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Observing Passover not easy for inmates

A handful of Orthodox and Messianic Jews live behind the 20-foot tall razor wire fence at Joseph Harp Correctional Center.
The medium-security inmates celebrate Passover with grape juice instead of wine and use electric candles for the Shabbat — both fire and alcohol are forbidden at the facility.
The two groups celebrated Passover — a holiday celebrating freedom from oppression.
How do you celebrate freedom when you aren’t free? How do you open the door for Elijah the Prophet when the door is made of bars and you don’t have the key?
“We do it symbolically,” said Jess Beard, who discovered Messianic Judaism while incarcerated.
Others view Passover as a time of hope and optimism for the future.
“Next year in Jerusalem, Next year in Jerusalem,” said inmate Delbert Lynch, echoing the last words recited each year at the Passover Seder.
Lynch is serving life without parole.
John Watkins, who also was drawn to Messianic Judaism in prison, celebrated his first real Passover Seder at Joseph Harp. Previously housed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester, Watkins made his own Seder celebration one year using a can of tuna in place of the chicken or lamb Messianic Jews use in the dinner. A maximum-security penitentiary, McAlester's inmates are on lockdown for 23 hours a day and rarely are allowed to gather in groups.
“You get accustomed to being alone like that,” Watkins said.
In contrast, the layout at Joseph Harp is open and airy with trees and grass. Inmates are free to walk the yard and gather for religious observances.
David Smith wears a kippah and a silver Star of David necklace with his blue prison shirt. His inmate number is printed on a white piece of tape on his shirt. His faith has become a way for him to gain a family in prison, he said. There are six to 10 practicing Orthodox Jews at Joseph Harp, he said.
“It’s good being able to share something with others and be a part of a community here,” Smith said.
Preparing for Passover was no easy task in prison. Observant Jews may not eat or possess any leavened bread or “Chametz” during Passover week, commemorating the flat bread the Hebrews ate when they fled Egypt. Orthodox Jews must clean their houses of all leavened bread before Passover.
“It’s hard when my roommate brings in Doritos and Ramen noodles,” Smith said. “But I am only responsible for the space that is my own.”
Inmates think of their “house” as their half of the cell. Such distinctions make it possible for Smith and other Orthodox Jewish inmates at Joseph Harp to remain observant in their own way.
Keeping a kosher diet is another challenge. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has approved a kosher meal plan for inmates since three convicted sex offenders at Joseph Harp sued in federal court in 2004 for the right to kosher meals paid for by the state.
The meals are frozen entrees that don’t offer much variety, Smith said.
Breakfast is usually pancakes and dinner is always Salisbury steak or chicken. Smith switched to the vegetarian meal plan because of the monotony.
“The vegetarian meal plan doesn’t have a Rabbi overseeing what goes into it but there’s more variety and It’s the best I can do here,” he said.
There are the rules that govern faith and there are those that govern prison life — and sometimes the two clash.
This year, Orthodox and Messianic groups held Passover Seders in the staff dining room and in the inmate visiting room.
“There sure was a crowd standing around watching,” Lynch said.
“Passover is a private type situation and nothing here is private,” said Joseph Harp chaplain Ron Grant. “Here, everything is subject to a guard shutting things down.”

http://www.mcalesternews.com/statenews/cnhinsall_story_096100034.html