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government is going more
voraciously after white-collar
crime like computer fraud.
The war on drugs already
has had its effects. "There's a
joke," explains one of the
Milan inmates. "Half the
Jewish pharmacists from
Detroit are at Duluth
(Federal Corrections Institu-
tion)."
"It's a horror to be in
prison," says Martin
Hochberg, chairman of the In-
ternational Coalition for
Jewish Prisoner Services, an
outreach organization that
works to assist Jews in prison.
"Being a Jew in prison is a
double horror."
Being a Jewish prison
chaplain is the not the easiest
of jobs. "The main task for the
chaplain is to maintain
credibility with the inmates
and to try to assist them to
live life as Jewishly as possi-
ble," Rabbi Birnbaum says.
"The Jewish prison chaplain
also has to maintain credibili-
ty with the institutional
authorities. It's a delicate
balancing act."
That act can take a lot out
of people. Brooks of U-M's
Hillel says he'll never forget
his experience at Milan. "It
was exhausting," he says. "I'd
get calls from them — collect
— at home at all hours of the
night."
Even so, Brooks feels strong-
ly about his work at Milan.
"I had never any doubts
that going there was essen-
tial."
Brooks isn't alone with his
sentiments. "Nothing is as
rewarding as working with
Jewish prisoners," says
Hochberg, who helped
establish the first prison con-
gregation officially recogniz-
ed by the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations at the
Indiana State Prison in
Michigan City, Ind. "They
need what you're doing,"
Hochberg adds.
Goldstein admits he's had
ambivalent feelings during
his two-and-a-half year tenure
at Milan. At first, he explains,
he was cold and remote from
the inmates. Then he says he
felt a closeness and sympathy
toward them and thought his
work there had had an effect.
Today, he is somewhat
disillusioned. "We have seen
a lot of growth. At the same
time, you get a feeling that in
prison the're really taking it
(Jewish learning and
teaching) in, but then when
they get outside again it
doesn't remain," Rabbi Gold-
stein explains. "I don't expect
that much."
Nevertheless, Rabbi Gold-
stein goes to prison each Sun-
day, asking the men to
become good.
"You can do what you want
with your souls," Rabbi Golds-
tein says. Primarily by study-
ing Torah and Jewish law,
Rabbi Goldstein hopes to give
the men a way of maintain-
ing, developing or reinsti-
tuting their ties to Judaism.
Affiliation has a special
meaning inside prison walls.
"Almost every Jew ate in the
kosher kitchen," Brooks says.
"It was a form of solidarity."
Eating kosher food doesn't
seem like it's important. It is.
"There are prisoners who
don't like Jews to begin with,"
Hochman says, adding that
neo-Nazis and skinheads are
often found behind prison
walls.
Years ago, guards at Milan
harassed Jewish inmates and
intimidated the kosher cook,
Brooks says. The environ-
ment seems much better now.
Milan prisoners say they are
pretty much left undisturbed.
Not all Jews in prison are
interested in affiliating. "You
will find inmates who will
shun the Jewish community
because they don't want to
make waves," Rabbi Birn-
baum explains.
Yet, as Rabbi Birnbaum and
others point out, most Jews in
prison identify with each
other, more so than they
would outside.
"From my experience, if the
Jewish affiliation rate outside
was as high as in prison we'd
be in good shape." 0
Convicts
Win Suit
Dixon, Ill. — Six convicts at
the Dixon Correctional
Center recently won a court
battle to practice their
religion more freely while
behind bars.
They also won rights for
fellow Jews.
Federal Judge Stanley
Roszkowski, ruling on a suit
brought in February 1985,
said the prison violates the
inmates' First Amendment
rights. He ordered the state
Correction Department to ac-
commodate Jewish prisoners
statewide who want to prac-
tice Judaism during the
course of their sentences. He
estimated 110 of the 20,000
inmates in Illinois prisons are
Jewish.
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