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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



O pinion
Israel Should Help All Palestinians
Get Vaccinated — Obligation or Not
BY MATAN ARAD-NEEMAN
WHILE THE WORLD tries to
quickly and safely vaccinate as
many people as possible against
COVID-19, I’ve watched a
particularly inane legal debate
with horror and frustration.

Some defenders of Israel
seem to be looking for any
technicality in international
law that would relieve Israel
of its obligation to vaccinate
Palestinians. The international
legal consensus is that Israel, as
an occupying power, is obligated
to vaccinate the Palestinians per
the Geneva Convention; Israel
maintains that the Oslo Accords
place the responsibility with the
Palestinian Authority.

When Jewish Israelis and
supporters of the state lose
ourselves in such petty debates,
we reduce ourselves to a nation
of callous people. No provision in
any treaty can obviate the moral
reality that if we can help vacci-
nate others, then we should.

Vaccinating the entire
Palestinian population “is an
important objective, from a
public health point of view, and of
course also from a humanitarian
point of view,” Itamar Grotto, the
former deputy director general
of Israel’s Health Ministry, told
NPR. As an Israeli American
raised with pride in Israel’s
resilience and its medical and
scientific prowess, I believe we
also have the means of doing so.

Israel grabbed headlines
around the world for a highly
effective campaign to rapidly
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM vaccinate Israelis, half of whom
have been fully vaccinated.

In contrast, the vast majority
of Palestinians in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip remain
unvaccinated. Israel has begun
to vaccinate the 133,000
Palestinians who work as day
laborers in Israel and Israeli
settlements in the occupied West
Bank, and has donated 5,000
additional doses to Palestinian
areas following public pressure,
but it has no plan to vaccinate the
millions of other Palestinians.

Some have claimed that
the Palestinian Authority did
not request assistance from
Israel early in the vaccination
campaign. However, since
December, the Palestinian
Authority has been requesting
vaccine doses from Israel. In
January, the Palestinian Foreign
Ministry released a statement
saying that Israel has an obliga-
tion to provide the vaccine to
all Palestinians. Even if the
Palestinian leadership were not
vocal in asking Israel for assis-
tance, Israel could work with the
PA to provide these vaccines as a
goodwill gesture, building trust
in the crucial months just ahead
of rare Palestinian elections.

World Health Organization
data show that Palestinians in
the West Bank have received
20% of its vaccine needs from
the international COVAX
consortium, backed by the
WHO, including 10,000 doses
of a Russian-made vaccine. The
World Bank has urged Israel to
consider donating doses it has
ordered but does not need to the
Palestinians, beyond the 5,000
doses Israel says it has already
delivered to the West Bank.

Even with a patchwork of
vaccines donated by the United
Arab Emirates and other
nations, most Palestinians
will remain unvaccinated for
the foreseeable future without
significant additional donations.

Since February, according to
the BBC, there has been a sharp
increase in both COVID-19 infec-
tions and deaths in the West
Bank and Gaza. On one side of
the Green Line, restaurants and
businesses are filling up with
vaccinated Israelis; on the other
side, Palestinian hospitals are
filling up with COVID-19 patients.

In many global humanitarian
crises, Israel rightfully takes
pride in being the first boots
on the ground to help clean
up the resulting mess. Why is
mobilizing on the COVID-19
crisis any different from
deploying medical volunteers to
far-flung disaster zones?
It is fundamentally true
that Israel is a country with the
resources and ingenuity to vacci-
nate not only its own citizens,
but Palestinians living under its
occupation in the West Bank
and Gaza. The Israeli govern-
ment and nonprofits should
begin prioritizing vaccination of
Palestinians close to home.

Foregoing vaccinations for
Palestinians does not help Israelis.

If anything, ensuring Palestinians
can be vaccinated would make
us safer and help speed up the
country’s economic recovery. As
we’ve learned, COVID-19 pays no
regard to nationality. The virus
will continue to mutate until we
vaccinate a critical mass.

I grew up believing that Israel
is a nation that seeks to do right,
that has a generosity of means
and a generosity of spirit that
is rooted in Jewish values like
tikkun olam. I grew up believing
that to save a life is to save the
entire world. If Israel is that
nation, I can’t think of a better
way of showing it than by vacci-
nating all Palestinians — and
doing so in a spirit not of obliga-
tion, but of shared humanity. l
Matan Arad-Neeman is an Israeli-
American student at Haverford
College. He previously served as
president of J Street U’s National
Board. JEWISH EXPONENT
KVETCH ’N’ KVELL
ADL: Pennsylvania ‘Shamefully” Behind on
LGBTQ+ Protection
ADL PHILADELPHIA SUPPORTS Stacy Schusterman’s call to
action for the Jewish community to demand comprehensive and
inclusive protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community
(“LGBTQ People Lack Full Legal Protections in Every State. Jews
Need to Be Part of the Solution,” April 1).

We must support and advocate for the federal and state
versions of the Equality Act, which, as Schusterman writes, will
help ensure the fair and equal treatment of LGBTQ+ people.

Pennsylvania remains a state where the housing and employ-
ment rights of members of the LGBTQ+ community are not
protected. The harm and fear this causes cannot be overstated
— in hearings and in press conferences, individuals have testified
about the discrimination they have suffered due to this critical
gap in the law.

In addition, Pennsylvania shamefully remains a state where
members of the LGBTQ+ community do not enjoy the same
protections from hate crimes as do others. The PA Ethnic
Intimidation statute does not cover crimes in which the victim
is targeted because of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender
expression or disability. Bills to remedy this have been intro-
duced in successive legislative sessions with no action. This sends
messages to the unprotected communities, to law enforcement
and to perpetrators that some communities are not worthy of the
same protection. This is simply unacceptable.

As ADL has always believed, we cannot fight anti-Semitism
unless we fight all forms of hate. It is incumbent on the Jewish
community to be advocating for a fully inclusive hate crimes
statute as well.

Shira Goodman | ADL Philadelphia regional director
Haters Not Strangers
The article about white supremacists in Pennsylvania (“PA Near
Top for White Supremacist Propaganda,” April 1) filled me with
the mixed emotions of anger and sadness and pity. I am angry
because these haters are not strangers.

They are our neighbors. They know us, and they hate us
anyway. That so many people are filled with so much hate fills
me not with more hate but with sadness for their wretched selves.

Psychology can help us understand the “why” and how we can
combat evil — for surely it is evil. l
Sheryl Kalick | Philadelphia
STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER
We are a diverse community. The views expressed in the signed opinion columns and let-
ters to the editor published in the Jewish Exponent are those of the authors. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Publishing
Group, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia or the Jewish Exponent. Send
letters to letters@jewishexponent.com or fax to 215-569-3389. Letters should be a
maximum of 200 words and may be edited for clarity and brevity. Unsigned letters will not be
published. www.jewishexponent.com
APRIL 8, 2021
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