Governor Charlie Baker                                                        2 August 2022

Massachusetts State House

24 Beacon St.

Office of the Governor, Room 280,

Boston, MA 02133

Dear Governor Baker,

We are a coalition of Jewish clergy from communities across Massachusetts, and we are writing to express our support for the work of Families for Justice as Healing and The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls. We are asking you to sign H.5065, including the Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium. We are also asking you to use your power of clemency as a tool for gender and racial justice, and to release women over the age of fifty, women who are sick, and women who have been incarcerated for more than 10 years. As you approach the end of your final term, we hope that you take these actions to leave the Commonwealth a more just place and to set a precedent for what community transformation looks like.

Judaism teaches that we should be held accountable for our actions, while also upholding repentance and repair as the ultimate goal. With FJAH and the National Council, we affirm that prisons are not places where people can heal and rebuild their lives. To truly build a world of justice and accountability, we need to create a world where everyone can thrive. The moratorium would transform the next five years into an opportunity to further reduce the incarcerated population, implement alternatives, and invest in community health and safety. As the Commonwealth recovers from Covid, we want our leadership to rise to their communities’ demands for racial, gender, economic, and environmental justice. We do not need new jails and prisons; incarceration does not make us safer; and women cannot heal from behind bars.

In step with our tradition, we join and amplify the voices from across the Commonwealth calling for passage of the prison moratorium and the granting of clemency to women. We thank you in advance for listening to the will of your constituents and to the leadership of the most directly affected women and families in the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

Rabbi Becky Silverstein, Co-chair of the T’ruah Boston, Faculty, SVARA: SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva

Rabbi Toba Spitzer, Co-chair of the T’ruah Boston. Rabbi at Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, Former President of Massachusetts Board of Rabbis

Rabbi Jim Morgan, Hebrew SeniorLife

Rabbi Greg Hersh, Rabbi at Temple Emmanual (Wakefield, MA), Treasurer of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association        

Rabbi Barbara Penzner, Temple Hillel B''nai Torah        

Cantor Elise Barber, Temple Beth El, Springfield, MA

Cantor Vera Broekhuysen, Cantor and Congregational Leader at Temple Emanu-El (Haverhill, MA)

Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs, CCAR

Rabbi Richard Winer, Framingham, MA        

Rabbi Mimi Micner, Watertown MA

Rabbi Randy Kafka,        Sharon Interfaith Action

Rabbi Louis Polisson, Natick, MA

Rabbi Julie Wolkoff, Wellesley Hills, MA

Rabbi Leora Abelson, Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue

Rabbi Cherie Koller-Fox, Newton, MA

Rabbi Natan Margalit, Organic Torah

Rabbi Henry A. Zoob, Rabbi Emeritus Temple Beth David, Westwood, MA

Rabbi Elyse Winick, Newton Center, MA        

Rabbi Talia Stein, Temple Sinai

Rabbi Victor Reinstein, Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue

Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz, Temple B’nai Brith 

Rabbi Karen Landy, Havurat Shalom, Andover MA

Cantor Louise Treitman, Temple Beth David, Westwood, MA

Rabbi Carol Glass, Faith and Family Hospice

Rabbi Shahar Colt, Rabbi at Ahavas Achim (Westfield, MA)         

Rabbi Darby Leigh, Congregation Kerem Shalom

Rabbi Josh Breindel, Sudbury, MA 

Rabbi Rebecca Hornstein, Boston Workers Circle