The Bible and the Rehabilitation of Prisoners and Offenders
presented by Avraham Hoffmann at the ICPA 21st annual conference, Buenos Aires, October 27th – November 1st, 2019
“Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me” said King David[1]. Two basic principles from the bible led us in creating a unique Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority in Israel.
The belief in our ability to change
The first principle is the belief that human beings are able to change. This principle obliges a person who has sinned to make all the possible efforts and pass all the tests inflicted upon him in order to realise his right to rehabilitate. Rehabilitation of prisoners and delinquents is possible primarily because people are able to change and rehabilitate. But, without a supportive hand a person will find it difficult to successfully achieve the huge task of changing his behaviour and climb back from the dungeon of crime to look for worthy ways to rehabilitate from crime. Only within a society that acknowledges that human beings can change, and that it is its obligation to look for appropriate ways to prevent crime and rehabilitate the criminals, true and successful rehabilitation is possible.
Only this uncompromised belief could lead Abraham to ask mercy for the people of Sodom and Moses to ask for mercy for the people of Israel after they had sinned with the Golden Calf, willing to die for the sake of his people[2].
The encounter between the ideology and the actual rehabilitation process may be problematic but can be overcome, these stories show us how:
[Reish Lakish story]
One day Rabbi Yohanan was swimming in the Jordan River. Reish Lakish who was a leader of bandits jumped into the river in order to rob him. Rabbi Yohanan said to Reish Lakish: “such a brave person like you should invest efforts in studying the Torah”. Reish Lakish replied: “you are a handsome man; you are as beautiful as a woman”. Rabbi Yohanan answered: “if you return to study Torah I will give you my sister, who is prettier than me, to be your wedded wife.”
Eventually Reish Lakish became one of the greatest scholars of his generation.
Giving a Chance and Obligation to rehabilitate
Bruriah, a brilliant scholar woman who lived in the second century, teaches us the principle:
Rabbi Meir[3] had neighbours who were gangsters. For their salvation, he wished that they die before committing additional crimes. Bruriah, his wife said to him, “what do you rely on when you pray for their death? It says in the Psalms: “Let sins cease” and you believe that the world is better by destroying the wicked. But does it say “sinners” cease? It says “sins”‘ so you have to pray for the disappearance of the wickedness not of the wicked.” And she explained that if the villains repent the wickedness itself will disappear. Realising his wife was right, Rabbi Meir prayed for them and they eventually repented.
So the PRA’s work is based upon this principle: the disappearance of sins not the sinners.
Never Give Up / are we allowed to give up?
In Genesis we’re told about Abraham who confronted God’s decision and begged him not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if only he could find a few righteous people. It was only Abraham’s unconditional belief in the human being’s ability to change his ways that led him to beg God to have mercy for the people of Sodom[4].
A real righteous person, even if he cannot improve his generation’s ways, must prevent sinners from severe judgement and pray for a merciful judgement. Hence he must plead in their favour even if they are delinquents and persevere as long as he lives:
Persevere
Reish Lakish tells us a story about Rabbi Zera: bullies were living close to Rabbi Zera, and he tried to help them repent. Rabbis questioned him for trying so hard to deal with these bullies, especially since he didn’t succeed.
When Rabbi Zera died, those bullies said: “While Rabbi Zera was alive he would pray for us so we wouldn’t get punished for our many sins, now who will pray for us?” Hence, they decided to repent. In retrospect, we can say that Rabbi Zera did well by trying to bring them closer, since these bullies eventually repented.
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The second Principle
Punishment vs Rehabilitation or Punishment and rehabilitation
The second principle is the world view that perceives the rehabilitation of the prisoners and the delinquents as an essential part of the rule of law and as one of the means of law enforcement, which assures harmony between punishment and rehabilitation. Not only is there no opposition between them, they are complementing each other, as we can see in the Bible:
The bible pays special attention to the part the family could takes in creating an atmosphere that could lead to crime, and from its failure, one can learn about the right way parents should take to prevent these failures. The Bible tells us about Jacob’s preference for his son Joseph, the son of his beloved wife Rachel, over his other sons, sons of Leah; A preference that created hostility between Joseph and his brothers. As a result, the “cloak of many colors” Jacob gave to his preferred son, Joseph, became a prisoner’s uniform when his brothers sold him as a slave to Egypt[5]. Indeed, the story ends positively, when many years later Joseph saves his own family and the Egyptians from starvation.
The Bible emphasises that the personal and social rehabilitation of the criminal should not be left to the criminal’s initiative alone. The society must encourage his way back to society and help him take this path to rehabilitate.
We pray: ”You reach out your hand to transgressors and your right hand is extended to receive those who [truly] repent”. As the sages have said “Let the left hand repulse but the right hand always invites back: not as Elisha, who pushes Gehazi away with both hands”[6], meaning that you always invite back more powerfully than you push away. And the Hebrew law scholars have even taken a step further to help the criminals repent: “Why was it instituted that the ‘prayer’ should be recited softly? So, as not to put transgressors to shame,”[7] when they confess about their offences during their prayer. And “even if one is completely wicked all his life but repents at the end, he is not reproached with his wickedness”[8]. That is, we should not remind him of his past and sins as a part of his rehabilitation process. And reminding him can harm him and even cause him to relapse. So Judaism recommends us to avoid humiliating a person when he is confessing about his sins, he is going through rehabilitation or that has rehabilitated successfully.
