As someone who has struggled to find a spiritual connection to Judaism, I have been inspired by Rabbi Sisenwine’s call to embrace a broader definition of Jewish spirituality, one that reaches beyond the walls of our synagogue and connects me spiritually through caring acts to help repair our world and transform the lives of those in need. By widening my circle of compassion beyond family and friends, to strangers and those whose lives look different from mine, even to those I might disagree with, or fear, I am finding ways to take action and strengthen my spirituality and Jewish identity.

And this is why I was excited to join our new Racial Justice Initiative – TBE Partakers College Behind Bars Mentoring Teams program. Widening our circle of compassion is at the heart of the journey with Partakers.  We are widening our circles of compassion through the connections with our mentees, and by extension their families, communities, and the population of incarcerated people. These individuals are part of a group that are often forgotten and invisible, who we don’t consider worthy of investment and education, and yet 90% of people who are incarcerated will return to their communities. Education can be the gateway to change the trajectory of their lives and for me, an educator, it is an opportunity to help mentor and support.

Currently, we have three TBE teams of three or four members that have each gone through orientation training and matched with an incarcerated person who is enrolled in a College Behind Bars program and working towards his or her Bachelors degree while in prison.