H I N D A I N S T I T U T E

Rabbi Binyomin Scheiman, spiritual advisor 9401 N. Margail, Des Plaines, IL. 60016 📞 (847) 334-1770 📥 fax (847) 296-1823 🔿 chabad@chabadandfree.com 🌎 www.hindahelps.com

Spring 2019 / 5779

ב"ה

Because of people like you...NO ONE IS PASSED OVER.

This year the Hinda delivered Food for Pesach to over 140 people in over 23 correctional institutions across Illinois. Additionally, we delivered Matzot to many of our clients who are re-entering our communities and celebrating the holidays — sometimes for the first time.

The ability to celebrate the Jewish holidays brings tremendous hope and joy to our clients. We want to thank our supporters for their continual unfailing generosity and human kindness over the years; you make sure that nobody is forgotten or passed over.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO: The Maot Chitim committee of Greater Chicago for Kosher Lepesach food items

The Aleph Institute for Seder plates

The Ark for Salamis

The Grinker family for Shmurah Matzah

Larry and Anita Miller for the cargo van rental and gas

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Passover Highlightsand Credits

A Final Gift to a HINDA

Client

The Difference Education Can Make

News & Schmooze - Mazel Tovs and More!

How Hinda Saved Passover

23 CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS

OVER

140 PEOPLE

Hot Shot Delivery owner Steve Lurie for the delivery of 2000 meals

Abe’s Smoked Fish — our new distributor for frozen dinners

Shtark Kosher Cheese, with the assistance of Rabbi Levi Lando, for donating cheese, as Cook County no longer permits fish products due to allergies

We also want to thank all our volunteers and donors for their time and generosity!

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped our chaplains read megillah: Mr. Yakov Weingrow, Rabbi Mark Weiner, Rabbi Shalom Ber Raices, Rabbi Chaim Telsner, Mr. Pesach Perelman and Rabbi Eli Langsam. Purim was celebrated in 7 jails!

Thank you to Yitzchak, Simcha and Dovid for packing food supplies. Thank you Dovid Rabinowitz for helping to deliver food to prisons over the week.

SAVING SOULSSUPPORTING OUR CLIENTS FOR LIFE AND THEN BEYOND

When Masha (fictitious name) passed away this year, there were no funds or family to organize her burial.

Masha had battled an addiction to alcohol her whole life. At one point, Masha became incarcerated for about a year related to her addiction. Eventually her two boys were taken from her and brought to foster homes, where Masha lost touch with them.

Despite these losses, Masha fought her demons with great strength to regain self-respect. She finally got control of her addiction while in tre-mendous pain from illness. She was never incarcerated again.

Bubbie Masha will be remembered for her generous and kind nature and continual uproarious sense of

humor, despite being in a wheelchair and in pain.

Masha never forgot her compa-triots in the correctional institute and would send them money or deli sandwiches. As much as possible, Masha tried to stay connected to her heritage.

Masha had been a client of the Hinda Institute for over 20 years and was always happy to receive our weekly phone calls, visits and holiday packages.

Masha fought for dignity in life and deserved to die with Jewish dignity.

While she had kind non-Jewish friends, no one, including Masha, had the resources for a Jewish burial. The

only options were an ignoble mass burial, or even worse, a mass crema-tion, which is against Jewish law.

The Hinda Institute stepped in. With the help of Mr. David

Jacobson and Jeremy Seaver from Chicago Jewish Funeral Homes, Masha got a true Jewish burial; a burial that celebrated her life, her courageous Jewish soul and her suc-cesses — because every Jewish life counts.

Masha, we will miss you. A special thank you to Mr. David

Jacobson from Chicago Jewish Funeral Homes for sponsoring this Jewish burial.

We are grateful, and we are sure that Masha in heaven is as well.

One institutional chaplain decided to limit the grape-juice for this Passover Seder; our clients would only get one-ounce total consumed in front of guards. The Hinda Institute found out and intervened with the assistance of the Aleph Institute and the head chaplain of all the correc-tional institutions. The head chaplain spoke to the warden and informed him that this was not consistent with previous practices. The memo was rescinded, and our clients got to celebrate the Passover Seder properly.

Additionally, Passover meals did not arrive at one of the institu-tions. Our clients undertook a 2-day hunger strike. Hinda investigated, and the meals were sent the next day with the determined assistance of the warden.

HINDA ADVOCACYThe Right To Passover

Please support the important work of the

Hinda Institute by filling out the card on the back page.

Rabbi Scheiman checks in at 4sq.com

@BinyominS

binyomin.scheiman

www.HindaHelps.com

NEWS & SCHMOOZE MANY MAZEL TOVS! Our chaplains Rabbi Shneur and Ester Scheiman, Rabbi Chaim and Chaya Mushka Scheiman, and Rabbi Mendel and Yochi Scheiman all had new baby boys.

On March 30, Rabbi Scheiman spoke in Kansas City for Congregation BIAV.

Having trouble coping with a family member inside? Need to know what to tell family and friends? Call the office and we can set up a partner from our peer support group. All calls are confidential!

From PRISON to HARVARDHOW EDUCATION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE (to protect the privacy of this individual, author’s name not included)

When I was 30 years old, I made the worst financial mistake of my life and spent 44 months in prison. When I entered, I had a 4-year-old child. I was filled with regret, despair and hopelessness.

The Hinda Institute was there for me. It meant so much to me that Rabbi Scheiman of the Hinda Institute drove 300 miles to visit me every month. He not only brought me reading material, helped me celebrate the Jewish holi-days, but assisted me with my spiritual and mental needs. I felt so alone and isolated and it meant a lot that somebody from the outside cared. He under-stood that I was a human being that made a mistake. He helped me accept that it was going to be okay and gave me hope.

In prison, I didn’t have access to the internet or technology. Technology changed very fast and by the time I got out, I had difficulty using technology even to find a job. I had to quickly find a job to not violate my probation, but I had no education, technical expertise or transportation and no one wanted to take a risk.

I finally got a job in a clinic at the front desk reception. I worked hard be-cause I desperately needed to keep my job, but my lack of skills became an issue. One day, I was asked to do a spreadsheet in Excel. I couldn’t do it. I had no experience and no one wanted to help. When I told them the truth, my boss laughed in my face. He called me “retard.” He told all the doctors; my ig-norance was comical for him.

I eventually enrolled and finished a degree and got accepted to a MA pro-gram in Political Science. This summer, I can't believe it but I was accepted to Harvard Summer School! I am flying to Boston with my mother and daughter.

I still speak to Rabbi and Mrs. Scheiman every week for spiritual strength — I know they are proud of me.

I regret however not having more access to books, education and technology while in prison. Education gave me independence. Employment is empowering.

Were I to have had more access to books and education in prison, it would have been completely different. It is not just the books themselves, books would have helped me to understand that there is hope and that I can change.

If someone told me at that time that I could’ve gotten into university, I would not have believed it. It would have changed my perception of myself.

There is a big culture shock when you get out of prison. It would have been great to get ready and prepare myself to live in society.

HINDA is launching a new educational program in the correction-al institutions. This pilot program is being implemented with sup-port from the Walder Foundation in memory of Daniel Azari.

More information regarding this exciting new project will follow in our next newsletter.

Please accept my tax-deductible contribution to help Rabbi Scheiman continue his service to the isolated Jews in prison!

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Make a difference!Due to budget cuts by the state of Illinois, Rabbi Scheiman’s chaplaincy is no longer reimbursed as it was in the past. Help us continue by making a tax-deductible donation securely on our website.

T H E H I N D A I N S T I T U T E