MARCH 30 • 2023 | 55

T

he Passover seder 
tells the story of 
freedom — how 
God enabled the Hebrews 
to escape from slavery in 
Egypt and journey to the 
Promised Land. For those 
Jewish individuals who 
are incarcerated during 
Passover, the holiday may 
be especially poignant. 
But this small group 
of Jewish individuals is 
not forgotten during the 
holiday. Rabbi Schneur 
Silberberg, director of 
outreach and assistant 
rabbi at Sara Tugman Bais 
Chabad Torah Center in 
West Bloomfield, annually 
provides seder plates 
assembled with all of the 
appropriate foods, grape 
juice, boxes of matzah and a 

Haggadah to Jewish inmates 
at the Oakland County Jail 
in Pontiac.
According to Silberberg, 
usually there are three or 
four Jewish prisoners at 
the jail during Passover. 
He explains that because 
Oakland County Jail is not 
a long-term prison, the 
facility lacks the space and 
resources of state prisons 
and is a particularly grim 
place. 
The seder foods and 
Haggadot provide a “lifeline 
or connection” for Jewish 
prisoners, he says. This 
outreach to prisoners is 
affiliated with the national 
Chabad organization’s 
Aleph Institute. Silberberg 
has also taught a class at the 
jail. 

Chabad helps Jewish inmates 
celebrate the holiday.

Passover in 
Captivity

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Provisions bound for prisoners at the Oakland County Jail 
supplied by the Sara Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center

Happy 
Passover

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