Rabbi Lipszyc's story of the week #49
Dedicated in honor of Chanie's birthday
Although I lived in Birmingham, every Tuesday I would travel (1 1/2 hours each way) to Montgomery. I would give a class for the inmates of Maxwell prison camp and afterwards give a class to a group of yuppies in one of their homes. When the Rebbe asked that every shliach should expand their activities by opening a new Chabad House, I spoke to my biggest supporter in Montgomery, who was in real estate. He had just built a whole new complex of offices and had empty units, so he kindly donated the space of one unit so that I could adhere to the Rebbe’s request. Since I could not yet afford to hire another shliach for Montgomery, I myself manned this new Chabad House. I would spend every Tuesday there. The rest of the week, I would “call forward” the Montgomery Chabad House phone to ring in my Birmingham office. I was thus available to the Montgomery community 24/6. Of course, I also had it listed in the local Yellow Pages. As I mentioned in a previous story, when a reporter did an “expose” on the prison camp in Maxwell Air Force Base, “the country club of prisons,” the prison administration in Washington, D.C. were pretty much forced into making an investigation. They found some indiscretions, and made changes. They transferred the warden and the chaplain elsewhere, and replaced them with “hardliners,” a really tough warden and chaplain. As soon as the change was announced, even before it actually took place, I received a telephone call from someone in the ADL telling me that the newly assigned chaplain to this prison camp is a well-known anti-Semite, and asking if I could confirm that. I explained that he hadn’t even arrived yet, so I couldn’t honestly answer that. If, however, he would call me back in six months, by then I should be able to know, one way or the other. A pity they didn’t follow up on it, because yes he most definitely was an anti-Semite! The new warden and chaplain came about a week or two before Rosh Hashana. As the official contract Rabbi, I was called in to meet with them. The first thing they asked me was if I had read the prison manual on the rules that a contract Rabbi has to abide by? I admitted that I had no clue as to what they were talking about. I was never given any manual, but I added that before I did anything I would ask the chaplain permission and I had abided by whatever he said. The warden and chaplain looked at each other with a look that conveyed a strong message of ‘another violation of prison rules by the previous administration.’ The warden gave me the book and told me that I needed to study it, and if I couldn’t abide by it, I needed to resign. It was obvious to me, at that point, and in short time proved to be the case, that this warden and chaplain were going to go to the opposite extreme of the previous administration’s lenient attitude, “in order to whip the inmates into shape.” Since I was already meeting with them, in any case, I brought to their attention the upcoming High Holidays, which were less than two weeks away. I explained my plans and that this was what we had already done for the last several years. The looks they exchanged between themselves told me that they really wanted to forbid it, but they felt that since they were too new in this place, they would have to let it go for that Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. But it was also just as clear to me that they were planning to put a stop to my activities in the future. Everything went well for the High Holidays. A couple of weeks before Chanukah I met with the warden and chaplain about our Chanukah program. I explained that in the past, for Chanukah, the prisoners would come into the city (Montgomery) to our Chabad House for lighting the menorah and a Chanukah party. They said they can’t do that -- it’s not allowed. I countered, by telling them that I did what they told me to, namely that I read the prison rule book. In the rule book it said very clearly that the prison authorities could allow the inmates to go into the city with accompanying guards. They were totally caught off guard that it was precisely the book that they thought would limit my activities that gave me the tools to continue my programs. They argued that the prisoners were not allowed alcoholic beverages. I replied that I knew that and would only serve soft drinks. Not having a valid argument for not allowing it, they grudgingly agreed to continue our annual Chanukah celebration. So we agreed that the Jewish inmates would be coming to the Chabad House in Montgomery on the Tuesday of Chanukah at 5:00 p.m. I cancelled my other classes for that evening. On Monday morning (the day before the Inmates’ Chanukah party) at 8:00 a.m. I got a phone call from a woman in Montgomery. She told me how she came across our number in the Yellow Pages and was curious to know “what is this Shabad [sic] House?” I explained that it is pronounced with a guttural ch, Chabad House, and is a Jewish Center. She said she too is Jewish and would like to know what we do. I told her about the classes we give in Montgomery and that we also service the Jewish inmates in Maxwell. She seemed especially interested in what I was doing for the inmates. So I mentioned as an example the upcoming Chanukah party on the very next evening at 5:00 p.m. So she asked if she could come and bring a friend along. I answered, “of course,” and she gave me her name and her home phone number. That night, after 11:00 p.m., the chaplain called me and told me that the Chanukah party was cancelled. When I asked why, he said that he and the warden had just changed their minds and decided they didn’t want it. I asked if it was a punishment for the inmates having done something wrong. He replied no, the warden and he just decided to cancel it. I argued that wasn’t right, to which he responded “tough luck, like it or not.” I hung up the phone exasperated, but not knowing what else I could do about it. Meanwhile, I had another problem. I needed to inform the woman I had invited earlier that morning that it was cancelled, so she wouldn’t come to a locked door. Since the classes had been cancelled, and the party was cancelled, there was no reason for me to drive from Birmingham to Montgomery. Being that I only had her home number and had no idea when she would leave her home in the morning, I had to call her that night at 11:30 p.m.! I called and profusely apologized for the late call. She assured me that it was ok, and then asked what was wrong. I explained that I had just received a call from the chaplain and that he and the warden had cancelled the Chanukah party. She asked if I felt that there was any antisemitism involved. I told her that I definitely felt that the chaplain and warden were showing signs of antisemitism. So she said, “Ok, I’ll take care of it,” and she hung up. In horror, I thought to myself, oh my G-d, what did I do? I was thinking “is she one of those activists who was going to organize a demonstration outside the prison camp?!? That was the last thing in the world I needed.” Well at that point there wasn’t much I could do about it. 7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning my phone rang. “Hello,” said an unfamiliar voice, “this is Dr. Riggs from Washington, D.C., I am in charge of the chaplaincy program for all of the federal prisons throughout the U.S. I understand that you are having a problem in the Maxwell prison camp. Please tell me about it.” So I explained what had happened with what I felt was a totally unwarranted cancellation of the Chanukah event. He asked if I am available for a telephone conference call with him and the warden, to which I agreed. To explain what happened next, I need to explain what my personal experiences with conference calls had been until then. The only conference calls that I was ever involved with was when Chabad headquarters had conference calls with the heads of state shluchim. An operator would call and tell us that a conference call was being set up for a certain time, later in the day, and would call me back at that time. I therefore thought that I should expect a call from the operator informing me of the time for this conference call, later in the day. “Knowing” that I had time, I ran to take care of an errand early in the day, since I didn’t know when the ‘later in the day’ conference call would take place. As soon as I left, Dr. Riggs called back with the warden on the line. My wife answered the phone. When the warden asked for me, my wife explained that I’d run out for a few minutes. The warden said in surprise, that he had just spoken with me and I had agreed to be available for a conference call. My wife understood the mistake I had made and explained it to the warden. She continued, that I was just down the street and she could call me and I could be back in five minutes. Instead the warden asked if we could set it up for 11:00 a.m. My wife said that would be fine and hung up the phone so she would be able to call me right away. When she picked up the phone, she realized that the warden and Dr. Riggs were still connected and talking between themselves. It was obvious that they had heard my wife hang up and therefore, they thought they could carry on a private conversation without our knowing. However, since it was a conference call, my wife’s hanging up didn’t disconnect her, so when she picked up the phone again she was able to hear their conversation. Afraid that they would realize that she was now listening in, she was afraid to even breathe. She covered the speaker part of the phone with her hand hoping they wouldn’t hear her. She overheard how Dr. Riggs was telling the warden that normally he wouldn’t call him about this, but the Rabbi had “the ear of