Case of Rabbi Ira Book
Rabbi, Temple Beth Sholom - San Leandro, CA
A case of clergy sexual abuse against an adult woman. A civil suit was filed against him.
Rabbi Ira Book received his masters degree in 1979 from The Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership - University of San Francisco School of Education.
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Table of Contents:
1996
- Sexual harassment lawsuit filed against East Bay rabbi, temple (08/09/1996)
- How a synagogue heals itself (10/26/1996)
- Ex-rabbi of E. Bay synagogue sues over termination (11/07/1996)
1997
- Rabbi's lawsuit against synagogue dismissed (08/09/1997)
2000
- Ex-inmate sets up program to help Jews at Folsom
2003
- "The Wedding Ministries"… CLERGY
- Current activities: Board of Rabbis of Northern California
2004
- Religion Link
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Sexual harassment lawsuit filed against East Bay rabbi, temple
By Natalie Weinstein
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California - August 9, 1996
A former part-time employee and congregant has filed a lawsuit against San Leandro's Temple Beth Sholom and its recently terminated rabbi, alleging sexual harassment and other misconduct.
"The issue here is a breach of trust...a sacred trust," Diane Josephs, the plaintiff's attorney, said Tuesday.
Rabbi Ira Book's attorney, Mark Coon, denied all allegations against his client, including one of a sexual relationship between the rabbi and the plaintiff.
Within two weeks, Coon added, the rabbi will file his own lawsuit against the synagogue alleging wrongful termination and breach of contract.
On Monday, Book himself spoke briefly to the Jewish Bulletin about the situation for the first time. He declared his innocence.
"I have been in this community longer than most rabbis," Book said. "I have served honorably the Jewish community and the extended community."
Book was placed on administrative leave in mid-March. He was fired May 20 after serving the Conservative congregation for 18 years. In a letter to congregants, the board of directors stated he was terminated based on "evidence of significant financial misconduct."
No other allegations were made.
The lawsuit was filed June 3 in Alameda County Superior Court with both an anonymous plaintiff referred to as "Roe" and anonymous defendants listed as "Rabbi Doe," "Doe Temple" and "Does 1 through 200" who are unspecified congregants.
A completely anonymous filing is unusual, several attorneys confirmed. Josephs said this was done at the request of all parties.
The suit asks for unspecified damages.
Despite the anonymous listing, Coon acknowledged the identity of the first defendant as Book, who worked at Temple Beth Sholom. At Josephs' request, the Bulletin is withholding the name of the plaintiff.
The lawsuit identifies the plaintiff as a onetime employee and congregant, who also studied with the rabbi.
The suit states that "Rabbi Doe" is married and that he persuaded the plaintiff, who was undergoing marriage counseling with him, "to engage in sexual contact...while knowing that she was extremely vulnerable." The suit attributes the woman's compliance to "the power imbalance inherent in the relationship between plaintiff and defendants as well as other reasons."
In an interview, Josephs said that "when in counseling, one basically opens up their soul with the belief that the counselor is acting in one's best interest... There is this establishment of trust that is sacrosanct in a clergy situation."
The alleged misconduct began in or before 1993 and lasted through February 1996, according to the suit.
Rabbi Doe's conduct, according to the suit, caused the plaintiff to "suffer humiliation, mental anguish and severe emotional distress."
The suit alleges that Rabbi Doe inappropriately interjected himself in the plaintiff's life, "sometimes to the point of stalking."
According to the suit, the synagogue and unnamed congregants "prior to 1993 had knowledge...that Rabbi Doe had engaged in improper and sexually harassing/discriminatory behavior with other counselees/employees/congregants and...that he was not properly credentialed."
It also declares that the synagogue and the unnamed congregants "had failed to screen him properly."
Temple Beth Sholom's recently elected board president, Marvin Zinn, declined to comment on the lawsuit's allegations against the congregation.
Coon, however, dismissed accusations against the rabbi: "Our overall response is that Rabbi Book has committed no wrongdoing whatsoever. We contend and will prove that those allegations are false and groundless."
There "was no sexual relationship between Rabbi Book and the plaintiff," Coon added.
Meanwhile, the San Leandro Police Department, which was contacted in the spring by individual synagogue board members with allegations of financial misconduct, is in a holding pattern.
