Cc.yeshiva In Prison

The Adel Bas Avraham Learning-to-Live YESHIVA IN PRISON March 2008

I am a Jewish man and I have been incarcerated for 26 years. Throughout these years, I have been a member of The Aleph Institute. I have always enjoyed the visits from rabbinical students that Aleph sends out a couple of times a year. It is nice to visit with them and learn for an hour or two, but then they have to leave and it’s back to the business of doing time for the crime I committed. As most of you know, Aleph sends out The National Liberator several times a year at our various holidays, to inform us of the laws and customs of that particular holiday and to give us some insight of what is going with Aleph throughout the country and the world. In one of these National Liberators, I read about the Yeshiva-in-Prison program that Aleph had offered in the B.O.P. I remember thinking that it would be great to have three days of real learning and fellowship with the Rabbis involved in the Yeshivain-Prison program, but without actually experiencing it I could not know what a lifechanging and beautiful experience it could be. Through Hashem’s grace, I was moved to South Florida, and shortly after I was transferred to XXXXX institution [name withheld for privacy]. I soon learned that a Yeshiva-in-Prison was planned for this facility.

I really had no clue as to what I should expect. The Yeshiva-in-Prison program was all I could think of or talk about in the weeks leading up to it actually happening. I work in our chapel here, and I was busy getting things ready when the Rabbis showed up. When I looked into their faces, I could see the love they have for Hashem and the love they have for their fellow Jews. That lifted me up and too me to heights that I’d never been to before. The first day we davened as a group (the start of many firsts for me). It was the first time I had davened with a minyan. We all donned Tefillin. When we broke for a kosher lunch, it was a very enjoyable experience just to sit at tables with nothing but Jewish people, eating and talking. We all were asking questions and just getting to know one another. After lunch, more one-on-one study. I was really transformed. I felt as though I had left prison and was sitting in a yeshiva studying Torah. The first day came to an end. I was sad because it would be 12 hours or more before I could come back to the chapel and immerse myself in all that was happening in the program.

“Little did I know that the next day would prove to be the greatest experience of my 48 years on this earth.” Thursday morning came and the Rabbis entered the chapel with their Sefer Torah scrolls. I was in instant awe. For most of the morning, I was could not take my eyes off the Torah scrolls. Then came the time that the blessings were said. The covering came off and as a Cohen I was called to my very first aliyah. I

was nervous, thrilled and honored. I was walking on air. The rest of the day was mostly a blur, other than I stayed close to the Torah scrolls. During a break I asked Rabbi Tzi if I could kiss the scrolls again and he said yes. What a feeling! By far, it was the greatest day of my life. Like nothing I have ever experienced. Day three was the final day and it was a day of sadness for me. I wanted the Rabbis to stay so we could learn every day! But the reality of it was the

Yeshiva-in-Prison was coming to a close. I see now that it was really a beginning for me. Since the program, I have immersed myself in Torah studies. I am learning Hebrew. I’ve set a goal to become a Rabbi. I’ve corresponded with Rabbi Yossi Stern who heads up the Yeshiva-inPrison Program and he has graciously offered his help and has laid out a plan of study for me. Today, I daven with Tefillin daily. I wear tzitzit, I eat as kosher as I can in prison and I live a Torah filled and Torah blessed life. Without Aleph and the Yeshiva-in-Prison program, I

would have never had my first aliyah. And the flame of Torah that burns within me now would have never happened. So I offer my heartfelt thanks to Hashem for allowing The Aleph Institute to have a program that they take into the dark of prison and create light. With thankfulness and Torah blessings, I am [Name withheld for privacy]

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