In a maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, a 21-year-old yeshiva student reached through a small slot in a steel door to wrap tefillin around the arm of an incarcerated man he could not see. The encounter lasted 10 minutes, during which the man on the other side, alone and in tears, thanked his visitor for coming.
The scene exemplifies the work of the Aleph Institute's Summer Visitation Program. During July and August, the organization deploys volunteer yeshiva students to visit more than 900 incarcerated individuals across hundreds of facilities nationwide. This summer, 29 volunteers traveled to over 390 facilities across 38 states. The program coordinates flights, rental cars, kosher food, lodging, and security clearances to enable volunteers to spend time with people who may not have received visitors in years.
Menchy Bluming, an Aleph volunteer, recently visited a women's facility in West Virginia, where he and a study partner spent an hour and a half with the sole Jewish woman housed there. The woman had experienced mockery for her faith while incarcerated, but the interaction shifted something for her. "You guys gave me back my voice," She told them through tears. "I'm going to try to be proudly Jewish. I feel like I want to keep fighting - and I can be a moral light to the people around me."
The visits affect volunteers as well. One described the work as "such an important shlichus that's not spoken about enough," Noting that "A Yid is a Yid is a Yid. It gives you a perspective that wherever you are, you can choose to be free."
Another volunteer visited Gabriel, the only Jewish man among more than 1,000 incarcerated individuals in a Colorado prison. For a year, Gabriel had compiled questions about life, purpose, and faith on a single sheet of paper, waiting for someone to visit. When volunteers arrived, they spent over an hour addressing his questions. The volunteer reflected: "When you go to these prisons, just showing up means everything. When we tell them simply, 'We flew down to see you. Yes - you!' They simply can't comprehend it."
Jake, an incarcerated person in West Virginia, wrote: "I cannot tell you how amazing my visit was with the two rabbinical students that visited with me. They were extremely intelligent, kind, insightful, and they gave me such motivation to not give up hope and to be a light. There are only two Jews on this 'misery mountain' and I feel quite alone at times... yet, as the volunteer explained, I am closer to Hashem here. Thank you so very much for sending them to visit with me. I am beyond grateful."
Rabbi Aaron Lipskar, CEO of the Aleph Institute, said: "There truly is no Jew too far gone or far away for us to reach. Behind every door, and every wall and fence, there is a soul waiting to be seen. And each year, our volunteers bring that very message: no matter where you are or what brought you there, you are not alone. There are people who care about you, who are there for you, and who have not forgotten you."