Capt. Randall Stout said this week that his department will not conduct an investigation unless the board chooses to produce an audit of its fiscal records.
"What we need is a victim to come forward," Stout said.
Zinn said the synagogue has made no formal request for a police investigation. The congregation has instead been working to regain a sense of normalcy.
"As newly elected leader, my program is to go onward and upward and forget the past. We can't dwell on it and survive," Zinn said.
Last month, the congregation hired its longtime cantorial soloist as its full-time cantor. Linda Hirschhorn, who earned her cantorial ordination in May through the Conservative movement's Jewish Theological Seminary, will act as the congregation's spiritual leader until a new rabbi is hired.
The 240-household synagogue plans to hire a guest rabbi to help Hirschhorn lead High Holy Day services. After that, an already-formed committee will begin a full-fledged search for a permanent rabbi.
"We want direction," Zinn said. "We feel it's very important for this congregation to have stability."
Though a handful of members have quit since the rabbi was fired, he added, the number of departing members has been lower than expected. Zinn said that about 10 households left in June, though not all of these departures were specifically due to Book's termination. "We were surprised. He had a definite following."
It's to Hirschhorn's credit that more congregants haven't left, he said. "She's a very competent person...She's doing a great job."
Hirschhorn, who has served as Beth Sholom's part-time cantorial soloist for the past eight years, agreed that the congregation has weathered the situation well. Attendance at Friday-night and Saturday-morning services has remained steady, she noted.
"Really, the congregation has done very well. It wasn't thrown in as great a turmoil as expected," she said. "There was actually never a breakdown in synagogue life."
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Ex-rabbi of E. Bay synagogue sues over termination
By Natalie Weinstein
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California - October 18, 1996
"He's been wronged. He was wrongfully discharged from the temple. Had a proper investigation been conducted, it would have shown that he engaged in no wrongdoing whatsoever," Mark Coon, Book's attorney, said last week.
"The second point and the second wrong, which the rabbi seeks to redress, is that his name has been sullied and he has been defamed."
The lawsuit denies allegations made by congregants that the rabbi "improperly used monies from the Discretionary Fund" and "engaged in improper relations with a female member of the Temple Beth Sholom."
A former congregant and part-time employee had filed a lawsuit this summer that accused Book of sexual harassment.
Marvin Zinn, the Conservative synagogue's board president and one of the defendants, refused comment on Book's lawsuit. But Alan Levins, the synagogue's attorney, said the suit "has no merit whatsoever."
Though he declined to rebut specific parts of Book's lawsuit, Levins said the synagogue denies any wrongdoing and has the First Amendment right to choose its spiritual leader without interference.
The rabbi's wife, Sharon Book, is co-plaintiff in the suit, which was filed in Alameda County Superior Court on Sept. 12. The couple is suing the East Bay synagogue and 19 congregants, mostly board members.
According to the suit, Book's total annual compensation topped $74,000 annually. It included his salary as well as housing and auto allowances.
He is asking for the money due him under his seven-year contract, as well as an unspecified amount for future damage to his career caused by the alleged defamation. His contract wasn't set to expire until June 30, 2002.
According to a legal response filed by the synagogue Oct. 11, the rabbi's request exceeds $3.2 million.
An initial court appearance has been set for Nov. 7 in Alameda County Superior Court.
Book was placed on administrative leave in mid-March when the 240-household synagogue began investigating an unrelated, unspecified charge. During that investigation, board members allegedly came across discrepancies in the rabbi's use of his discretionary fund.
One board member, who spoke on condition on anonymity, had said checks were written to the rabbi's dry cleaner and his daughter's university.
The rabbi was fired "for cause" on May 20.
Elinor DeKoven, then the board president and now a co-defendant in the suit, said in May that Book was fired after he ignored requests for details about his discretionary fund.
But Coon said the temple "has gone back and forth" on the reasons for Book's firing.
"The temple indicated, without ever confirming, that his termination was based on purported accounting discrepancies related to the discretionary fund, which in fact was never investigated," Coon said.
According to his contract, Book's discretionary fund was subject only to a quarterly review performed by an independent auditor. That review did not happen before he was fired, his lawsuit states.
Other accusations have since surfaced.
