Councilman Greenfield and the leaders of Dror met with NYC Department of Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte to address ongoing religious issues many frum inmates have faced while in the custody of the New York City prison system. Dror, a volunteer run organization that offers free legal assistance to community members and families who have been indicted or imprisoned, has worked for many years with the Federal, New York State and New York City correctional institutions to ensure that while frum people are imprisoned their religious needs are lawfully met. Unfortunately inmates in the NYC correctional facilities continue to face difficulties receiving kosher food and essential religious articles like tefillin while in custody, that is why Councilman Greenfield met with the Commissioner to come up with a strategy to fix these problems. The Commissioner committed to to addressing these issues.
While the Orthodox Jewish population is growing in numbers citywide, only a small fraction of inmates in city prisons are religious therefore the needs and special measures that must be taken to accommodate these inmates are not well known in the corrections system. Dror has found that many of the inmates they work with face several basic challenges while incarcerated. First, it may take a new inmate several days or even up to a week to receive Glatt Kosher food. Second, about half of all male inmates do not have immediate access to teffilin for daily prayers. Lastly, depending on the time of their arrest inmates are sometimes forced to travel to different correctional facilities on the Shabbos. Councilman Greenfield asked that the Department of Corrections (DOC) immediately address these issues and explained what a serious issue it is for these religious persons to not have these basic needs met. The Commissioner was receptive and understanding and suggested several action plans to implement changes right away.
“Thankfully not many members of our community end up in correctional facilities, but it is essential that the ones who do are able to continue to practice their faith throughout the time they spend in prison,” said Councilman David Greenfield. “Commissioner Ponte was extremely understanding of our concerns and even suggested changes on the spot to ease some of these issues. I am very grateful for Commissioner Ponte’s leadership.”
“We have worked successfully with the Federal and New York State correctional systems, but we still have trouble meeting inmates’ basic needs in New York City jails. On behalf of Dror and all those that we serve, we thank Councilman Greenfield for setting up this meeting and the Commissioner for working with us to address these problems,” said Rabbis Chaim Hirsch Freund and Amrom Israel of Dror.
DOC committed to examining and addressing the issues raised by the Councilman and Dror. DOC will review its process by which inmates can request and receive kosher food to ensure that no inmate is left without religiously appropriate food for long. Additionally DOC committed to working with members of Dror to enable them to bring tefillin and other essential religious articles into prisons for any inmates in need.
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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8 Responses
I find the usage of the word “FRUM” in conjunction with the word “Inmates,” to be a bizayon (abomination.) The same goes for “Kosher Shrimp” even though it might be made with carp. As an inmate you a number of your civil rights (eg right to vote) but due to the kindness of the state government, religiously appropriate foods (kosher) are being served to once upon a time, religious people. Jewish inmates are “NOT FRUM” they are a disgrace/embarrassment to all of religious Jewish society and especially to our Holy Torah. To compound things, the above rabbis have enabled these despicable people to participate in religious functions as tefillin and other essential religious articles have been brought into the prisons. To have an embezzler / murderer put on tefillin is a mockery of all that the tefillin stand for – the following of HaShem’s mitzvot.
The farce continues as they think they are fooling someone but it is themselves they are fooling for they are the ones’ behind prison bars and walls.
i agree with #1, frum is something you live not born into.
To the first poster: while I agree that it is sad how “frum yidden” can do terrible things, it does happen. In fact, the Torah system itself metes out punishment and recognizes that crime is a reality. However, I didn’t know criminals were patur from Torah and mitzvos!!!
Remember, teshuva is a key part of yiddishkeit, and if anything having the ability to daven and perform mitzvos may help someone come back on the derech.
To #1…Wowza! Ever hear of tshuva? Unless you believe that those who fall into a pit, can’t pull themselves out. Temporary insanity is what fills up the prisons. Madoff et al. C’mon, give them a hot airplane double wrapped dinner and daily tefillin, a mitzva. Gawd espiritu! Learn a dvar Torah…please!
