The Aleph Institute is an American non-profit organization affiliated with the

Chabad-Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...

movement that provides support services to the approximately 85,000 Jews in the U.S. prison system and Jewish members of the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

located in the United States and deployed abroad.

Prison programs

Aleph's prison programs focus on assisting Jewish inmates during their prison stay as well as helping them reintegrate into society once released. Aleph helps them observe the Jewish holidays and assist them with their daily Jewish practices, books, food items and materials holidays and daily Jewish practices. Aleph also has a summer visitation program which sends Rabbinical students around the US visiting over 3,000 Jewish inmates.

Advocacy

The institute has intervened on behalf of Jewish prisoners, in the United States and abroad. For example, the institute connected Jacob Ostreicher, a Jewish businessman arrested in Bolivia in 2011 for purportedly money laundering, with actor

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. List of awards and nominations received by Sean Penn, His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Gl ...

. Penn made a direct appeal to Bolivian President

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...

on Ostreicher's behalf. Ostreicher was released in 2013 and credited the Aleph Institute with helping to secure his release. In 2010, Aleph Institute joined 200 Jewish organizations petitioning then Governor

Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. ( ; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. represen ...

for a stay of execution on behalf of Martin Grossman who was convicted of the 1984 killing of a law enforcement officer.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

also sent a personal request to commute the sentence but the execution proceeded and Grossman was killed in 2010.

Military programs

Aleph assists with the spiritual needs of Jews serving in the U.S. Armed Forces by providing Jewish books as well as moral and spiritual support. Aleph also distributes special holiday packages to soldiers for Jewish holidays to Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine bases.

European Aleph Institute

The European Aleph Institute was founded in 2005 and based in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

to ensure the religious rights of the estimated 3,500 to 5,000

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s imprisoned in Europe. The institute arranges for prisoners to be provided with

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

meals, religious texts and ceremonial objects, as well as counseling, education, and financial support to families of prisoners.blog entry detailing organization's 2007 accomplishments
/ref> The expressed intent is to avoid

recidivism Recidivism (; from 'recurring', derived from 'again' and 'to fall') is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to Extinction (psycholo ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Military-related organizations Prison charities based in the United States Jewish charities based in the United States Charities based in Florida Chabad organizations Religious prison-related organizations Chabad in the United States Surfside, Florida Jewish charities based in Europe