Federal Prison Rabbis Unite at Historic New York Kinus

The Federal Bureau of Prisons now has nine rabbinic chaplains, the largest number in its history. Eight serve in federal institutions around the country, while Rabbi Avrohom Richter, shliach in Howard Beach and Senior Regional Chaplain for the Bureau, works with the Central Office in Washington, D.C.

The multi-day kinus opened with meetings with those involved in Jewish prison chaplaincy and assisting Jewish inmates. In Crown Heights, the group met with Rabbi Shmuel Spritzer of Reaching Out to Jewish Prisoners.

Representatives of the Aleph Institute, which was established at the Rebbe’s direction to assist Jewish prisoners and their families, met and guided the chaplains over the kinus. Rabbi Aron Lipskar spoke to the group via Zoom, and Rabbi Mendy Katz flew in to meet with and address the chaplains.

In Williamsburg, the chaplains met prominent askan Rabbi Moshe Dovid Niederman, discussing his decades of communal work and issues affecting Jewish inmates and their families.

They were also welcomed for an extensive meeting by the Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg, Rav Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, and his son, Rav Baruch Ber Teitelbaum.

After the meeting, Rabbi Richter was shown through the home of the previous Satmar Rov, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum. During the visit, the gabbai pointed out a chair preserved in the house and told him that it was the chair on which the Rebbe sat when he came to be menachem avel the Satmar Rebbe in Cheshvan 5714 (1953).

The following day, Federal Bureau of Prisons Chief of Chaplains Heidi Kugler flew especially from Washington, D.C., to join the gathering. Kugler, whose leadership and advocacy have helped strengthen chaplaincy services throughout the federal prison system, was joined by wardens and executive staff from institutions across the region, including MDC Brooklyn, Fort Dix, Danbury and Otisville.

The senior Bureau officials joined the rabbinic chaplains for a special Tzach tour in Crown Heights led by Rabbi Meyer Friedman, offering them a firsthand introduction to Chabad, Yiddishkeit, and many of the religious practices Jewish chaplains work to facilitate inside federal institutions.

The delegation then visited Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, where Rabbi Shmaya Krinsky welcomed the group and shared words with the visiting chaplains and Bureau officials.

The program continued with a visit to the Ohel, where they all prepared and then entered the Ohel together.

During the kinus, the rabbinic chaplains also devoted extensive time to the practical side of their work, reviewing Federal Bureau of Prisons policies relating to Judaism and discussing complex halacha lemaaseh questions that arise in prison chaplaincy.

Chaplains included:
Rabbi Chaim Schochet – Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville
Rabbi Yisroel Hallin – Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn
Rabbi Yanki Raychik – Federal Detention Center in Miami
Rabbi Sholom Estrin – Federal Correctional Institution in Miami
Rabbi Mendy Horowitz – Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts
Rabbi Chananya Steinmetz – Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey
Rabbi Yitzchak Hochman – Federal Correctional Complex in Lompoc, California
Rabbi Aaron Cohn – Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut