For two years, the Jewish world rallied around one simple truth: no Jewish life is expendable.
We have marched for hostages, prayed for hostages, lobbied governments for hostages, and celebrated every family reunited. We reminded the world that pidyon shvuyim – the redemption of captives – is among Judaism’s greatest commandments. The Talmud calls it a mitzvah rabbah. Maimonides teaches that there is no greater mitzvah because a captive suffers hunger, fear, and danger all at once. The Shulchan Aruch goes even further, warning that every unnecessary delay in freeing a captive is akin to shedding blood.
That moral clarity should not stop at Israel’s borders.
Today, I am publicly asking Dr. Miriam Adelson to bring that same sense of urgency to a different kind of captivity: a justice system where, supporters argue, access to clemency has become prohibitively expensive and deeply unequal.
No one has done more in recent years to advocate for Jewish captives than Dr. Adelson. Her efforts on behalf of the October 7 hostages have saved lives and inspired Jews around the world. She understands that when Jewish lives are at stake, influence carries responsibility.
I hope she’ll use that influence once again.
The case is Ari Teman.
The case of Ari Teman
Whether you’ve followed his legal battle isn’t really the point. What matters is that a remarkable coalition of legal scholars and attorneys from across the political spectrum – including Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig, Alan Dershowitz, Ron Coleman, Mike Yoder, and Molly McCann Saunders – have publicly argued that his prosecution was deeply flawed and that he deserves presidential clemency. Years before becoming US pardon attorney, Ed Martin publicly agreed with calls for a pardon.
Yet Ari Teman has completed his sentence and still has not been pardoned.
Supporters of his case also point to publicly reported correspondence describing six-figure fees being sought to pursue presidential clemency. Whether those arrangements are appropriate or not, they raise a troubling question:
Should access to justice depend on who can afford it?
That question extends far beyond one man.
For generations, Jews have understood that unequal justice rarely begins with dramatic announcements. It begins quietly – with inconsistent standards, disproportionate punishment, and systems that become increasingly inaccessible to ordinary people.
Many advocates have argued that, in several high-profile federal cases, Jewish defendants received disproportionately harsh sentences compared with similarly situated non-Jewish defendants. Those claims deserve careful, independent examination – not dismissal because they are uncomfortable.
If disparities exist, every Jew should care.
Because when freedom depends on access, connections, or enormous sums of money, justice ceases to be equal.
Ari’s story also matters because of who he is outside the courtroom.
Long before his legal troubles, he founded JCorps, helping build one of North America’s largest Jewish volunteer networks. He was recognized by Jewish Federations as a North American Jewish Community Hero, honored by civic leaders, and dedicated years of his life to strengthening Jewish communities through volunteerism.
Today, he is working to build Sunflower Centers, a treatment and research campus for trauma and addiction designed to serve Israeli veterans and survivors of October 7. The project has brought together advisers from across Israel’s healthcare system with the goal of expanding desperately needed mental health care in Israel.
It is difficult to ignore the broader question: if respected legal experts believe a conviction warrants clemency, should justice depend on one’s ability to navigate an expensive insider process?
Jewish tradition teaches that redeeming captives is not optional.
Neither is pursuing justice.
That is why I am asking Dr. Miriam Adelson to urge President Trump to grant Ari Teman a full pardon, direct the Attorney General to review the allegations surrounding his prosecution, and ensure that serious claims regarding his treatment receive appropriate scrutiny.
I also hope she will encourage an independent study examining whether Jewish defendants have received disproportionately severe federal sentences compared with similarly situated non-Jewish defendants. If disparities are found, they should be addressed through the same commitment to justice that has guided so much of the Jewish community’s advocacy.
Dr. Adelson has already demonstrated what determined leadership can accomplish when Jews are held captive.
Now I hope she will help ensure that justice itself is never reserved only for those who can afford the price of admission.
Because no Jew’s freedom should ever come with a price tag.
The writer is an activist and content creator. Raised in Jerusalem and living in Tel Aviv, she has become a leading voice on and offline for liberal Zionism. A third-generation IDF veteran with over a decade in Israel advocacy, Hallel has created and executed content for dozens of major organizations. She is an associate at the Tel Aviv Institute.
This op-ed was adapted from an open letter, cosigned by the author as well as Israellycool founder David Lange, author Benji Lovitt, Israel in the UAE founder Charles Ashkenazi, Darkenu director Rabbi Avi Ganz, comedians Yohay Sponder and Avi Liberman, Jewish Justice Reform Project director David Biren, Stardust Ventures managing partner Gil Eyal, and Coalition for Jewish Values regional vice president and senior rabbinic fellow Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, among others.