It’s a sad state of affairs when there are enough “frum” inmates for the issue of food and tefillin to need to be addressed by our elected officials. It’s time the rabonnim and askonim spoke out to put an end to this terrible chillul Hashem of crime by members of our community.
High cost of keeping up with the Goldbergs can make the baal habayis cook up a scheme for some immediate gratification. Cmon, who doesn’t spend 80000. On a double applianced sub zero granite topped kitchen. Shiduchim time…has to look g’shmak for the future machotonim. So, four and a half in medium security, three glatt meals a day, a shas and tefillin….
You couldn’t be further off…in fact just by the way you speak I would say they yidden may be frumber than you…do you know what they did to be there? Do you know that many prominent rabbis throughout our history have spent time in jail….who are you to say who should or shouldn’t be frum? It is not an embaresmentioned at all…what’s an embaresment is posts like yours on public websites that are baseless and represent nothing in our Jewish society…all the rabonim that have helped people in this situation throughout the past 5000 years must also be wrong…yosef hatzadik was also in jail remember that
WOWZA!!! WOWZA!! WOWZA!! Even when I did smoke, I didn’t hold by the heter that one could light his cigarette from a previously yarhzeit candle or water boiler – Yom Tov is Yom Tov!!
Teshuva – yes, I believe in teshuva especially when I hear of a “FRUM” Monsey family (Father, Mother, Children, Aunts, Uncles) running a scam that earned them an unwarranted $20 million dollars. You want, maybe, that I should be “MOCHEL” them? You need to seek psychiatric care. How about the situations in New Square, NY where a number of boys were sexually abused by a ‘Rebbe?” Mechilla is in your thoughts?
Many more cases that I would like to present here but I’d be washing other people’s laundry in public and they’re now paying the price as they are in prison. The purpose of the Arei Miklat was to provide refuge for people who had “accidentally” killed someone, today it is with intent in 98% of the cases. Do not talk to me about Madoff as he wasn’t a Torah observant individual. Madoff is not even embarrassed over what he did and the great harm he caused to many Torah institutions. I’m talking about here where the nomenclature is “FRUM” which infers just by looking at the bearded and long-coated gentlemen, we are talking of a different category of Jew. Yes indeed, it is a big Chillul HaShem not so much for the person(s) in the prison but for their families that have to live with the shame that a family member(s) are now incarcerated. Sham Zach Nisht ??
If I unfamiliar on how to use a sharp saw there’s a number of end results. (A) I will get a clean cut, (B) I will cut the board but not straight, (C) I will break the blade or (D) I will cut the board and with it, cut my finger off.
#4 Teshuva comes at a high price not just by putting money in the tzedakah box but by heart wrenching ones’ self once a year but everyday. The people in prison for the most part thought that it’s not such a big thing that they did and they’ll get a slap on the wrist and all will be fine me – WRONG!!! The meaning of teshuva is taught in cheder and at the same time most were taught between what was right and what was wrong. There are tons of seforim (if read and studied) that direct how to lead a proud -productive life. You don’t follow Dina D’Malchuta Dina – then you pay the price. Teshuva – that is between Ben Adam L’Makom. You advertise the selling of kosher meat and I and others purchase and you know it’s trief and it is found to be trief. Teshuva is something that you will need to do everyday for the rest of your life. I’d tell you to move to an island with no other inhabitants.
“FRUM” Yidden? Is a Torah observant Jew. Our Holy Torah was used as the blueprint for this world so using the term “frum yidden” means that the person is super-glued to only following our Torah. If that is the case, why is there a need to provide prisoners glatt-kosher food as there are no such things that exist, right? Sorrowfully WRONG!!! As #5 states, “it’s time the rabonnim and askonim spoke out to put an end to this terrible Chillul Hashem of crime by members of our community,” so why are these rabbonim and azkonim shirking and jiving their duties? Sorry to tell you but, a lot the money that is being given to these respected people are coming from the same people that are now imprisoned so it is all “dirty money” and so they say no mussar as they like the money flow with ay questions where it came from.