In June, a former part-time employee and congregant sued Book, alleging sexual harassment and other misconduct over a three-year period ending this spring. Book's lawyers deny the rabbi engaged in any impropriety.
The woman's suit also names the synagogue for allegedly failing to properly screen Book when he was hired. The board president has refused to comment on any lawsuit.
The libel and slander sections of Book's lawsuit revolve around accusations of improprieties that congregants made about Book to one another and to the local media over the past six months.
According to the suit, for example, the September-October 1996 issue of the synagogue's newsletter listed the qualities wanted in a new rabbi.
"`Not surprisingly, when asked about the qualities we want, a huge majority mentioned honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, credibility, ethics, humility, sincerity, etc. Surprised?'" the lawsuit quotes from Kol Sholom, the newsletter.
"The same publication contained a statement that plaintiff Ira Book had betrayed defendant Temple and had been dismissed," the lawsuit said.
Congregants also harmed Sharon Book, the lawsuit alleged, because they knew that by accusing the rabbi, his wife "would be humiliated and would be caused to suffer great shame and embarrassment."
Meanwhile, the congregation has taken steps to seek criminal prosecution of Book. On Sept. 19, Beth Sholom filed a report with the San Leandro Police Department that alleges misuse of the discretionary fund.
However, no criminal charges are currently pending, police Sgt. Don Marchetti said.
To support its claim, Marchetti said, the synagogue provided a "partial, in-house audit" of checks written by Book. But Marchetti said that Beth Sholom must offer an audit by an outside party before the police or district attorney will move ahead.
Marchetti added that proving any wrongdoing will be difficult.
"Part of the problem is all this stuff is semi-confidential," he said. "And again, it's a discretionary fund."
How a synagogue heals itself
How a synagogue heals itself
By Natalie Weinstein
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California - November 7, 1997
For a congregation shaken by accusations of rabbinic sexual misconduct, quickly re-establishing familiar routines of services and rituals may be the key to its emotional recovery.
"I think the greatest comfort you can give to congregants is to once again allow them to live their lives with some sense of order," Rabbi Mark Schiftan said.
Schiftan served as interim senior rabbi at San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El for 1-1/2 years, after Rabbi Robert Kirschner resigned amid allegations of sexual improprieties in early 1992.
"We made it very clear to the congregation that one person or one rabbi cannot bring about the collapse of a congregation...I was very proud of the spirit of the congregation," Schiftan said.
Today, the temple's leaders said, remnants from the past psychological shock rarely crop up -- due in part to how the congregation handled the trauma at the time.
"I just don't believe anyone is having angst over this anymore," said Paul Matzger, who is the temple's immediate past president and was the vice president when Kirschner left.
Yet Rabbi Stephen Pearce, who became Kirschner's permanent replacement in mid-1993, said the incident will always remain in the back of the temple's institutional memory.
"It is a legacy," he said.
Schiftan, who left San Francisco to become leader of San Jose's Temple Emanu-El in mid-1994, offered a similar assessment. He compared a congregation facing such trauma to a family dealing with a loss such as death. Neither will ever completely recover.
"That loss is never truly over. No matter how complete the healing, the scar always remains," he said.
Kirschner quit on New Year's Day 1992 after three congregants and an Emanu-El employee alleged he had engaged in sexual misconduct. With the widespread media coverage that followed, a dozen women -- not all of them congregants -- eventually came forward with similar stories.
He denied the accusations at the time. But Kirschner, in response to a recent Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for an interview, has issued his first public apology for "sexual relations outside my marriage" during his 11 years at one of Northern California's largest synagogues.
At the time, the allegations plunged the temple's 1,600 families into turmoil. Their reactions ranged from shock, sorrow and outrage to embarrassment, disbelief and a sense of betrayal.
"It hit like a thunderbolt," Matzger said.
Before knowing whether the allegations were true or false, Schiftan said, Emanu-El took a number of immediate steps to deal with the emotional trauma.
The Reform synagogue held two congregational meetings of up to 200 members each and offered individual counseling to victims, congregants and employees.
Soon after, Emanu-El drafted its first sexual harassment policy.
But Schiftan maintained that continuing the spiritual life -- Shabbat services, holiday celebrations, weddings, b'nai mitzvah and programming -- was the most important element of all during those "very long and often lonely days."
