”

“One of the things Esther spoke about constantly was unity,” Jonathan said. “Unity, unity, unity. That is all she talked about. When war comes, we must be completely united in order to withstand it.”

A Lesson in Forgiveness

Jonathan shared a personal story that reflected Esther’s spiritual depth.

When he first returned to Israel, he felt embarrassed when people thanked him. Esther reminded him of an incident in New York. A man who had once hurt and slandered her approached them and asked forgiveness.

“In that first moment,” Jonathan admitted, “the only thing I wanted to do was punch him.”

But Esther said to him, “Think like a Jew. Thank him for the privilege he gave you to forgive him.”

And so he did.

“By living here in this country,” Jonathan said at the memorial, “you gave me the privilege to act on behalf of the State of Israel.”

Love in the Snow

He ended with a story that illustrated her devotion.

One winter, during a terrible snowstorm, prison authorities told him no visitors would be allowed.

Then the prison commander came to him and said, “You will not believe it, but your wife is here.”

Esther had walked nearly nine kilometers through the snow to see him. When he saw her, she was completely soaked. He worried only about how she would make the journey back in the dark.

But he soon saw the prison staff arguing over who would drive her home. “A woman who walks nine kilometers in the snow to visit her husband deserves a ride,” they said.

“Even in the worst places,” Jonathan concluded, “there are good people. That is another thing I learned from my wife.”

Four years after her passing, Esther Pollard’s message feels as urgent as ever: unwavering faith, guarded identity, deep love for every Jew, and above all, unity in the face of challenge.