Danbury, CT – An inmate at the federal prison for women in Danbury is suing the prison over limits placed on items Jewish prisoners can buy for Passover.
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Agnes Kole wants prison officials to allow the purchase of Passover staples such as chicken, gefilte fish and smoked salmon.
Kole claims the prison has cut back the Passover purchase list from 12 items to just five including matzohs, grape juice, two kinds of chocolate and macaroons.
She's told a federal judge that the cutbacks are retaliation because she successfully complained last year when the prison cut the amount Jewish inmates could spend on Passover food purchases.
The judge is expected to continue the hearing on Monday. Passover begins April 19. [Newsday]
The prison should be happy that she didn’t claim that “zee mishtzich nisht” and that she needs a whole kosher kitchen to properly prepare pesach foods.
But at least her court battle if she prevails will help ease the suffering of the real Yiden who truly realise how much yiddishkeit means to them when they have time to think about it.
It is not uncommon for goyishe inmates in prisons to declare themselves Jewish and then latch themselves onto the Jewish community in the prison. By being listed as Jews, they (not necessarily in this particular order) A) get kosher food, which often really is better in quality than the prison food; and B) cause additional headaches for the prison administration, including the threat to bring a legally colorable civil rights violation action if they are denied the kosher food.
Agnes Kole is a Nigerian with an international criminal record for drug trafficking offenses. I may be mistaken, but it would seem that she is one of those enterprising goyishe prisoners who has opted for the benefits of a Jewish label during her stay with the Feds.
On one hand, the very existence of incarcerated inmates who wrongly or rightly identify as Jews is a real embarrassment to the Jewish people.
On the other hand, it is somewhat of a compliment that the most downtrodden individuals from the nations of the world aspire to bring themselves within the fold of the Jewish people.
Yes, most frum prisoners have been found guilty of white-collar crime. Yet,after six-months in jail, they have done more teshuvah than many. Now they long to go home and be better Yiden. Yiden are constantly in danger in Federal Jails (and speak to any frum Chaplain to confirm it) and any comfort that helps them thru the dark days, months and years should be encouraged. For the many askonim who quietly and diligently help out the Yiden, Ashrecha, and to those that do not know, daven never to have to.