As far as the alleged victims, Matzger said the original three congregants who came forward are no longer members of Emanu-El. Matzger said he doesn't know whether any others remain.
Pearce, who said he never saw a list of alleged victims, said it would have made sense for these women to leave. "Let them heal and get some therapy and start fresh," he said. "They should get on with their lives."
While Emanu-El has had the advantage of time -- nearly five years -- to heal and reflect, another Bay Area congregation has been dealing with a fresher wound.
San Leandro's Temple Beth Sholom fired its longtime rabbi in May, amid allegations of financial wrongdoing. A month later, a congregant who was also a part-time employee filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment.
Rabbi Ira Book has denied both charges. Book filed his own lawsuit against the East Bay synagogue last month, alleging breach of contract, slander and libel.
Regardless of the outcome of either lawsuit, synagogue leaders acknowledged that congregants have suffered a shock.
Like Schiftan, Cantor Linda Hirschhorn said preserving the cycle of services and rituals has kept the congregation functioning as it heals.
"We're just right at the beginning. It's most important for community life to continue, for no one to feel cheated," said Hirschhorn, the Conservative synagogue's sole spiritual leader until a new rabbi is hired.
Shortly after Book was placed on administrative leave in March, Hirschhorn said, a significant event occurred.
The congregation held an already scheduled service to honor volunteers. The event helped congregants realize they were the ones who would sustain the 240-household synagogue, regardless of its leadership.
"The main concern was: Can we survive and continue?" Hirschhorn said. "We discovered we could."
Marvin Zinn, Beth Sholom's board president, agreed, saying he learned that "everyone is expendable."
At the same time, he credited Hirschhorn for helping the congregation forge ahead.
"She's done a magnificent job," Zinn said. "She's held it together."
Like Emanu-El, Beth Sholom offered psychological counseling. But no one at Beth Sholom showed an interest, Zinn said.
While the passage of time has eased the trauma of a sex scandal in the case of Emanu-El, some there still question whether the matter could have been handled better.
Emanu-El's Matzger criticized the response of the Reform movement at the time of the Kirschner controversy, particularly by its rabbinic association known as the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
"What I found out early on: The CCAR was of no help, except to suggest an appropriate severance package," he said. "We were kind of on our own."
But Matzger doesn't regret Emanu-El's response to the situation. He continues to defend Kirschner's exit package, which has been cited as $230,000 in severance pay, accrued pension and equity from a jointly owned home. Kirschner's wife and four children didn't need to suffer any more than they already had, Matzger said.
"What are you going to do? Put him on the welfare rolls? We are a Jewish institution," Matzger said.
Today, Kirschner is suspended from the Central Conference of American Rabbis until at least the year 2000. He works as program director at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, which has strong ties to the Reform movement.
Since his resignation, Kirschner has returned to Emanu-El only once. In February, he responded to a family request and officiated at the funeral service of Rhoda Goldman, who was board president when Kirschner left.
Despite the potential reactions, Pearce approved of Kirschner's appearance in that instance. "It was a family funeral," he said. "They had the right to ask for that rabbi."
A few people made angry phone calls to Pearce, but "more than that, people said it's great he could be here and get on with his life."
Kirschner did not mention the scandal from the bimah that day.
Though his brief return to Emanu-El might appear monumental, Matzger even envisions a time when Kirschner could come back as a visiting rabbi before the entire congregation in a "spirit of reconciliation."
Such a scenario would mark the "final healing," Matzger said, because it would show that everyone had made peace with the past.
"Under the right circumstances and given sufficient time, it was and still is my...hope that Bob Kirschner can return to Emanu-El" as a guest speaker, Matzger said.
Those "right circumstances," he added, include an acknowledgment of wrongdoing directly to Emanu-El, and evidence of his spiritual and emotional recovery.
Matzger doesn't view this scenario as impossible.
"I don't think he's a fallen man for all time."
"I think the greatest comfort you can give to congregants is to once again allow them to live their lives with some sense of order," Rabbi Mark Schiftan said.
Schiftan served as interim senior rabbi at San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El for 1-1/2 years, after Rabbi Robert Kirschner resigned amid allegations of sexual improprieties in early 1992.
"We made it very clear to the congregation that one person or one rabbi cannot bring about the collapse of a congregation...I was very proud of the spirit of the congregation," Schiftan said.
