Posted to General on
West Coast Chabad Lubavitch

Most 20 year-olds from Brooklyn would agree that a road trip through California would rank near the top of the list of great things to do during the summer. But for Ari Shapiro and Chaim Bronstein, the road trip experience focused on something other than fun and sun. These two young Chabad rabbis have spent the hot summer weeks touring California's prisons.

Chabad’s Prison Chaplaincy: Reaching Out Behind Bars

West Coast Chabad Lubavitch

Most 20 year-olds from Brooklyn would agree that a road trip through California would rank near the top of the list of great things to do during the summer. But for Ari Shapiro and Chaim Bronstein, the road trip experience focused on something other than fun and sun. These two young Chabad rabbis have spent the hot summer weeks touring California’s prisons.

Their travels have brought them to the furthest reaches of the state as they sought out the wayward souls incarcerated in the penal system. Rabbis Shapiro and Bronstein are part of Chabad’s prison chaplaincy program, which tends to the spiritual needs of Jewish inmates within the 33 state prisons and 6 federal prisons operating in California.

Most of Chabad’s efforts to serve the West Coast Jewish communities are well known, but this mission has been steadily progressing over time with much less fanfare. For the past 25 years, Chabad has been caring for the spiritual needs of Jewish people behind bars. The Jewish incarcerated are one of the most vulnerable and downtrodden sectors of the Jewish community — and are often overlooked and forgotten.

“Most people are incredulous when I speak about my experiences with Jewish prisoners,” says the director of Chabad’s prison chaplaincy efforts, Rabbi Yosef Loschak of S. Barbara. “It’s as if there’s some kind of mental block which refuses to recognize that we have a segment of our population behind bars.”

Indeed, according to Rabbi Loschak, the number of Jewish prisoners overall is in line with the overall Jewish national population. He estimates that while Jews are demographically underrepresented in maximum-security prisons, they are overrepresented in minimum-security facilities. “The needs of the Jewish prisoner are so much greater than someone on the outside,” he explained. “Incarceration compounds an individual’s stress and anxiety in a measure that most people cannot understand.” There is also a high level of undisguised anti-Semitism in the prison population. This combination of factors makes many prisoners yearn to reconnect with their religious roots.

“Particularly amongst the white-collar criminals, you see a very profound spiritual change,” said Rabbi Loschak. “Here you have someone who had a good career, a home, a family… And through one stupid move, he loses everything — not the least of which is his freedom.”

Even from his first visit, Rabbi Ari Shapiro noted the enthusiasm and profound gratitude of the inmates he visited. “The connection made with the inmates is so much deeper and meaningful than working on the outside,” he said. “Many of them are so desperate to find some meaning and perspective in their lives. You can tell they appreciate every moment they have with you. It’s like you’re bringing them life.”

“Most inmates are very, very respectful,” said Rabbi Chaim Bronstein. “Even the ones who dislike you still respect why you’re there and what you’re doing. You’re giving your time and energy to care for someone on the inside. They respect that a lot.”

Rabbis Bronstein and Shapiro visited up to three prisons a day during the summer. Since most communities want to avoid having correctional facilities nearby, the locations of many prisons are quite remote, often hours away from the nearest town.

In one case, the two drove fifteen hours from Southern California to the infamous Pelican Bay facility to visit its lone Jewish inmate. After arriving, they discovered that paperwork vital for their admittance was mishandled — leaving them with no way to gain entry. In time, the guards called the warden directly to explain that two rabbis from Brooklyn had shown up for visitation without proper paperwork.

The warden himself came to the prison gate to greet them. “He was so moved that someone would come all the way from New York to visit an inmate, that he personally escorted us through the facility,” the rabbis said. “During our trip to Pelican Bay, a riot broke out in the South Wing, causing the prison to get locked down — meaning that no one comes in, and no one gets out. Fortunately, this happened we were in the North Wing, and we were allowed to leave on schedule.”

Nonetheless, Shapiro states that he’s never felt in danger during his visits. At one point, he was face to face with a Jew in solitary confinement. The Rabbi asked if he was allowed to put his hands through the bars. “At your own risk,” answered the guard. He used the opportunity to put tefillin on the young man.

“It is a very harsh environment,” said Bronstein, “But it’s specifically here in this environment where the human soul is so desperate for connection. Many of the inmates are so grateful for our few minutes together. It’s amazing to see what kind of emotion it brings out of a person.” “And if someone wonders, what are we doing here? I say, this is Chabad. We’re here to help.”

Rabbi Loschak put it this way: “Everybody has made mistakes — and some of these prisoners have made terrible mistakes — but our mission is not to judge them for their past. These inmates are still human beings, regardless of what brought them to prison; we have an obligation to reach out to them.”

Related Articles

18 Comments