Chabad Introduces Torah Behind Bars

Ten young Chabad Rabbis spent three days this week in the Okeechobee Correctional Institution in Florida, teaching Torah and sharing their love of Judaism with eighteen Jewish inmates incarcerated there.

The three-day Yeshiva In Prison program is a project of the Aleph Institute, an organization based in Miami, Florida, under the auspices of Chabad Lubavitch.

Aleph provides a multitude of programs and services for families in crisis, Jewish inmates, and Jews serving in the military.

Florida Department of Corrections staff members agree that programs like Yeshiva in Prison effect positive change in the inmates.

"I don’t know what happens when they get out," one guard said. "But we see a major difference while they’re here."

Many of the Jewish inmates credited the Aleph Institute with instilling in them a desire to reform their ways when they are released from prison, reported the Florida Jewish News.