Today, the temple's leaders said, remnants from the past psychological shock rarely crop up -- due in part to how the congregation handled the trauma at the time.
"I just don't believe anyone is having angst over this anymore," said Paul Matzger, who is the temple's immediate past president and was the vice president when Kirschner left.
Yet Rabbi Stephen Pearce, who became Kirschner's permanent replacement in mid-1993, said the incident will always remain in the back of the temple's institutional memory.
"It is a legacy," he said.
Schiftan, who left San Francisco to become leader of San Jose's Temple Emanu-El in mid-1994, offered a similar assessment. He compared a congregation facing such trauma to a family dealing with a loss such as death. Neither will ever completely recover.
"That loss is never truly over. No matter how complete the healing, the scar always remains," he said.
Kirschner quit on New Year's Day 1992 after three congregants and an Emanu-El employee alleged he had engaged in sexual misconduct. With the widespread media coverage that followed, a dozen women -- not all of them congregants -- eventually came forward with similar stories.
He denied the accusations at the time. But Kirschner, in response to a recent Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for an interview, has issued his first public apology for "sexual relations outside my marriage" during his 11 years at one of Northern California's largest synagogues.
At the time, the allegations plunged the temple's 1,600 families into turmoil. Their reactions ranged from shock, sorrow and outrage to embarrassment, disbelief and a sense of betrayal.
"It hit like a thunderbolt," Matzger said.
Before knowing whether the allegations were true or false, Schiftan said, Emanu-El took a number of immediate steps to deal with the emotional trauma.
The Reform synagogue held two congregational meetings of up to 200 members each and offered individual counseling to victims, congregants and employees.
Soon after, Emanu-El drafted its first sexual harassment policy.
But Schiftan maintained that continuing the spiritual life -- Shabbat services, holiday celebrations, weddings, b'nai mitzvah and programming -- was the most important element of all during those "very long and often lonely days."
As far as the alleged victims, Matzger said the original three congregants who came forward are no longer members of Emanu-El. Matzger said he doesn't know whether any others remain.
Pearce, who said he never saw a list of alleged victims, said it would have made sense for these women to leave. "Let them heal and get some therapy and start fresh," he said. "They should get on with their lives."
While Emanu-El has had the advantage of time -- nearly five years -- to heal and reflect, another Bay Area congregation has been dealing with a fresher wound.
San Leandro's Temple Beth Sholom fired its longtime rabbi in May, amid allegations of financial wrongdoing. A month later, a congregant who was also a part-time employee filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment.
Rabbi Ira Book has denied both charges. Book filed his own lawsuit against the East Bay synagogue last month, alleging breach of contract, slander and libel.
Regardless of the outcome of either lawsuit, synagogue leaders acknowledged that congregants have suffered a shock.
Like Schiftan, Cantor Linda Hirschhorn said preserving the cycle of services and rituals has kept the congregation functioning as it heals.
"We're just right at the beginning. It's most important for community life to continue, for no one to feel cheated," said Hirschhorn, the Conservative synagogue's sole spiritual leader until a new rabbi is hired.
Shortly after Book was placed on administrative leave in March, Hirschhorn said, a significant event occurred.
The congregation held an already scheduled service to honor volunteers. The event helped congregants realize they were the ones who would sustain the 240-household synagogue, regardless of its leadership.
"The main concern was: Can we survive and continue?" Hirschhorn said. "We discovered we could."
Marvin Zinn, Beth Sholom's board president, agreed, saying he learned that "everyone is expendable."
At the same time, he credited Hirschhorn for helping the congregation forge ahead.
"She's done a magnificent job," Zinn said. "She's held it together."
Like Emanu-El, Beth Sholom offered psychological counseling. But no one at Beth Sholom showed an interest, Zinn said.
While the passage of time has eased the trauma of a sex scandal in the case of Emanu-El, some there still question whether the matter could have been handled better.
Emanu-El's Matzger criticized the response of the Reform movement at the time of the Kirschner controversy, particularly by its rabbinic association known as the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
"What I found out early on: The CCAR was of no help, except to suggest an appropriate severance package," he said. "We were kind of on our own."