the Oval office” -- the President himself. Dr. Riggs then went on to say, “This Rabbi could be a problem for you, I recommend that you find a way of getting rid of him as soon as possible.” After saying they would discuss the Chanukah issue with the Rabbi at 11 a.m. they disconnected. Only at that point did my wife take a deep breath and hung up her receiver as well. She then quickly called me and filled me in on what had just happened. Now that I was forewarned on both fronts, Dr. Riggs was not a friend but that I was on firm ground with a connection to the president himself, I knew that I had to show them a strong front when I dealt with them. Sure enough, on the conference call it was decided that the Chanukah event was on again. In January, there was a change in the White House, before that Carter had been President. In January President Reagen took office. The warden and chaplain were convinced that I lost my connection. For Purim and Pesach they didn’t really give me a hard time. But when the High Holidays were approaching they decided to once again flex their muscles. A couple of weeks before Rosh Hashana I again met with the warden and the chaplain about our Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur plans. The assistant warden also sat in on the meeting. When I mentioned my plans, of my family and I being with the prisoners for the three days, they said a flat out no. Their excuse was that it was a security risk. After all, the inmates could take my family hostage. I looked at them incredulously and retorted “really?!?” “And what could they possibly gain from taking hostages, when it was just easier for them to walk away from the camp, since there weren’t even walls to stop them?” But they wouldn’t relent. I told them, “You really are making it hard on my family, since it would mean I could not spend the holiday with them.” The warden and chaplain were genuinely surprised at my statement and asked why? When I explained that my first obligation was to the inmates, I saw on their faces that they thought I was bluffing. Not for one minute did they believe that I would put the inmates’ needs ahead of family. They responded that anyone would realize that I had to be with my family for the holiday. But I said, “There’s no way in the world that I would even try to explain to my boss (referring to the Rebbe) that I couldn’t be with the prisoners because of my family.” When they realized I was serious and I was going to come alone, they said, “and Rabbi, you can’t bring any food with you.” I told them “since they will be under my jurisdiction during these three days (2 days Rosh Hashana and 1 day Yom Kippur) they must keep kosher and you don’t have kosher facilities here, so I have to bring the kosher food.” They responded, “So we will order kosher airline dinners for them.” To this I replied, “Kosher airline dinners may work all year round, but in this season of the High Holidays there are many special symbolic foods that we eat, which the airline dinners do not provide.” We finally came to a compromise. The prison would provide the kosher airline dinners for the meal, but I could bring in all the special symbolic foods for the holiday. After the meeting I returned home and told my wife to look up all the different symbolic foods for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, both Ashkenazic and Sefardic. She made more food than ever before. That year, the two days of Rosh Hashana were Friday evening until Sunday night, which coincided with Labor Day weekend. Whereas Labor Day weekend began on Friday 5:00 p.m., Rosh Hashana began at 6:30 p.m. As I drove up to the guard’s station (at 6:00 p.m.) to check in, the guard asked what I had in the back of my station wagon. I told him special food for the Jewish Holiday. He said that the warden told him not to let me bring in any food. I told him this was food that the warden had authorized, to which the guard said that the warden had changed his mind. When I asked to speak to the warden, the guard said he had left early because of Labor Day. I asked for the chaplain, only to be told that he too had left the base. In exasperation I asked if the prison camp had been left with no authority figure, and he said that the assistant warden was there. I then asked the guard to get him. He said that he was somewhere in the camp. At this point, I yelled at the guard, “Well then go find him quickly, for our holiday is fast approaching.” The guard got so scared he took off running. In the meantime, I had asked him if I could use the office phone and he agreed. I called the home of the same woman, Mrs. Wertheimer, who had helped us before Chanukah. Her husband, (a German non-Jew,) answered the phone and told me she was in California. He heard that I sounded agitated, so he asked me to tell him the problem, for he knew how to reach her. When I told him what was happening, he