Let Them Eat Bread

It didn’t take long for Rabbi Stessel to realize that the Orthodox inmates needed many things and made it his business to set about improving their situation. Today Rabbi Stessel — with the endorsement and backing of Rebbe Aharon Teitelbaum of Satmar — runs a well-organized group who’ve learned the unique culture of the prison system and the mindset of the jailers and the jailed.

R abbi Yisroel Chaim Stessel’s day job is publishing seforim but a large part of his life revolves around those who’ve been “booked” another way — he works together with prison chaplains from around the United States to bring mehadrin kosher food and religious articles to frum Jews behind bars.

Right now menorahs and olive oil lighting kits are stacked along the walls of his Shlom Asirayich offices in the upstate New York Satmar community of Monroe to be distributed by volunteers to men who will be spending the Festival of Lights far away from their families and communities. At least these imprisoned Yidden will be able to bring the glow of Chanukah flames to the prison chapel before the nightly curfew obliges them to return to their cells.

There are several dedicated organizations that take care of the needs of Jewish prisoners. Shlom Asirayich — which today acts as a private contractor for the Prisons Services in meal production and coordinates a cadre of volunteers who try to meet the religious needs of imprisoned Jews — began 22 years ago when a Jew from abroad contacted Rabbi Stessel asking him to take care of a relative who was serving time in a New York correctional facility. It didn’t take long for Rabbi Stessel to realize that the Orthodox inmates needed many things and made it his business to set about improving their situation. Today Rabbi Stessel — with the endorsement and backing of Rebbe Aharon Teitelbaum of Satmar — runs a well-organized group who’ve learned the unique culture of the prison system and the mindset of the jailers and the jailed.