But Matzger doesn't regret Emanu-El's response to the situation. He continues to defend Kirschner's exit package, which has been cited as $230,000 in severance pay, accrued pension and equity from a jointly owned home. Kirschner's wife and four children didn't need to suffer any more than they already had, Matzger said.
"What are you going to do? Put him on the welfare rolls? We are a Jewish institution," Matzger said.
Today, Kirschner is suspended from the Central Conference of American Rabbis until at least the year 2000. He works as program director at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, which has strong ties to the Reform movement.
Since his resignation, Kirschner has returned to Emanu-El only once. In February, he responded to a family request and officiated at the funeral service of Rhoda Goldman, who was board president when Kirschner left.
Despite the potential reactions, Pearce approved of Kirschner's appearance in that instance. "It was a family funeral," he said. "They had the right to ask for that rabbi."
A few people made angry phone calls to Pearce, but "more than that, people said it's great he could be here and get on with his life."
Kirschner did not mention the scandal from the bimah that day.
Though his brief return to Emanu-El might appear monumental, Matzger even envisions a time when Kirschner could come back as a visiting rabbi before the entire congregation in a "spirit of reconciliation."
Such a scenario would mark the "final healing," Matzger said, because it would show that everyone had made peace with the past.
"Under the right circumstances and given sufficient time, it was and still is my...hope that Bob Kirschner can return to Emanu-El" as a guest speaker, Matzger said.
Those "right circumstances," he added, include an acknowledgment of wrongdoing directly to Emanu-El, and evidence of his spiritual and emotional recovery.
Matzger doesn't view this scenario as impossible.
"I don't think he's a fallen man for all time."
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Rabbi’s lawsuit against synagogue dismissed
By Natalie Weinstein
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California - November 7, 1997
Rabbi Ira Book's lawsuit against his former congregation has been dismissed before heading to trial.
Book was terminated in May 1996 amid allegations of misconduct.
He had served Beth Sholom for 18 years.
He and his wife, Sharon, filed the lawsuit in September 1996 against Temple Beth Sholom in San Leandro and 19 congregants, mostly board members.
The suit's claims included breach of contract, slander, libel, infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
His lawsuit denied allegations made by congregants that the rabbi "improperly used monies from the Discretionary Fund" and "engaged in improper relations with a female member of Temple Beth Sholom."
The suit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, officially ended a month ago.
"The case has been resolved and it's dismissed," Philip Ross, an attorney for the synagogue, said last week.
He would not release any further information, explaining that the details were confidential.
"There is an agreement by the parties to really not discuss this with the media," he said.
Book's attorneys, Lee Archer and Mark Coon, did not return phone calls.
A related lawsuit filed against Book and the synagogue in June 1996 is still active, though it has not gone to trial yet. The plaintiff, a former congregant and part-time employee, accuses Book of sexual harassment and other misconduct.
Book was terminated in May 1996 amid allegations of misconduct.
He had served Beth Sholom for 18 years.
He and his wife, Sharon, filed the lawsuit in September 1996 against Temple Beth Sholom in San Leandro and 19 congregants, mostly board members.
The suit's claims included breach of contract, slander, libel, infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
His lawsuit denied allegations made by congregants that the rabbi "improperly used monies from the Discretionary Fund" and "engaged in improper relations with a female member of Temple Beth Sholom."
The suit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, officially ended a month ago.
"The case has been resolved and it's dismissed," Philip Ross, an attorney for the synagogue, said last week.
He would not release any further information, explaining that the details were confidential.
"There is an agreement by the parties to really not discuss this with the media," he said.
Book's attorneys, Lee Archer and Mark Coon, did not return phone calls.
A related lawsuit filed against Book and the synagogue in June 1996 is still active, though it has not gone to trial yet. The plaintiff, a former congregant and part-time employee, accuses Book of sexual harassment and other misconduct.
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Ex-inmate sets up program to help Jews at Folsom
Ex-inmate sets up program to help Jews at Folsom
By Aleza Goldsmith
Jewish Weekly - December 1, 2000
Many Jewish inmates in California's state prisons hide their Jewish identity out of fear of neo-Nazis, according to a Jewish chaplain.
Despite some opportunities for Jewish identity at Folsom State Prison near Sacramento, said Rabbi Ira Book, only between 15 and 20 Jews incarcerated there openly practice Judaism -- or even admit to being Jews.