The Bible emphasises not only the psychological aspect of the treatment of rehabilitation and its importance, it also teaches us the ways to facilitate the practical aspects of rehabilitation, including the return of the theft[9].
These examples emphasise the psychological and educational values that must be honored when treating offenders that rehabilitate: The preservation of human dignity, the rehabilitatee’s dignity. It obliges the professional to measure each of their steps during the long process of rehabilitation, and prefer it over quick and short term achievements that may lead to failure.
In a verse of Deuteronomy[10], Rashi – one of our savant and a great commentator noted a dualism. The sinner is called a villain, but once he has been punished he is called “your brother”. Hence the bible makes a distinction between punishment and rehabilitation. Punishment has a beginning and an end, while rehabilitation is a never ending process. When he becomes “your brother” you have the obligation to rehabilitate him. A continuum that assures the rule of law.
Similarly King David said in Psalms[11]: “Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me” – the punishment after being completed, becomes a staff [a wooden stick] you can lean on – a rehabilitation tool!
In other words, the rehabilitation process becomes complementary to the punishment process, only when there is balance between the two. Thus the rule of law is assured.
Social obligation – Public responsibility
Our sages compare two stories from the Bible, that of Abraham, that I’ve mentioned before. The story of Abraham confronting God’s decision and begging him not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if only he could find a few righteous people; And in contrast, the story of Noah, who obeyed God’s order to build the ark and hence saved his family and all species, but did not ask God to spare his generation of sinners. This opposition presents a social choice between living in a fortress and doing social rehabilitation.
Delinquency isn’t only the individual’s fault but also a result of social policy. Hence if the public is also responsible for the social phenomenon of criminality, it has the obligation to fund the rehabilitation.
The bible tells us that when a murder is committed and the murderer is not found, the heads of the justice system had to come to the scene of the crime and declare: “our hands did not shed this blood”[12]. Does anyone believe that the court’s judges have partnered with crime? The answer is that the judges and leaders are blamed for not conducting a good enough social policy, and therefore as leaders they are [indirectly] responsible for the crime.
We must therefore perceive crime not only as the individual’s failure, but nonetheless as society being responsible for the factors that brought about the crime. Therefore, society’s duty is to correct and improve its social policy and assure means of prevention and rehabilitation, including the allocation of means and resources. King David assisted in this process – when a criminal was fined, but didn’t have the resources with which to pay. King David offered him a loan from the royal coffers which he had to repay on a monthly basis. Thus, the punishment was meted out, and, at the same time, the criminal was checked and observed on a regular basis.
Now, I will tell you about a failure in rehabilitation that ended in tragedy. One day while arguing about different kinds of knives, Rabbi Yohanan replied to Reish Lakish with anger: you surely know everything that there is to know about thievery. In other words, since you were a bandit when you were young, you still know these matters now.
Reish Lakish was offended and replied: what good have you done by helping me come closer to the Bible? There among the bandits I was called a rabbi [leader], and here I’m also called a rabbi.
Rabbi Yohanan replied: I have helped you come close to God. Why aren’t you grateful?
Reish Lakish became sick, and his wife came to her brother – Rabbi Yohanan – and begged him, saying: pray for my husband’s recovery so my sons will have a father. But he refused.
Eventually, Reish Lakish died and Rabbi Yohanan regretted both Reish Lakish’s absence and what he had done to him.
This storyshows how important the society is for the rehabilitation of offenders. The community must participate in the rehabilitation process. Without the community’s acceptance, the biggest rehabilitation investments efforts, budgets and most professional staff will be in vain.
Conclusion
The prisoner Rehabilitation in Israel strives at realising King David’s legacy in present days: “Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me” – making sure that the punishment process is not infinite. And when the punishment ends it is preceded by a rehabilitation process. The rehabilitation process gives the punishment its real validity. Without giving hope for a future, there is no chance a criminal will cease to commit crimes – the rehabilitation opens the gate to exit the world of crime and to enter society with hope and future.
To realise this vision we need employees that are capable mentally and physically to uphold to Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin saying: “if you want to pull out a person that is submerged in mud and slime, you cannot stay above and outside and lend your hand. You must go down into the mud and only then can you hold him firmly with both arms and pull him and yourself out into the light.” My pray to god is that he shall give our employees the power to pull out our prisoners and help them start a life of hope.
[1] Psalms 23:4.
[2] Exodus 32:1-10
[3] Berakoth 10a
[4] Genesis 18:20-33.
[5] Genesis 37
[6] Sanhedrin 107b.
[7] Sotah 32b.
[8] Kiddushin 40b referring to Ezekiel 33:12.
[9] How to return a house beam that has been stolen if a house is already built with it? Returning its worth value and not the beam itself. Kiddushin 40b
[10] Deuteronomy 25:2-3.
[11] Psalms 23:4.
[12] Deuteronomy 21:6-8.