said I shouldn’t worry, she’ll take care of it. I further explained that I need her to take care of it before the holiday, since she is Jewish and I don’t want her violating the holiday either. He told me to call him back in five minutes. When I called back, he had spoken to her and she assured him that she would take care of it before the holiday started. Just as I hung up the phone, the assistant warden came in. I asked if he remembered sitting in at my meeting with the warden and the chaplain when we had agreed that I would be allowed to bring in the specialty foods for the holiday. He remembered, but added that the warden had changed his mind. I said, “At this moment I really don’t care what the warden did or didn’t do. Right now you are in charge, and if you stop me from bringing the food in, I am going to hold you personally responsible.” The assistant warden thought for a moment, and then said, “Ok, I’m going to let you bring in the food tonight, but the warden will be back in the morning and you will have to deal with him then.” I said, “That’s fine.” That evening went off without a hitch. In the morning, as I passed by the guard he informed me that the warden wanted to see me in his office. I figured, now I’m in for it. But as I walked into the warden’s office, I immediately saw that Mrs. Wertheimer had done her job. The warden was sitting with his head slumped. He wouldn’t even look me in the face, and he spoke very softly. “Ok, Rabbi what do you want? Whatever you want you got it. If you want the keys to the whole prison, I’ll give that to you as well.” Seeing that I had the upper hand, and not wanting to have any more trouble with him in the future, I gave him a real tongue lashing. I told him that all I wanted was that our compromise agreement should be kept. “What kind of an honorable example can you be for the inmates if you don’t keep your word?” In any case, I never had a problem with him or the chaplain again. Sunday night, when I got back to Birmingham and as I walked into my house, my phone was ringing. When I answered, it was Dr. Riggs on the phone. “Happy New Year Rabbi, how was the holiday?” “Thank you Dr. Riggs,” I answered, “after the initial bump in the road, everything went smoothly and I greatly appreciate your help.” Dr. Riggs then said, “Rabbi could I ask you a favor?” “Sure,” I responded. “Rabbi, please jot down my private number. Next time you have a problem, please call me directly, and not the president. The president warned me that the next time he hears a complaint from that Rabbi in Alabama, I am going to be looking for another job.” Until today, I have no idea what Mrs. Wertheimer’s connection to the White House was, but it definitely worked out in our favor!
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Dedicated in honor of Chanie's birthday
Although I lived in Birmingham, every Tuesday I would travel (1 1/2 hours each way) to Montgomery. I would give a class for the inmates of Maxwell prison camp and afterwards give a class to a group of yuppies in one of their homes. When the Rebbe asked that every shliach should expand their activities by opening a new Chabad House, I spoke to my biggest supporter in Montgomery, who was in real estate. He had just built a whole new complex of offices and had empty units, so he kindly donated the space of one unit so that I could adhere to the Rebbe’s request. Since I could not yet afford to hire another shliach for Montgomery, I myself manned this new Chabad House. I would spend every Tuesday there. The rest of the week, I would “call forward” the Montgomery Chabad House phone to ring in my Birmingham office. I was thus available to the Montgomery community 24/6. Of course, I also had it listed in the local Yellow Pages. As I mentioned in a previous story, when a reporter did an “expose” on the prison camp in Maxwell Air Force Base, “the country club of prisons,” the prison administration in Washington, D.C. were pretty much forced into making an investigation. They found some indiscretions, and made changes. They transferred the warden and the chaplain elsewhere, and replaced them with “hardliners,” a really tough warden and chaplain. As soon as the change was announced, even before it actually took place, I received a telephone call from someone in the ADL telling me that the newly assigned chaplain to this prison camp is a well-known anti-Semite, and asking if I could confirm that. I explained that he hadn’t even arrived yet, so I couldn’t honestly answer that. If, however, he would call me back in six months, by then I should be able to know, one way or the other. A pity they didn’t follow up on it, because yes he most definitely was an anti-Semite! The new warden and chaplain came about a week or two before Rosh Hashana. As the official contract Rabbi, I was called in to meet with them. The first thing they asked me was if I had read the prison manual on the rules that a contract Rabbi has to abide by? I admitted that I had no clue as to what they were talking about. I was never given any manual, but I added that before I did anything I would ask the chaplain permission and I had abided by whatever he said. The warden and chaplain looked at each other with a look that conveyed a strong message of ‘another violation of prison rules by the previous administration.’ The warden gave me the book and told me that I needed to study it, and if I couldn’t abide by it, I needed to resign. It was obvious to me, at that point, and in short time proved to be the case, that this warden and chaplain were going to go to the opposite extreme of the previous administration’s lenient attitude, “in order to whip the inmates into shape.” Since I was already meeting with them, in any case, I brought to their attention the upcoming High Holidays, which were less than two weeks away. I explained my plans and that this was what we had already done for the last several years. The looks they exchanged between themselves told me that they really wanted to forbid it, but they felt that since they were too new in this place, they would have to let it go for that Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. But it was also just as clear to me that they were planning to put a stop to my activities in the future. Everything went well for the High Holidays. A couple of weeks before Chanukah I met with the warden and chaplain about our Chanukah program. I explained that in the past, for Chanukah, the prisoners would come into the city (Montgomery) to our Chabad House for lighting the menorah and a Chanukah party. They said they can’t do that -- it’s not allowed. I countered, by telling them that I did what they told me to, namely that I read the prison rule book. In the rule book it said very clearly that the prison authorities could allow the inmates to go into the city with accompanying guards. They were totally caught off guard that it was precisely the book that they thought would limit my activities that gave me the tools to continue my programs. They argued that the prisoners were not allowed alcoholic beverages. I replied that I knew that and would only serve soft drinks. Not having a valid argument for not allowing it, they grudgingly agreed to continue our annual Chanukah celebration. So we agreed that the Jewish inmates would be coming to the Chabad House in Montgomery on the Tuesday of Chanukah at 5:00 p.m. I cancelled my other classes for that evening. On Monday morning (the day before the Inmates’ Chanukah party) at 8:00 a.m. I got a phone call from a woman in Montgomery. She told me how she came across our number in the Yellow Pages and was curious to know “what is this Shabad [sic] House?” I explained that it is pronounced with a guttural ch, Chabad House, and is a Jewish Center. She said she too is Jewish and would like to know what we do. I told her about the classes we give in Montgomery and that we also service the Jewish inmates in Maxwell. She seemed especially interested in what I was doing for the inmates. So I mentioned as an example the upcoming Chanukah party on the very next evening at 5:00 p.m. So she asked if she could come and bring a friend along. I answered, “of course,” and she gave me her name and her home phone number. That night, after 11:00 p.m., the chaplain called me and told me that the Chanukah party was cancelled. When I asked why, he said that he and the warden had just changed their minds and decided they didn’t want it. I asked if it was a punishment for the inmates having done something wrong. He replied no, the warden and he just decided to cancel it. I argued that wasn’t right, to which he responded “tough luck, like it or not.” I hung up the phone exasperated, but not knowing what else I could do about it. Meanwhile, I had another problem. I needed to inform the woman I had invited earlier that morning that it was cancelled, so she wouldn’t come to a locked door. Since the classes had been cancelled, and the party was cancelled, there was no reason for me to drive from Birmingham to Montgomery. Being that I only had her home number and had no idea when she would leave her home in the morning, I had to call her that night at 11:30 p.m.! I called and profusely apologized for the late call. She assured me that it was ok, and then asked what was wrong. I explained that I had just received a call from the chaplain and that he and the warden had cancelled the Chanukah party. She asked if I felt that there was any antisemitism involved. I told her that I definitely felt that the chaplain and warden were showing signs of antisemitism. So she said, “Ok, I’ll take care of it,” and she hung up. In horror, I thought to myself, oh my G-d, what did I do? I was thinking “is she one of those activists who was going to organize a demonstration outside the prison camp?!? That was the last thing in the world I needed.” Well at that point there wasn’t much I could do about it. 7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning my phone rang. “Hello,” said an unfamiliar voice, “this is Dr. Riggs from Washington, D.C., I am in charge of the chaplaincy program for all of the federal prisons throughout the U.S. I understand that you are having a problem in the Maxwell prison camp. Please tell me about it.” So I explained what had happened with what I felt was a totally unwarranted cancellation of the Chanukah event. He asked if I am available for a telephone conference call with him and the warden, to which I agreed. To explain what happened next, I need to explain what my personal experiences with conference calls had been until then. The only conference calls that I was ever involved with was when Chabad headquarters had conference calls with the heads of state shluchim. An operator would call and tell us that a conference call was being set up for a certain time, later in the day, and would call me back at that time. I therefore thought that I should expect a call from the operator informing me of the time for this conference call, later in the day. “Knowing” that I had time, I ran to take care of an errand early in the day, since I didn’t know when the ‘later in the day’ conference call would take place. As soon as I left, Dr. Riggs called back with the warden on the line. My wife answered the phone. When the warden asked for me, my wife explained that I’d run out for a few minutes. The warden said in surprise, that he had just spoken with me and I had agreed to be available for a conference call. My wife understood the mistake I had made and explained it to the warden. She continued, that I was just down the street and she could call me and I could be back in five minutes. Instead the warden asked if we could set it up for 11:00 a.m. My wife said that would be fine and hung up the phone so she would be able to call me right away. When she picked up the phone, she realized that the warden and Dr. Riggs were still connected and talking between themselves. It was obvious that they had heard my wife hang up and therefore, they thought they could carry on a private conversation without our knowing. However, since it was a conference call, my wife’s hanging up didn’t disconnect her, so when she picked up the phone again she was able to hear their conversation. Afraid that they would realize that she was now listening in, she was afraid to even breathe. She covered the speaker part of the phone with her hand hoping they wouldn’t hear her. She overheard how Dr. Riggs was telling the warden that normally he wouldn’t call him about this, but the Rabbi had “the ear of the Oval office” -- the President himself. Dr. Riggs then went on to say, “This Rabbi could be a problem for you, I recommend that you find a way of getting rid of him as soon as possible.” After saying they would discuss the Chanukah issue with the Rabbi at 11 a.m. they disconnected. Only at that point did my wife take a deep breath and hung up her receiver as well. She then quickly called me and filled me in on what had just happened. Now that I was forewarned on both fronts, Dr. Riggs was not a friend but that I was on firm ground with a connection to the president himself, I knew that I had to show them a strong front when I dealt with them. Sure enough, on the conference call it was decided that the Chanukah event was on again. In January, there was a change in the White House, before that Carter had been President. In January President Reagen took office. The warden and chaplain were convinced that I lost my connection. For Purim and Pesach they didn’t really give me a hard time. But when the High Holidays were approaching they decided to once again flex their muscles. A couple of weeks before Rosh Hashana I again met with the warden and the chaplain about our Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur plans. The assistant warden also sat in on the meeting. When I mentioned my plans, of my family and I being with the prisoners for the three days, they said a flat out no. Their excuse was that it was a security risk. After all, the inmates could take my family hostage. I looked at them incredulously and retorted “really?!?” “And what could they possibly gain from taking hostages, when it was just easier for them to walk away from the camp, since there weren’t even walls to stop them?” But they wouldn’t relent. I told them, “You really are making it hard on my family, since it would mean I could not spend the holiday with them.” The warden and chaplain were genuinely surprised at my statement and asked why? When I explained that my first obligation was to the inmates, I saw on their faces that they thought I was bluffing. Not for one minute did they believe that I would put the inmates’ needs ahead of