Book estimates that between 60 and 100 Jews are incarcerated there.
"Some just don't much about their Jewish heritage," he said, "but a large number are afraid to admit to it -- it's a justified fear."
In a recent letter to Barney Ugarte, a member of Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco, a Folsom inmate wrote of the obstacles one must hurdle "to maintain and nourish our Jewish faith...in this environment."
As a former Folsom inmate, Ugarte understands completely.
"Along with the isolation there's a very large neo-Nazi presence there," said Ugarte, who was released on parole in July after serving 22 months for conspiracy to counterfeit, a nonviolent, white-collar crime. Describing a backlash that includes rape, intimidation, threats and violent attacks, he said, "Imagine men with enormous swastikas tattooed on their bellies. You have to be very careful about identifying as a Jew."
While in Folsom, Ugarte chose to be one of the practicing Jews. Although targeted at times by anti-Semites, he explained, "Judaism is at the core of my being."
And in the months since he chanted the Hebrew prayer said upon one's release from prison, Ugarte said his thoughts have remained focused on the Jewish prisoners.
Troubled by both the stifling effects of the neo-Nazi presence and prisoners' isolation from the outside world, Ugarte decided to take action. His recently formed Jewish Life Inmate Prison Project will target those Jews sentenced to life in Folsom by providing them with an essential Jewish lifeline outside the prison bars.
"Some of these guys' families are far away or have given up on them completely; they have no outside Jewish contact," said Ugarte. "One guy has done almost 30 years behind the wall and may never get out. The need for people like him to get some connection is critical." Under the auspices of two Beth Sholom programs -- the Keshet and Va'ad Zedek -- inmates will receive several items and services. They include membership at the Conservative synagogue; a monthly newsletter; regular correspondence; visits by congregants; ritual materials; a care package with pre-approved foods like cereal, coffee and instant soup, or clothes such as long underwear and tennis shoes; and special prayer services and/or celebrations during certain Jewish holidays. "The difference between having outside contact and not having outside contact is like the difference between night and day," said Ugarte, who has already found five interested inmates and hopes to encourage more.
"If they do eventually get out of prison, they'll be affiliated with a synagogue," he said, "and maybe we can help them with the transition. Getting out is a scary experience. One guy has been behind bars for so long that he's never even used a microwave."
Ugarte and Beth Sholom participants are currently raising the $2,000 necessary to bring the program into fruition. Their first major fund-raising event, a benefit concert of jazz, folk and opera music, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Friedman Center at Congregation Beth Sholom, 1301 Clement St. A donation of $10 is requested.
Ugarte does not fear that the program's recognition will put the inmates in any extra danger of neo-Nazis since those who choose to participate are already openly practicing Jews.
"If anything," he said, "it will give them a little bit of dignity," describing his prison garb of worn, improperly fitted brown boots, three shirts, two pairs of pants and a very thin jacket for winter weather, which can drop down to a "freezing 20 degrees." Book, who will assist the project from the prison end, said Ugarte's goal is "wonderful." Such assistance will play a critical role in aiding the prisoners' recovery and perhaps undoing some of the taboos placed on Jews in prison. "Any contact that says you are important to us, that we want to support you in terms of your health, recovery and -- if paroled -- your re-entrance into the stream is a vital linkage," he said. "We're seeing a type of outreach here that hasn't before been expressed by the Jewish community."
Ugarte emphasized that he isn't doing anything above or beyond the call of duty for a Jew. It is, of course, a mitzvah, "to care for someone who is in prison," he said. But, in a lot of ways, it's just a matter of common sense.
"Judaism provides for every Jew a chance to return to God and a chance to return to yourself," said Ugarte. "We're helping to give these inmates a vehicle to repent and return to God. Every Jew deserves the opportunity and the right to do that."
"THE WEDDING MINISTRIES"… CLERGY
Jewish Weekly - December 1, 2000
Many Jewish inmates in California's state prisons hide their Jewish identity out of fear of neo-Nazis, according to a Jewish chaplain.
Despite some opportunities for Jewish identity at Folsom State Prison near Sacramento, said Rabbi Ira Book, only between 15 and 20 Jews incarcerated there openly practice Judaism -- or even admit to being Jews.
Book estimates that between 60 and 100 Jews are incarcerated there.
