O pinion
What It’s Like to Celebrate Passover in Prison
BY CHRISTOPHER BLACKWELL
OVER THE PAST few years, I
have been honored and blessed
to experience — with good
friends — some Jewish tradi-
tions and holidays. Passover has
always been one of the traditions
I’ve most enjoyed. Yes, the good
food we are blessed to receive
plays a role — a true rarity in
prison — but most important
is the opportunity to experi-
ence some of my friends’ culture
and their family traditions in
celebrating them. To me, there
is no higher honor to be shared
with another — family, tradi-
tion, food and culture.

Last year during Passover,
the virus was raging across
the world. Stay-at-home orders
were given across the United
States and countries were going
on complete lockdown — better
resembling ghost towns than
the lush and beautiful countries
they were only months before,
bursting with life.

The experience within the
prison was no different — we
were sitting in a tinderbox as
we waited for it to catch fire.

Which it eventually did. The
news painted grim pictures of
overcrowded environments,
like prisons and nursing homes,
exploding with excessive
amounts of positive cases of
COVID-19. The unstable state of the
world forced us to spend the
2020 Passover locked in our
cells, alone and isolated. Our
meals were supplemented to
match the traditional holiday,
but the time for stories and
friendship was nowhere to
be had — nothing like the
incredible experiences I had in
previous years.

As our prison continues
to remain on an extremely
restricted movement struc-
ture, still recovering from an
outbreak that infected over 90%
of my living unit, many of us
figured Passover 2021 would
resemble Passover 2020.

However, as
Passover approached this year, the prisoners
at the Monroe Correctional
Complex were told we could come
together and have a small service
in the Religious Activities Center
here. It was a blessing many of us
thought wouldn’t be possible, but
one we welcomed quickly, eager to
spend time with each other.

In the midst of a pandemic,
Passover behind these prison
walls would again become a
festive time due to the kinship
formed among prisoners of all
races and religions being able to
unite in celebration.

Gathered in the RAC, we
were able to share in ancient
stories that connect to a modern
message. A tale of unity, faith,
overcoming adversity, racism,
slavery and oppression. It’s a
story that many from all walks
of life can share in for the
evening, on that first night of
Passover, we celebrated as one.

The guest list was more
diverse than a New York City
subway: Jews, Christians,
Muslims, Druids, atheists,
Buddhists, Asians, Blacks and
whites. Human beings who had
a tough year shared in ancient
tradition, a good meal, laughs
and storytelling. Everyone was
welcoming, open and caring —
no judgment to be had.

When I got back to my cell
that night, laying on my thin
plastic mattress, I felt a sense of
real happiness. I couldn’t help
but think how much better life
would be if we could all just take
a moment to understand each
other. It was a moment that was
truly needed after the year we’ve
been forced to endure.

“This year’s Passover seder
brought multiple cultures
together in celebrating a Jewish
tradition,” said Ezra, a prisoner
who attended. “As someone who
is Asian, and living in a time when
violence against Asian Americans
has severely increased, it was
refreshing to be in the company of
people who look past each other’s
differences.” He went on to say, “If we have
individuals in prison who have
made terrible mistakes that can
overlook cultural and religious
differences and come together
as one, there is no reason people
on the outside of prison can’t do
the same.”
Ezra is right. We should be
able to look past the things that
make us different because in
the end, we are not really all
that different. We have cultures
and experiences that may be
different and unfamiliar to one
another, but if we all took the
time to learn about each other,
it would allow us to see what
we have to offer is beautiful
and unique. I have found it’s a
blessing to participate in anoth-
er’s cultural practices, not a
burden or a threat to my way of
life, but a way to grow.

The Passover meal was kindly
provided by Jewish Prisoner
Services International. It
consisted of everything needed
to conduct a proper Orthodox
seder, including a guided story
booklet that was read by Bryan
Glant, a Jewish community
liaison within the prison. He led
the group through the history
of Passover while explaining the
details and importance of sacri-
fice and the ritualistic food we
partook in. He explained how
bitter herbs were to remind us
of the bitterness of slavery and
oppression of the Jewish people,
and he continued winding us
down a path of stories and tradi-
tions, even educating us on the
10 plagues it took to change
Pharaoh’s mind into having
compassion for the Jewish people
— signifying how difficult it can
be to bring change to those who
carry such a hard heart.

As men who are not free
ourselves, the irony of the story
and the whole seder experi-
ence, was not lost on us, as
we ourselves are hiding from
plagues in isolation and wanting
to be redeemed. After a long year
of struggles, exile and solitary,
the night was a good reminder
that all storms shall pass — no
matter how mighty they may
seem — and like the hardships
of the past, we too will move
forward into brighter times.

Please take a moment to
share who you are with someone
and to learn about others. Many
blessings. l
Christopher Blackwell is 39 and
is incarcerated at the Washington
State Reformatory in Monroe,
Washington. He is working toward
publishing a book on solitary
confinement. His writing has been
published by The Washington
Post, HuffPost, BuzzFeed, Jewish
Currents and other publications. He
is serving a 45-year sentence for
murder and robbery.

Philadelphia Models Brotherly Love, Sisterly Affection
When it Fights Anti-Semitism
BY JIM KENNEY AND MARCIA BRONSTEIN
IN RECENT
YEARS, Philadelphia has witnessed its
share of alarming incidents
of hate targeting Jews. A man
etched Nazi symbols into
pillars at the Philadelphia
Holocaust Memorial Plaza.

A vandal splashed blood red
18 APRIL 8, 2021
paint on an Israeli flag waving
above Benjamin Franklin
Parkway. High-profile figures
circulated anti-Semitic memes
on Twitter and Facebook.

So, when
the U.S.

Conference of Mayors and
American Jewish Committee
recently called on municipal
leaders across the country
JEWISH EXPONENT
to condemn anti-Semitism,
Philadelphia was one of
the first to join the Mayors
United Against Anti-Semitism
movement. Since then, more
than 525 mayors from 43 states
and the District of Columbia
have joined. As Republicans,
Democrats and Independents,
these mayors stand united
against hate targeting Jews
in all its forms and declare
unequivocally that anti-Sem-
itism is incompatible with
American values.

Anti-Semitism is not only a
problem that threatens the lives
of Jews, it is a societal problem
See Kenney/Bronstein, Page 30
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM