When Mr. Smooth Gets Farblunget

 Chabad has a wonderful group, based here in South Florida: The Aleph Institute. It provides visits to Jewish prisoners -- and coordinates the visits of others, kosher food, connection, etc. I learned about them years ago when Paul and I accompanied our Rabbi friend Yossi for monthly visits to Homestead, where we helped lead classes for men and women there. Many of the women had killed their husbands for money, which I kind of admired. But that's another blog post.

Aleph was formed by the late Rebbe because of stuff that went on in old Russia and Eastern Europe. Often Jews were wrongly imprisoned, and a major blessing was going to help them. In the US, maybe many of the Jews in jail and prison ought to be there, but still, visiting and nourishing their souls seems a righteous act.

During Covid, I had a family member jailed in LA County. No one visited him except for the Aleph Rabbi -- ignoring fears of the Plague to weekly connect with the troubled young man, to let him know he isn't alone. The family member doesn't identify as a Jew at all, but having a Jewish mother gets you into the program, and I was so happy to be able to arrange that for him. He got out, after about 1.5 years behind bars, and we thought his life would take a better turn. It did, for a short time, but he was back on the streets.

We learned last week he was arrested again, and had been in jail since February. I figured the only practical thing I could do was again contact the Aleph people, and see about renewing the visits. So I emailed them -- and they were kind enough to have someone call today. I had given a contribution to them, and I think they appreciated it.

So I fielded a local call this am, from deep voiced "Ronnie." Ronnie sounded like Billy Crystal's impersonation of his older aunts -- with the raspy voice of a several decade smoker. Marge Simpson's sisters sound the same.

Ronnie was very nice -- telling me they had the information on the family member. We talked about how tough it is for a family when someone is behind bars, and how the connections Aleph provides truly nourish the souls of the most damaged. I told Ronnie how much it meant that they visited so much last time, and was sorry to have to call upon them again.

And then came my faux pas: I asked Ronnie if he was a rabbi. "What???? I'm a WOMAN." I tried to tap dance, and said "Well, if you were Reform or Conservative, you could be a woman rabbi." Ronnie responded "G-d fobid!" in Yiddish.

Oy. My mother in law also had a deep, raspy, smoking affected voice, and she was confused for a man on the phone often. It happens. I think Ronnie may forgive me. But maybe she ought to say "This is Ronnie the woman!"

The important thing is they visit. And hopefully, Big Man willing, this time the troubled young man will find a new path. Ronnie and her LA Rabbis stand willing to help.