Emancipate Yourself From Mental Slavery

So Rabbi Yossi makes monthly visits to the men's and women's Florida state prisons in deep Sout Dade. Chabad is the ultimate outreach group among the orthodox, and they figure Jews in incarceration are the most in need of Torah study. My partner Paul has begun going along, and Wednesday I joined them, after submitting personal info and being approved for chaplaincy visits. We drove South, past my favorite exotic food stand Robert is Here. We promised ourselves some delicious fruit shakes when we completed our task -- it was not to be, as Paul was running late for a girlfriend family function. We were admitted by gruff, black guards, who enjoyed the fact that our attempts at talking to them through the bullet proof glass were frustrating. Prison and paralysis are my two greatest personal fears -- and both, of course, are the lack of control one has. I used to loathe being at the command of bad teachers and professors. Living at the whim of uneducated, oafish prison guards is the next level of hell... We made our way in, and were lead to a room with 13 guys waiting. They greeted us happily. Rabbi Yossi introduced us, and we exchanged small talk, and then Yossi began explaining what they had to do for their upcoming Passover seder. They hung on every word. The guys were articulate and nice -- joking with each other and us. One fellow, in a wheelchair with a broken ankly, LOOKED like a prisoner -- badass blonde guy --big, tatooed, biker-like. He joked he knew he didn't look Jewish -- but his mother was, and he was rediscovering his faith. I checked him out later in the evening -- sure enough -- ran cocaine, and beat up several Broward Sheriff deputies. The rest of the guys looked more like a group of garden variety Jewish guys. The leader of the group was about 6 feet, trim, and good looking. He had wire rimmed glasses and spoke very well ---I'd figure maybe a senior CPA, or head of a company, or maybe even doctor. As we left, the Rabbi said he didn't look up their careers, but heard the one fellow had 4 life sentences. Paul assumed he must have killed 4 people, but I knew this fellow was no murderer -- too soft looking. My guess was right -- sexual predator -- 4 little girls in Boca and North Broward. Someone's kindly uncle... Of the group that grew to 16 while we were there -- it turned out 4 were pedophiles. So the Catholic priests have no monopoly... Rabbi Yossi said, at the end, he was not to judge. He agreed these guys MUST be in prison, but were still entitled to have the opportunity to learn and grow. In fact -- the theme of Passover, which is coming, was that no matter where we were in life, we had to escape the chains of oppression keeping us down. I guess for the pedophiles, living safely away from kids is a good start. Next came the walk across the parking lot to the ladies...A middle aged woman met us there, carrying some of the supplies for Passover. I chatted with her -- she was from Bal Harbor via Long ISland. I could tell she was wealthy. I asked if she was religious. No -- her son died 7 years ago after a life of heroin addiction and imprisonment -- he was 30. She said she could never bring herself to visit him in prison, but when he died, to respect his memory -- she began making visits to the women's prison. The large group of ladies also happily greeted us. Their leader, PAula, was pretty and impressive. She asked great questions. Rabbi Yossi told me she had taught herself Hebrew, and taught the others English composition. I looked her up after the visit. She was a stripper with a badass rock and roll boyfriend, in Tampa. She got into a violent fight, a gun went off, and the abusive boyfriend took a bullet to his neck and died. Her crappy public defender turned down an offer of 5 years for manslaughter, and she took her chances with a jury. Bad bet: murder one, and now she's a lifer. The rest of the ladies were drug dealers, a few fraudsters, and a few more avengers of very bad boyfriends. One was a dead ringer, younger version of my sister Susan. Her story was the most tragic. A Broward County school teacher, no bad past. She went to a Kareoke night, and had too many drinks, and ran over a woman on the way home, killing her. She got 17 years. She has 9 more to go, and will be 55 when she gets out... We left the prison and I was moved. The fact that I could move freely was everything. Wifey, D1, my mother in law, and my father in law and Ancient Mom will have a seder Monday night at the nursing home -- outside in the gazebo. The olds are trapped there, by their age. But I plan to look skyward and thank the Big Man -- for our freedom. That's everything.