Five national Orthodox Jewish organizations have asked the Federal Bureau of Prisons to reconsider a new policy it has put in place severely limiting the number of religious books available to prisoners.
The Bureau of Prisons implemented the new policy in late May of this year, pursuant to a report issued by the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General that recommended that the Bureau “conduct an inventory of chapel books and videos and re-screen them to confirm that they are permissible under BOP [Bureau of Prisons] security policies.”
The Jewish groups say they have “no quarrel” with the Inspector General’s recommendation and “applaud” its goals. Nevertheless, they maintain, the Prisons Bureau went far beyond what the Inspector General suggested by promulgating a policy that limits each religion to an approved list of 150 published works to which inmates can have access.
In a missive sent earlier this week to Harley G. Lappin, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the five Orthodox organizations – Agudath Israel of America, the Aleph Institute, the National Council of Young Israel, the Rabbinical Council of America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – stated that they “are at a loss to understand why any religious book would be banned by an arbitrary cap if it is otherwise acceptable and contributes to the spiritual development of inmates seeking religious reading materials in a prison chapel library.”
The Orthodox groups point out, for one example, that the religious library at the prison in Otisville, N.Y. has been dismantled, with many hundreds of books, videotapes and audiotapes having been removed and placed in storage. In fact, several inmates at the facility – including one Orthodox Jew – have initiated a lawsuit challenging the move. The issue, however, say the national Orthodox groups, should be resolved without having to go through a legal proceeding.
The Orthodox Jewish groups have suggested to the Prisons Bureau that there be no limit placed on the number of religious books and tapes made available to inmates even as all material is in fact screened to ensure that it is appropriate. In that effort, the groups recommend that the Bureau seek the advice and assistance of responsible religious advocacy organizations, as it has done in the past with regard to various prison programs. The groups also request that “unless there is reason to believe that specific materials may be objectionable,” materials removed thus far be returned to prison library shelves, or otherwise made available to inmates, while awaiting screening.
The organizations asked Mr. Lappin for the opportunity to meet to discuss the issue, in the hope of “helping formulate procedures that will allow the BOP to meet its security objectives and at the same time permit prison libraries to retain the vast storehouse of wholesome religious materials that have been accumulated over the years as well as new publications.”
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24 Responses
These inmates should have been studying these books prior to the crimes then they would not have landed in jail in the first place.
mistermann,
zulst dich shemin for saying that. did it ever dawn on you that they are ba’alay tshuva? be dan l’kaf zchus.
These inmates should have been studying these books prior to the crimes then they would not have landed in jail in the first place.
cute-however although they didnt M’ashpos Yarim Evyon
Wow Mr. Mann, you have either completely missed the point or sadly feel the need to point out others failings for no particular reason.
smart aleck “Mistermann” There is pidyon shvium regarding every Jew. Anyhow at least let him study now. Or is the term “Tsuvah” unknown to you??
Personally I don’t think 150 books is so little, but your comment is unnecessary.
Mistermann – There are people in prison who are there because they would not masser on another Yid. Think before you comment.
@Mistermann:
First of all, let’s face reality. Many people do things that would land them in jail. Most of those people just don’t get caught. Vi’ha’miven yavin. (Does zayin shalosh shtayim on a sign ring a bell? And in other places they are just less innovative with their signs. Again, ha’mavin yavin.)
Also, can I assume you have never done an aveirah? Do you not observe Yom Kippur because you did the right thing in the first place?
They should only be allowed to read ” Mussar ” books.
And they should be tested on those Seforim on a monthly basis.
What I don’t get is that if a prison has 150 books, all of which urge Muslims to be terrorists in order and kill many American infidels, how does this solve their problem?
Mistermann: Well said. Now we must look to the future and see how we may help these inmates become better people so they don’t repeat their sins and crimes. If we get them books NOW, perhaps we can prevent them from making the same mistakes again in the future.
Misterman:
Great mussar, and I’m sure it’ll be taken to heart by all the Jewish inmates reading YW, especially those who might be falsely incarcerated.
Now, how about sticking to the issue, and addressing how we can REALLY help them do teshuvah.
So… on the one hand we cry Anti-Semitism when they remove Jewish books, but at the same time we will complain about Islam spreading like wild fire in the prison system. Get over it, tell the “frum” convicts to learn be-iyun instead of bekius. So they won’t finish shas twice during their 15 year sentence, oh well.
This is a tough position to be in. One one hand we durely want the various organizations negotiating to have sefarim approved. On the other hand, who wants the aino yehudim knowing “vus shtait in yeder sefer”. This brings back memories of problems throughout the ages, where censorship and banning of books abounded.
Mistermann: Don’t you realize that people have hirhurei tshuva. Some people have to do tshuva for onoas devarim.
Mistermann;
Unfortunately, many frum inmates have been framed
As someone who visits with Jewish prisoners for a living. (I am loosley affiliated with Aleph, the only org mentioned in this article which is compltley ibbergegeben to the tens of thousands of Jewish prisoners -and service men- and yes, even though I am a “Lakewooder” there is something about Aleph (its Chabad) that cant be said about any other Jewish org that visits yidden in prison). In any case, I come across balley teshuva in prison all the time, as well as very many heimishe yidden. There are chevra, both b’t’s and ffb’s who are shtayging in prison, bli guzma. But 150 sforim should be enough, in any case….
btw, with all due respect to agudah, but if you have to put a logo on this article it should be Aleph’s since they are the only Jewish org soley dedicated to the thousands of acheinu bney yisroel who are living on the other side of mechitzas habarzel.