"Some just don't much about their Jewish heritage," he said, "but a large number are afraid to admit to it -- it's a justified fear."
In a recent letter to Barney Ugarte, a member of Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco, a Folsom inmate wrote of the obstacles one must hurdle "to maintain and nourish our Jewish faith...in this environment."
As a former Folsom inmate, Ugarte understands completely.
"Along with the isolation there's a very large neo-Nazi presence there," said Ugarte, who was released on parole in July after serving 22 months for conspiracy to counterfeit, a nonviolent, white-collar crime. Describing a backlash that includes rape, intimidation, threats and violent attacks, he said, "Imagine men with enormous swastikas tattooed on their bellies. You have to be very careful about identifying as a Jew."
While in Folsom, Ugarte chose to be one of the practicing Jews. Although targeted at times by anti-Semites, he explained, "Judaism is at the core of my being."
And in the months since he chanted the Hebrew prayer said upon one's release from prison, Ugarte said his thoughts have remained focused on the Jewish prisoners.
Troubled by both the stifling effects of the neo-Nazi presence and prisoners' isolation from the outside world, Ugarte decided to take action. His recently formed Jewish Life Inmate Prison Project will target those Jews sentenced to life in Folsom by providing them with an essential Jewish lifeline outside the prison bars.
"Some of these guys' families are far away or have given up on them completely; they have no outside Jewish contact," said Ugarte. "One guy has done almost 30 years behind the wall and may never get out. The need for people like him to get some connection is critical." Under the auspices of two Beth Sholom programs -- the Keshet and Va'ad Zedek -- inmates will receive several items and services. They include membership at the Conservative synagogue; a monthly newsletter; regular correspondence; visits by congregants; ritual materials; a care package with pre-approved foods like cereal, coffee and instant soup, or clothes such as long underwear and tennis shoes; and special prayer services and/or celebrations during certain Jewish holidays. "The difference between having outside contact and not having outside contact is like the difference between night and day," said Ugarte, who has already found five interested inmates and hopes to encourage more.
"If they do eventually get out of prison, they'll be affiliated with a synagogue," he said, "and maybe we can help them with the transition. Getting out is a scary experience. One guy has been behind bars for so long that he's never even used a microwave."
Ugarte and Beth Sholom participants are currently raising the $2,000 necessary to bring the program into fruition. Their first major fund-raising event, a benefit concert of jazz, folk and opera music, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Friedman Center at Congregation Beth Sholom, 1301 Clement St. A donation of $10 is requested.
Ugarte does not fear that the program's recognition will put the inmates in any extra danger of neo-Nazis since those who choose to participate are already openly practicing Jews.
"If anything," he said, "it will give them a little bit of dignity," describing his prison garb of worn, improperly fitted brown boots, three shirts, two pairs of pants and a very thin jacket for winter weather, which can drop down to a "freezing 20 degrees." Book, who will assist the project from the prison end, said Ugarte's goal is "wonderful." Such assistance will play a critical role in aiding the prisoners' recovery and perhaps undoing some of the taboos placed on Jews in prison. "Any contact that says you are important to us, that we want to support you in terms of your health, recovery and -- if paroled -- your re-entrance into the stream is a vital linkage," he said. "We're seeing a type of outreach here that hasn't before been expressed by the Jewish community."
Ugarte emphasized that he isn't doing anything above or beyond the call of duty for a Jew. It is, of course, a mitzvah, "to care for someone who is in prison," he said. But, in a lot of ways, it's just a matter of common sense.
"Judaism provides for every Jew a chance to return to God and a chance to return to yourself," said Ugarte. "We're helping to give these inmates a vehicle to repent and return to God. Every Jew deserves the opportunity and the right to do that."
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"THE WEDDING MINISTRIES"… CLERGY
Bio - 2003
Rabbi Ira Book
With a Masters of Arts from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a Masters of Arts in Education from The University of San Francisco, Rabbi Book is active in higher education and is co-author of
the books To Dwell Together in Freedom and Serve Him With Gladness. Rabbi Book is a skilled counselor, mediator and community advocate. He brings to weddings a friendly, personal style that blends progressive thought with the traditional.
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Current activities: Board of Rabbis of Northern California
Bio 2003
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Religion Link
January 5, 2004
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