Carceral confinement goes against Jewish values, according to members of Tifereth Israel Congregation in the nation’s capital. That’s why the synagogue is hosting a prison reform advocate who spent years in solitary confinement to share her story Jan. 17.
Rabbi Charles Feinberg, a TI member and prison reform advocate, will interview Natasha White, who served 15 years in the New York State prison system, about her experience in incarceration and the circumstances that led to her solitary confinement.
White spent four years in a small, windowless cell with minimal human contact and very little access to sunlight or fresh air. She has witnessed suicides and endured sexual abuse by corrections officers, according to her written testimony.
“Solitary confinement really ruined my life; it really ruined a lot about me,” White told Washington Jewish Week. “The effects that it has had on me are irreversible.”
“The dignity of each human being is a fundamental Jewish principle, and everyone should be respected no matter what he or she has done,” Feinberg said.
White, a Virginia resident, is now the director of community engagement at Interfaith Action for Human Rights. She played a large role in the movement to close Rikers Island, one of the world’s largest correctional and psychiatric institutions, and worked on the HALTsolitary Campaign, which eliminated long-term solitary confinement in New York in 2021.
She leads the Solitary No More VA campaign as the coordinator for the Virginia Coalition on Solitary Confinement and regularly engages with legislators, community members, universities and families directly impacted by long-term confinement and isolation.
“It’s very important that people realize that prison reform is not just about prison; it’s a people issue,” White said. “Prisons are part of our everyday systems, and the prison system has the highest budget in our country, no matter what state. … We could be allocating money that they’re taking to torture people to help impoverished communities.”
“Criminal justice issues are a huge, political, divisive issue in our country, and a big moral issue as well,” Feinberg said. “So, I think it’s important for the Jewish community to be involved in these issues and certainly to learn more about them.”
The Jan. 17 event is part of TI’s annual Social Action Shabbaton over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. This year, the community chose to discuss incarceration and divine image.
“The importance comes from our Jewish values of treating people humanely and with respect,” said Franca Brilliant, the vice president for TI’s social action committee. “Solitary confinement … is a punishment — it is a torture. It is devastating to human beings. … It connects with our need to engage with the wider world and the idea that every human being was made in the image of God, and therefore, they should be treated decently and humanely.”
Solitary confinement, Brilliant said, is “neither decent nor humane.”
These ideas aren’t unique to Judaism, said White, who is of Baptist faith. “If you believe in the power of God, you believe in humanity and love. God leads with love. So, how does any of this align with love?” White asked. “It does not.”
“The whole question of incarceration deal[s] with profound issues of both people making mistakes or doing wrong and whether they can be forgiven for that, and whether there can be some kind of wholeness achieved,” Feinberg said. “So, I think that’s a profound spiritual issue.”
Feinberg entered the social justice realm after Sept. 11, 2001, when the United States detained and tortured thousands suspected of terrorism in detention centers abroad. The rabbi was involved in an organization to end this physical and psychological abuse.
“As we looked at that, we realized that people were being abused in the U.S. prisons, not just in the black sites outside of the country,” Feinberg said. “That ultimately brought us to looking at the abuse of solitary confinement.”
Feinberg met White through the Interfaith Action for Human Rights, where he had served as executive director. He said the event featuring White reflects TI’s long history of pursuing justice.
“The synagogue has always been interested in human rights in different ways,” Feinberg said.
TI is part of SEA Change DMV, a network of area synagogues committed to social and racial justice, inclusion and belonging within communities.
For the past few years, the TI community has also supported an Afghani family seeking refuge in the U.S., so this event is “certainly in line” with the fight for human rights, according to Feinberg.
“I’m always interested in what we can do and how we can support [prison reform], both as a collective congregation and also as individuals,” Brilliant said. “Sometimes, there are letter campaigns. Sometimes, there’s becoming a pen pal. Sometimes, there’s something else we can do.”
Feinberg has that action item in mind.
By the end of the discussion, Feinberg hopes that attendees will support the Maryland Mandela Act, which would cap the use of solitary to 15 days, prohibit it for vulnerable individuals, severely limit the practice for minors and require that those placed in restrictive housing be allowed to contest their confinement.
Attendees are also encouraged to speak with their local legislators, talk about solitary confinement with community members in their places of worship, donate to causes and write letters or emails to elected officials, urging them to help reform the carceral system.
“There’s so many ways to get involved,” White said. “Everybody can’t do a lot, but if everybody does a little, nobody has to do a lot.”
This event ties to Judaism and the work of MLK Jr., Brilliant said: “You have to engage. … You have to act.”
“I’m hoping that [White and Feinberg] will leave us both with more information and understanding of why [solitary confinement] is such a terrible practice, and offer us ways to help support the people who are going through it and end it,” she added.