First of all, let us give a big round of applause to these five groups for getting together regarding this important cause. Secondly, let us keep on top of all these groups, to keep pushing so that this letter accomplishes what it is intended to.
Mistermann: SHAME ON YOU. As a yid, we all know that we urge Tshuva to all. Many of these prisoners did not even know who the Borei Olam was, before that got there and had time to reflect, and learn. As far as the frum inmates, they also do Tsuva, and we can all agree that have access to sforim / books / etc. will help the rehabilitation efforts.
Reb….: The idea is that these 150 books should be screened, so that would stop the problem. What I don’t understand is as follows, if the reason behind this was to prevent extremism, than they should start and stop where the problem is, and not punish everyone. I saw online, that the order from the government was that they should review the books, NOT LIMIT THEM, but since the great minds in Washington would rather find an easy way out, than deal with the REAL ISSUE, this is their genius solution. SHAME ON THEM!!
Yerchem……: If in fact you do visit prisons, which I am sure you do, than you realize that 150 books is really nothing at all.
No one will argue that Aleph is the premier JEWISH (not lubavitch – maybe run by chabad chasidim, but they are there to service any and all Jews in prisons and the military) group that deals with these issues, and they have been around for over 20 years, however, in this effort, this seems to be done as a joint effort, by the premier orthodox organizations representing Jewish causes, because they all agree that this is a very important issue.
We need to daven, and push for our local askanim and politicians to prevent this from going forward.
“zayin sholosh shtayim?” ?? I’m mystified. Is this some pesha of some kind that has a siman like that?
MO do you feel the same about Pollard as well? Or is he the only one able to repent in prison since he was treated unfairly?
While it is entertaining to watch you Talmidim debate the prison library issue, I can’t help but wonder how many of you have actually gone out and done anything about the plight of imprisoned Jews and their families – and I’m not just talking about Jonathan Pollard who gets more support than the other thousands of Jewish prisoners put together.
As the chairman of Jewish Prisoner Services International [JPSI], I can tell you that while the Aleph Institute may be the singly largest and most publicized Jewish prison and jail chaplaincy, it is far from the only organization of its kind. In fact, there are numerous regional and local Jewish chaplaincies around the globe, most of them being operated by unpaid volunteers who are quietly dedicated to meeting our community’s obligation of responsibility for each other. They should also be recognized and JPSI is proud to support them in whatever ways our meager budget will allow.
JPSI works very closely with Aleph, but we take a somewhat different approach by focusing on changing prison culture from inside the system. For example, as the long-standing communications chairman of the American Correctional Chaplains Association, I have been insuring that all minority faiths have a voice. Furthermore, I and JPSI colleagues sit on various committees of ‘corrections industry’ organizations, we regularly speak at industry seminars and workshops, and we actively cultivate industry allies. Being highly visible in the prison/jail realm, we are often sought out for advice on Jewish issues and our recommendations are frequently implemented. As for the BOP library situation, we are currently driving a multi-faith chaplaincy effort to combat it.
If you would like to know more about our coalition, you can call me at our Seattle office (206) 985-0577 or e-mail me at [email protected]
Chaplain Gary Friedman
It is very difficult to determine how many Jewish prisoners are Orthodox because almost all of them claim to be ‘Orthodox’. This is primarily because the term ‘Orthodox’ is widely (and erroneously) employed in the prison world to distinguish real Jews from so-called ‘Messianics’, ‘Hebrew Israelites’ and the like. There is also a national phenomena of thousnads of non-Jewish inmates claiming to be ‘Orthodox Jewish’ in order to obtain kosher diets, scam the ‘rich’ Jewish community and pursue other manipulative/predatory concudct. [For an in-depth, well-researched article on this, Google the March 1-7, 2006 Seattle Weekly cover story entitles ‘The Jewish Con’] Unfortunately, this is overwhelming our resources as much of out time has to be spent on confirming whether or not inmates are Halachically Jewish. [NOTE: We only provide services to Jewish inmates and their families.] That said, it appears that the numbers of prisoners who were Orthodox prior to incarceration is consistent with community demographics. As for what crimes they have committed, we usally don’t ask as our interest is in where they are going rather than where they have been. However, I can tell you that Orthodox Jews are being convicted of the same offenses as everybody else.
[More to follow.]
JPSI does not directly provide chaplains, but we do support some 250 rabbis and a like number of lay volunteers (in the U.S. alone) with religious materials and other assistance. As for which yeshivos they are ordained by or what Va’ad or shul they are endorsed by, it doesn’t concern us as it is preferable to have some Jewish outreach than none – and particularly so in the remote areas where prisons are often located. We have also found that once provided with the opportunity to practice their faith, Jewish prisoners tend to become increasingly observant. [BTW, although I am frum myself, JPSI’s staff and volunteers are from all mainstream branches of Judasim.]
JPSI also works in conjunction with various Jewish social service agencies in providing assistance to prisoner families and releasees. Here again, we do not concern ourselves with whether or not they are Orthodox. However, due to escalating need for our services combined with diminishing financial support, we keep going deeper into the red ink. Quite framkly, we are the least popular cause in a community that prefers to believe that its people do no wrong.
Sorry about the typos, but I was multi-tasking and this system doesn’t employ spellcheck.
Anyhow, one last comment (mostly for the benefit of some other readers):
Many Jewish prisoners never had the opportunity of proper Jewish education as they are from secularized and/or disfunctional families – which is not their fault!