Prison Chaplaincy Services
The Forgotten
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…but I will not forget you.
--Isaiah 49:15
"He who saves one Jewish life is considered as if he had saved an entire world'." This concept imbues ahavat yisrael (love of one's fellow) with an urgency, a vitality. To Chabad, each human being is an infinity, the spark is there, and nothing in the entire world is more important. Perhaps most revealing of this outlook is the response to those whose cries are the faintest, the constituencies without advocates the elderly, the sick, the vulnerable, the imprisoned, the addict, the remote communities. In a word, the forgotten.
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The most isolated and forgotten of all are the incarcerated Jews. Away from home and community, Jews in prison face unique challenges in maintaining their Jewishness. In State and Federal penitentiaries, county jails and half-way houses, Jewish inmates know that Chabad remembers them and cares, and helps. Chabad of Greater St. Louis coordinates visitation, religious services and publication for Jewish prisoners in penal institutions in Missouri and Southern Illinois. Bringing a message of hope and dignity to despairing prisoners.
