By Stephen Silver
Behind the imposing stone walls of Eastern State Penitentiary — the Philadelphia prison that once held Al Capone — sits a small, unlikely synagogue built by inmates, for inmates, nearly a century ago. Now, a new exhibition is telling its story.
Eastern State Penitentiary, in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood, was active from its founding in 1829 until its closing in 1971. For many years after that, it was essentially in ruins before it was revived in the late 1990s as a museum and attraction.
Founded by Quakers and long Christian-oriented, it was the world’s first true “penitentiary,” a word derived from Christian notions of repentance and reflection. Still, Eastern State incarcerated Jewish prisoners
Dedicated in 1929, the Alfred W. Fleischer Memorial Synagogue was the first known Jewish worship space established in an American prison. It was named after the real estate tycoon and supporter of the institution who died the year before.
The Jewish community supported the creation of a synagogue in part because of fears that Jewish inmates, who had previously prayed in the prison’s hospital, would be converted while inside.
Jewish prisoners helped build the synagogue, with some support from Fleischer and others in the outside community.
The inmates themselves led a renovation of the synagogue in the 1960s.
The synagogue was unearthed during excavations in 2004 and, following a philanthropic effort, restored in 2009.
Earlier this month, Eastern State opened a permanent exhibition, “Freedom through Faith: Judaism at Eastern State and Beyond.”
The exhibit examines the history of the synagogue, as well as the broader history of religious freedom for incarcerated Americans.
The exhibition, the product of more than a year of research, was developed by the consultant Beth Tinker, who is not Jewish. It’s part of a series of programs for the nation’s 250th anniversary, called “A Time For Liberty.”
The exhibition has an online component.
Eastern State was founded on “the idea of rehabilitation through faith and solitary confinement,” as Tinker described it, although the solitary aspect was dropped in 1913.
The synagogue, she said, provided a respite from that difficult existence for the Jewish prisoners, many of whom landed there not long after immigrating to the US.
“We wanted to focus on the congregants and their humanity as people rather than their mug shots and what crimes they had committed,” Tinker said.
The research unearthed some fascinating stories. One was that of Joseph Paull, a Jewish circus strongman who visited the synagogue as an entertainer in the 1920s and then, like a proto-Johnny Cash, became a supporter and advocate for the prisoners he met.
“We found all his letters, and that gave us information from prisoners and family members who are writing to him. ‘Hey, can you help me find a job when I come out? Can you help with parole?’”
The exhibit tells stories of Jewish life at the prison before the synagogue was built. The Italian-born Rabbi Sabato Morais was the first Jewish chaplain at the prison, starting in 1893. Researching his story, the museum discovered that Morais has a descendant who now works as a prison chaplain in Pennsylvania.
The first bris at the prison took place in the 1850s, after a baby was born to a Jewish woman prisoner.
There were High Holiday services in 1923.
The exhibition includes information on case law related to freedom of religion, including for incarcerated people.
A hulking structure located in what is now a mostly upscale urban neighborhood, Eastern State stood in ruins for many years until restoration efforts began in the 1990s.
The museum hosts a haunted house attraction at Halloween time, which serves as a fundraiser.
Its exhibits, especially since 2020, have put greater emphasis on mass incarceration and the inequities of the prison system.
Also playing a part in the exhibition was Josh Perelman, the senior advisor for content and strategic projects at Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.
“‘Freedom Through Faith’ reveals the leading role Eastern State Penitentiary played in establishing religious rights in American prisons,” Perelman says.
“Moreover, it demonstrates what becomes possible when the communities inside and outside the prison’s walls — in this case Philadelphia’s Jews — collaborate both during imprisonment and afterward.”
Tinker said the reception has been positive so far, despite the rising climate of anti-Semitism. She’s seen no negative reaction to the exhibition.
Tinker said. “This is a place where we’re finding humanity in a place where it was very hard to find it.”
