Eastern State Penitentiary

   

          In jails across the country, people of all races, creeds, beliefs, and religions are housed in there, some for a period of months, some indefinitely. For many of these people, they have a religion, and/or a belief in God or in a higher power. This was even addressed at Eastern State Penitentiary in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

            When the Penitentiary began in 1829, priests and other religious leaders talked to the prisoners in their cells as the prisoners were not allowed to gather together for worship or services. Starting in 1845, not only did a priest or reverend visit Christian inmates, but Jewish inmates too were allowed to have a rabbi visit them. It was only in the early twentieth century that a synagogue was built in four of the former exercise yards. This synagogue was a place where Jewish inmates could gather for prayer and to celebrate the Jewish holidays. It was in operation until the Penitentiary closed in 1971. Eastern State Penitentiary displays the synagogue as it looked in the early 1960s.

            I could research into the history of synagogue in penitentiary or jails. This would give me the background of how these synagogues came about and what was the catalyst for constructing them. To most people though, they would not be interested because they do not have a connection to Judaism; for those people, a synagogue, especially in a penitentiary, is just another place of worship.