Judaism in Prison

Levels of Observance

Jewish law imposes a duty on its adherents to ensure that all actions, including eating, drinking, talking, walking, sitting, dressing, transacting business, praying, studying, lying down, and rising up, are all performed in a certain way for the sake of, and in a manner worthy of, serving our Creator. Accordingly, the observant Jew's day is consumed with ritual, requiring such items as certain articles of clothing (e.g., a head covering such as a yarmulke, a prayer shawl (the tallis or tzitzit), prayer books, Torah volumes, and phylacteries. Sabbath observances require grape juice, bread, and two candles. Specific Holy Day observances also require other occasional ritual items, for example, a ram's horn (the shofar) for Rosh Hashanah; a palm frond, citron, and a small booth for the Feast of Tabernacles (respectively, the lulav, etrog, and sukkah); and an eight-pronged candelabra and candles (the menorah) for Chanukah.

Observant Jews must consume only food or drink that is kosher (the word means “proper” or “fit”). Observant Jews believe that the slightest morsel of forbidden food taints not only the body but the soul itself. Accordingly, the availability of nutritionally sufficient kosher food for a Jew is not a luxury accommodation; it is an essential provision to allow that person to live. Courts have repeatedly recognized that the opportunity to obtain kosher food in prison is a right, not a privilege (see, e.g., Ashelman v. Wawrzaszek, 111 F.3d 676 [9th Cir. 1997]). Kosher food can be made available to Jews in institutional environments in a variety of ways. It may be prepared on site with proper kitchen facilities under the direction of a qualified kosher food supervisor, or prepackaged meals from kosher food vendors around the country may be purchased. The use of disposable plastic or paper goods is an easy, cost-effective, and religiously acceptable alternative when providing kosher food in an institutional environment. Many common products and national brands are labeled with symbols signifying that they have been prepared under rabbinical supervision and comply with kosher dietary requirements.

Under Jewish law, every religious imperative stands separate and apart from one another. A Jew who does not observe one precept properly (e.g., rules of Sabbath) is not absolved from observing other religious rules. Accordingly, the fact that a Jew does not appear to observe all religious commandments (or does not appear to observe those commandments consistently) is not grounds to deny that person the opportunity to observe other precepts.

In the same vein, a Jew who violates a particular religious precept is still obligated to satisfy that precept the next time the opportunity presents itself. Accordingly, a Jewish inmate who “strays” to the mainline food line should not be precluded from [Page 502]fulfilling the religious obligation to eat kosher food the next time (see, e.g., Young v. Lane, 1990, 1991). Moreover, what might appear to the uninitiated to be a “violation” of religious laws may not, in fact, be one at all. For example, an inmate who participates in the mainline food line—for purposes of obtaining more variety, for example—by selecting kosher-labeled products and whole fresh fruits or vegetables—is not violating Jewish law.

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