Tag: Sacks

  • Imprisoned Childhood /Holy Justice

    Right before a judge decides a sentence, they should be reminded they are sentencing that man’s children, too. Prison is full of fathers. Midjourney AI-Generated Image Some are the “stereotypical” 20-somethings who got a girl (or girls) pregnant on their way to prison, but most I’ve met are men in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and…

  • Quick Torah thought: Metzora

    Hi Friends, One quick Torah Thought inspired-by this week’s parsha, Metzorah: We again visit the topic of Tzaraat, an infliction of the surfaces of the house, property, clothes, and (eventually) body, as a punishment for speaking “Lashon HaRa” (“The evil tongue”). The Rambam explains that Lashon Hara, *true* gossip about someone, is more evil than…

  • The Men Inside (Child Abuse)

    “At 7, I was bound, abducted, and forced to have sex with other children, in a cinderblock room, much like I was kept at The Building,” says David (name changed). He has said this twice, in the past week, the entire time we’ve known each other since he arrived from “The Building”, what the men…

  • Sanctuary, not Sacrifice

    This week we begin reading VaYikra (Leviticus), the Torah’s central book literally (3 of 5) and ethically. The sages say children should begin their learning not with Bereshit (Genesis, “In the beginning…”) but VaYikra, saying “Let the pure come and study purity” [1]. Rabbi Akiva says the core of Judaism is found in it, “You…

  • Fight the Weak

    Joey (name changed) twitches like a lovable toy robot dropped down the stairs a few too many times. The batteries are fully charged, but jerky movements let you know something’s loose inside. Still, his smile radiates with a shy glee and his eyes [reveal] a brain working overtime. It doesn’t tell him nice things. “I…

  • Family & Forgiveness : Reuben’s Voice (Abortion)

    One of the simultaneously most-painful and most-beautiful moments in prison is watching a small boy or girl cling to their father, grab him one last time, before visiting day hours are over. It may be the last time they see him for the week, or months if they live far away. You don’t want to…

  • Teaching Art in Prison

    Last night, I taught a drawing class to a room full of men accused of crimes ranging from armed bank robbery, to child porn, to drug running, to white-collar fraud, to illegal migration, to public corruption… The Education building of FCI Miami Low looks like a small school, but with the same heavy steel doors…

  • From moments of despair to moments of joy

    Some days you wake up in prison and some days you wake up IN prison. Today was one of those days where the steel bars feel a little colder and tighter in the morning. You think back to things destroyed, opportunities killed, relationships harmed or ended… you think of the stress, the loss, the folks…