Resources

As a Correctional Chaplain, I work with kindred spirits, among staff and Inmates, who are striving to live meaningful lives, confronting negativity within and without, and transforming themselves and their society.

The Chanukah lights are intended for people on the “outside” — those on the margins. The internal practice of Chanukah is to turn outward and examine how we help illuminate God’s holiness for people on the outside of our society.

No one’s mistakes should be the end of their lives; we all deserve the chance to change, to grow, and to live.

I pledge to continue the call to recognize the sanctity of life for all human beings. I vow never to be silent in the face of oppression — no matter how “political” it may seem to some.

There is a deep and abiding power in saying to those who have died as a result of solitary confinement. We cannot bring back those we lost, but we can sanctify their memories by continuing to fight for a city that is dedicated to human rights for all.

I believe one reason we dispose of people who have done harm (or are accused of doing harm) is to avoid looking at ourselves and our own baser natures.

No matter the circumstances, each imprisoned and formerly imprisoned person deserves a life filled with dignity.

T'ruah invites Massachusetts clergy to use this toolkit as a way to connect the decarceration of women and girls in the Commonwealth with Shabbat Hazon.

When someone like Kenneth Smith is praying even as he is lying on a bed of death, how can we pass by once we are made aware, awakened to God's presence there? 

Of all the places I have served in a rabbinic capacity, the maximum-security prison where I serve now is the most religious.