August 1, 2014

The Honorable Barack Obama

The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to urge you to take action to secure the immediate release of Alan Gross, an
American citizen imprisoned in Cuba since December 2009 for his work on a U.S. government
(USAID) project to increase Internet access in Cubas J ewish community.
Alans situation has become increasingly urgent. In May, as Alan turned 65-years-old, he
declared that he would not spend another birthday in prison, no matter what that entailed. Alans
desperation is no surprise. The conditions of his captivity are bleak, and his health is
deteriorating. Alan spends 24 hours a day in a small cell with two other prisoners. In addition to
the 100 pounds Alan has lost over the last five years, he has now lost vision in his right eye, and
severe hip pain prevents him from walking. The separation he has been forced to endure from
his family and friends has been devastating. In J une, Alan was unable to be by his 92-year-old
mothers side when she passed away. His wife and daughters also continue to suffer, as they
reach milestones in their lives and endure personal trials and tribulations without his presence
and support.
Alan went to Cuba on behalf of our government. His immediate release from prison in Cuba and
return to the U.S. must be a priority for our nation. Indeed, we believe this is a moral
imperative. Our communities are gravely concerned that Alan continues to languish in a Cuban
prison nearly five years after his arrest. We ask, with all respect, that you take whatever steps
are necessary to ensure a prompt end to Alans, and his familys, continuing nightmare.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Bruce D. Aft
Rabbi Ron Aigen
Rabbi Alan M. Alpert
Rabbi Daniel Alter
Rabbi Nissan Antine
Rabbi Charles L. Arian
Rabbi Shmuel Ariel
Rabbi Kenneth Auman
Rabbi Stephen Baars
Rabbi Andy Bachman
Rabbi Andrew Baker
Rabbi Marvin Bash
Rabbi Eliot J . Baskin
Rabbi David Baum
Rabbi Hershel D. Becker
Rabbi David Berger
Rabbi J ethro Berkman
Rabbi Dov Berkovits
Rabbi Marc E. Berkson
Rabbi Donald R. Berlin
Rabbi Saul J . Berman
Rabbi Scot A. Berman
Rabbi Stephanie Bernstein
Rabbi J onathan Biatch
Rabbi Yaakov Bieler
Rabbi J onathan
Bienenfield
Rabbi Moshe Y. Bleich
Rabbi Mendel Bluming
Rabbi Brad Boxman
Rabbi Kenneth Brander
Rabbi Gary M. Bretton-
Granatoor
Rabbi Deborah J . Brin
Rabbi Kenneth Brodkin
Rabbi Lauren Brody-Hyett
Rabbi Moshe Cahn
Rabbi Debra Cantor
Rabbi J erome Chapman
Rabbi Oury Cherki
Rabbi Geoffrey Claussen
Rabbi Alan Cohen
Rabbi Daniel Cohen
Rabbi J onathan Cohen
Rabbi Michael M. Cohen
Rabbi Phil Cohen
Rabbi Rabbi Cohen
Rabbi Rafi Cohen
Rabbi Mike Comins
Rabbi J ulian Cook
Rabbi Martin Cooper
Rabbi Eric Coopersmith
Rabbi Nechemia
Coopersmith
Rabbi Heidi Coretz
Rabbi J amie Cowland
Rabbi Donald Crain
Rabbi Eric Cytryn
Rabbi J udah Dardik
Rabbi Yousef David
Rabbi Chuck Diamond
Rabbi Mark S. Diamond
Rabbi Robert Dobrusin
Rabbi J eremy Donath
Rabbi Mark Dratch
Rabbi Mendel Druk
Rabbi Ira Ebbin
Rabbi J udith Edelstein
Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis
Rabbi Zvi Engel
Rabbi Ed Farber
Rabbi J osh Feigelson
Rabbi Charles Feinberg
Rabbi Brian Field
Rabbi Arie Folger
Rabbi J osef Fradkin
Rabbi J ohn Franken
Rabbi Dr. Barry Freundel
Rabbi Cary A. Friedman
Rabbi Michael S.
