HOUSTON, TX — While religious books are being purged from federal prison libraries, a Texas state prison hosted a prayer service, complete with two Chabad rabbis and a Torah scroll on Rosh Hashanah.
A First for Jewish Inmates in a Texas Prison: High Holy Days Plus Sukkot
HOUSTON, TX — While religious books are being purged from federal prison libraries, a Texas state prison hosted a prayer service, complete with two Chabad rabbis and a Torah scroll on Rosh Hashanah.
Twenty-five men, clad in the white pajamas that are Stringfellow Unit’s uniforms, raised their voices in prayer, humming along when words were unfamiliar. Afterward, D.G., a Jewish inmate, sent a letter from his cell in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to Chabad of Houston’s associate director Rabbi Dovid Goldstein with his thanks.
“A thousand blessings to you and your family. It was without a doubt the best Rosh Hashanah in history since we were incarcerated.”
While many prisons allow inmates to gather for prayer services, allowing rabbis in to lead holiday services and serve holiday meals is out of the ordinary. Stringfellow’s brass went a step further by allowing the rabbis to sleep over in a spare room of the guardhouse.
Enthusiasm for accommodating religious needs has gained momentum since the creation of a Jewish Enhanced Unit on premises in 2005. Kosher food and pastoral care are part of life in the Jewish unit. They gather for services and Rabbi Goldstein’s weekly Torah class, based on Chabad’s Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) curriculum. Volunteers from Houston make the 45 minutes to Rosharon to give the inmates Challah before Shabbat.
friends
As always, Dovid Goldstein makes a difference!
REA
Keep up the good work!
neckisaching
yayyy mendel!!!
lizerdio
Vote Rabbi Goldstein For President! We’ll all be in great shape if he ran the country!
friend
i know that rabbi goldstein works very hard and ive seen the work he does but in this case lets give some credit to the bochurim who went there to sleep with prison guards, and almost got shot by a watch tower when wanting to take a walk (white shirts)
yosef and mendel keep up the good work
and good luck for yom kippur
Puppet
Mendel and Yossef u rock. Sooo proud of u guys. UR AMAZING!!