OUR COMMUNITY

18 | AUGUST 18 • 2022 

Y

ehudah Pryce grew 
up in a tough world. 
Born Omar Pryce, 
he became involved with Los 
Angeles gangs at a young 
age. As the son of a mother 
from Sri Lanka who divorced 
his father from Jamaica and 
remarried a white man, Pryce 
struggled with his identity.
“He wasn’t accepted by 
the white community,” 
says Rabbi Elya Silfen of 
Bais Chabad Torah Center 
of West Bloomfield. “He 

wasn’t accepted 
by the Black 
community.”
Instead, Pryce 
turned to groups 
that would accept 
him: the Crips 
and Bloods gangs.
Yet his 
acceptance came at a price. 
Working as a mercenary for 
the gangs, Pryce peddled 
drugs, ammo and more. 
He was thrown in juvenile 
detention centers multiple 

times, eventually landing in 
California’s notorious Pelican 
Bay State Prison as an adult.
While serving time in 
prison, Pryce discovered 
Judaism — and he’ll 
be sharing his story of 
redemption over the course of 
two days at Bais Chabad on 
Aug. 19 and 20.

FINDING JUDAISM
Surrounded by a handful of 
Jewish inmates in prison, 
Pryce was introduced to 

Judaism and began to read 
books about the religion.
The concept spoke to him 
and ignited a desire to change 
his troubled life. “He decided 
that he wanted to convert to 
Orthodox Judaism, but he 
had to finish out his sentence 
first,” Silfen explains.
Pryce got in touch with 
the Rabbinical Council of 
America, one of the world’s 
largest organizations of 
Orthodox rabbis, who advised 
him to contact a synagogue in 
Los Angeles when he got out 
of prison. Pryce was serving 
more than 16 years for a 
nonviolent robbery and was 
finally released in October 
2018.
A year after being 
released, he followed the 
council’s advice and officially 
converted. He left his birth 
name in the past and formally 
changed his name to Yehudah 
Pryce. The previous gang 
member went back to school, 
graduated with honors and 
completed a master’s degree 
in social work. Now, he’s 
studying for his doctorate as 
well.
Pryce is currently working 
as a social worker for 
the Young Adult Court 
in Orange Country and 
as a psychotherapist at 
the residential addiction 
treatment center Beit 
T’Shuvah. He lives with his 
wife and children in Los 
Angeles as a practicing and 
observant Chasidic Jew.
“The story, aside from 
being fascinating, is a 
snapshot into a different life,” 
says Rabbi Shneur Silberberg 
of Bais Chabad, who is 
organizing Pryce’s speaking 

Rabbi Elya 
Silfen

A former gang member shares his tale
of redemption at Bais Chabad event.

From Crips
 and Bloods to
Orthodox Judaism

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

LEFT: Yehudah 
Pryce during his 
morning prayers.

continued on page 20