Friedman
Rabbi Ronne Friedman
Rabbi Zvi Friedman
Rabbi David Geffen
Rabbi David Gelfand
Rabbi Arnold Gelman
Rabbi Bernard Gerson
Rabbi Marc Gitler
Rabbi Aaron Glatt
Rabbi Neal D. Gold
Rabbi Efrem Goldberg
Rabbi Baruch Goldstein
Rabbi Michael Goldstein
Rabbi Howard Gorin
Rabbi Becca Gould
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg
Rabbi Yonah Gross
Rabbi Shoshana Hantman
Rabbi Henry Harris
Rabbi Maurice Harris
Rabbi Loraine Heller
Rabbi Lester Hering
Rabbi J oshua Hertzberg
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
Rabbi Howard Hoffman
Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt
Rabbi Richard Horowitz
Rabbi Daniel Horwitz
Rabbi Mitchell Hurvitz
Rabbi J oe Hurwitz
Rabbi Sam Intrator
Rabbi Ari Israel
Rabbi Brett R. Isserow
Rabbi Shmuel J ablon
Rabbi J ill J acobs
Rabbi Claudio
J odorkovsky
Rabbi J effrey Kahn
Rabbi Wes Kalmar
Rabbi Harley Karz-
Wagman
Rabbi Alan Katz
Rabbi Simcha Katz
Rabbi Hillel Katzir
Rabbi J ustin Kerber
Rabbi Stanley Kessler
Rabbi Moishe Kievman
Rabbi J essica Oleon
Kirschner
Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin
Rabbi Michael Klayman
Rabbi Frederick Klein
Rabbi J onathan Kligler
Rabbi Peter Knobel
Rabbi Alison Kobey
Rabbi Shimon Kohan
Rabbi Daniel Kohn
Rabbi Cherie Koller-Fox
Rabbi Debra Kolodny
Rabbi Tzvi Koren
Rabbi Zalman Korf
Rabbi David Kosak
Rabbi Chaim Kosofsky
Rabbi Howard A.
Kosovske
Rabbi Doniel Kramer
Rabbi Beni Krohn
Rabbi J udy Kummer
Rabbi J effrey Kurtz-
Lendner
Rabbi Richard G. Lampert
Rabbi Eliezer Langer
Rabbi J onah Layman
Rabbi Robert Layman
Rabbi Menachem Lazar
Rabbi Moshe Lazaros
Rabbi Esther Lederman
Rabbi Ben Lefkowitz
Rabbi Yaier Lehrer
Rabbi Shmuel Lew
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
Rabbi Chaim Lipskar
Rabbi Binyomin Lisbon
Rabbi J ane Rachel Litman
Rabbi Alan Litwak
Rabbi Amy Loewenthal
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Rabbi Yaakov Luban
Rabbi Michael Lukens
Rabbi J ack Luxemburg
Rabbi J onathan Maltzman
Rabbi Elisha Mandel
Rabbi Arnold Marans
Rabbi Noam E. Marans
Rabbi Chaim Marcus
Rabbi Sanford Marcus
Rabbi Sharon Marcus
Rabbi Marc Margolius
Rabbi J essica K. Marshall
Rabbi Nathan Martin
Rabbi Vivie Mayer
Rabbi Gabriel Maza
Rabbi Bernard H.
Mehlman
Rabbi Yaakov Meyer
Rabbi Michael Meyerstein
Rabbi Amos Miller
Rabbi Avis Miller
Rabbi Rapheal Miller
Rabbi J oshua Minkin
Rabbi Mendel Mintz
Rabbi Steven Miodownik
Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Mirsky
Rabbi J onathan
Morgenstern
Rabbi Eric Most
Rabbi Yakov Nagen
Rabbi Tracy Nathan
Rabbi J oseph Ozarowski
Rabbi Kalman Packouz
Rabbi Andrew Paley
Rabbi J onathan Pearl
Rabbi Eliot Pearlson
Rabbi J ill Perlman
Rabbi Richard Plavin
Rabbi Zev Pomeranz
Rabbi Mindy A. Portnoy
Rabbi Linda Potemken
Rabbi Elchanan Poupko
Rabbi Samuel B. Press
Rabbi Ronald Price
Rabbi Sholom Raichik
Rabbi Rayzel Raphael
Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport
Rabbi Adam Raskin
Rabbi Avram Israel
Reisner
Rabbi Edward Rettig
Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben
Rabbi Sara Rich
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin
Rabbi Liz Rolle
Rabbi Shaul Rosenblatt
Rabbi Adam Rosenwasser
Rabbi Tobias Rothenberg
Rabbi Milton Rube
Rabbi Steven Rubenstein
Rabbi J onathan Rudnick
Rabbi Bill Rudolph
Rabbi Michael Safra
Rabbi Arnold Saltzman
Rabbi Yitz Sandler
Rabbi Marna Sapsowitz
Rabbi J effrey Saxe
Rabbi Amy Scheinerman
Rabbi Hanan Schlesigner
Rabbi Marvin Schneider
Rabbi Elchanan
Schulgasser
Rabbi Dr. Tsvi G. Schur
Rabbi Mendel
Schusterman
Rabbi J oel Schwab
Rabbi Amy Schwartzman
Rabbi J oel Schwartzman
Rabbi Sid Schwarz
Rabbi Meir Schweiger
Rabbi Larry Sebert
Rabbi David Seed
Rabbi David Segal
Rabbi Yeoshua Segall
Rabbi Benjamin Sendrow
Rabbi Gerald Serotta
Rabbi J udy Shanks
Rabbi Leonard Sharzer
Rabbi David Shneyer
Rabbi Marion Shulevitz
Rabbi David J . Small
Rabbi Ze'ev Smason
Rabbi Mitchell Smilowitz
Rabbi Eric Solomon
Rabbi Reena Spicehandler
Rabbi Ari Spiegler
Rabbi Nahum Spirn
Rabbi Toba Spitzer
Rabbi Chanan Spivak
Rabbi Samuel M. Stahl
Rabbi Peter W. Stein
Rabbi David Steinberg
Rabbi Seth Sterstein
Rabbi Andrew Straus
Rabbi J oshua Strom
Rabbi Alvin M. Sugarman
Rabbi Ari Sunshine
Rabbi Tzvi Sytner
Rabbi Paul Teicher
Rabbi Robert Tobin
Rabbi Kalman Topp
Rabbi Dr. Avraham
Walfish
Rabbi Andrew Warmflash
Rabbi Pamela Wax
Rabbi Sheila Peltz
Weinberg
Rabbi Elie Weinstock
Rabbi Yosef Weinstock
Rabbi Simkha Y.
Weintraub
Rabbi Baht Weiss
Rabbi Dr. Abner Weiss
Rabbi J osh Whinston
Rabbi Michael Whitman
Rabbi David Wilensky
Rabbi Paula Winnig
Rabbi Edmund Winter
Rabbi David Wise
Rabbi Zev Wolbe
Rabbi Sarah Wolf
Rabbi Howard Wolk
Rabbi David Woznica
Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar
Rabbi J oel Zeff
Rabbi Mark Zelunka
Rabbi Asher Bar Zev
Rabbi David Ziering
Rabbi Sidney Zimelman
Rabbi Sheldon
Zimmerman
Rabbi Misha Zinkow
Rabbi David Zlatin
Rabbi Henry Zoob
Rabbi David Zucker
Rabbi Dr. Daniel M.
Zucker
Rabbi Yaakov Zucker
Rabbi J ulie Zupan