family. They responded that anyone would realize that I had to be with my family for the holiday. But I said, “There’s no way in the world that I would even try to explain to my boss (referring to the Rebbe) that I couldn’t be with the prisoners because of my family.” When they realized I was serious and I was going to come alone, they said, “and Rabbi, you can’t bring any food with you.” I told them “since they will be under my jurisdiction during these three days (2 days Rosh Hashana and 1 day Yom Kippur) they must keep kosher and you don’t have kosher facilities here, so I have to bring the kosher food.” They responded, “So we will order kosher airline dinners for them.” To this I replied, “Kosher airline dinners may work all year round, but in this season of the High Holidays there are many special symbolic foods that we eat, which the airline dinners do not provide.” We finally came to a compromise. The prison would provide the kosher airline dinners for the meal, but I could bring in all the special symbolic foods for the holiday. After the meeting I returned home and told my wife to look up all the different symbolic foods for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, both Ashkenazic and Sefardic. She made more food than ever before. That year, the two days of Rosh Hashana were Friday evening until Sunday night, which coincided with Labor Day weekend. Whereas Labor Day weekend began on Friday 5:00 p.m., Rosh Hashana began at 6:30 p.m. As I drove up to the guard’s station (at 6:00 p.m.) to check in, the guard asked what I had in the back of my station wagon. I told him special food for the Jewish Holiday. He said that the warden told him not to let me bring in any food. I told him this was food that the warden had authorized, to which the guard said that the warden had changed his mind. When I asked to speak to the warden, the guard said he had left early because of Labor Day. I asked for the chaplain, only to be told that he too had left the base. In exasperation I asked if the prison camp had been left with no authority figure, and he said that the assistant warden was there. I then asked the guard to get him. He said that he was somewhere in the camp. At this point, I yelled at the guard, “Well then go find him quickly, for our holiday is fast approaching.” The guard got so scared he took off running. In the meantime, I had asked him if I could use the office phone and he agreed. I called the home of the same woman, Mrs. Wertheimer, who had helped us before Chanukah. Her husband, (a German non-Jew,) answered the phone and told me she was in California. He heard that I sounded agitated, so he asked me to tell him the problem, for he knew how to reach her. When I told him what was happening, he said I shouldn’t worry, she’ll take care of it. I further explained that I need her to take care of it before the holiday, since she is Jewish and I don’t want her violating the holiday either. He told me to call him back in five minutes. When I called back, he had spoken to her and she assured him that she would take care of it before the holiday started. Just as I hung up the phone, the assistant warden came in. I asked if he remembered sitting in at my meeting with the warden and the chaplain when we had agreed that I would be allowed to bring in the specialty foods for the holiday. He remembered, but added that the warden had changed his mind. I said, “At this moment I really don’t care what the warden did or didn’t do. Right now you are in charge, and if you stop me from bringing the food in, I am going to hold you personally responsible.” The assistant warden thought for a moment, and then said, “Ok, I’m going to let you bring in the food tonight, but the warden will be back in the morning and you will have to deal with him then.” I said, “That’s fine.” That evening went off without a hitch. In the morning, as I passed by the guard he informed me that the warden wanted to see me in his office. I figured, now I’m in for it. But as I walked into the warden’s office, I immediately saw that Mrs. Wertheimer had done her job. The warden was sitting with his head slumped. He wouldn’t even look me in the face, and he spoke very softly. “Ok, Rabbi what do you want? Whatever you want you got it. If you want the keys to the whole prison, I’ll give that to you as well.” Seeing that I had the upper hand, and not wanting to have any more trouble with him in the future, I gave him a real tongue lashing. I told him that all I wanted was that our compromise agreement should be kept. “What kind of an honorable example can you be for the inmates if you don’t keep your word?” In any case, I never had a problem with him or the chaplain again. Sunday night, when I got back to Birmingham and as I walked into my house, my phone was ringing. When I answered, it was Dr. Riggs on the phone. “Happy New Year Rabbi, how was the holiday?” “Thank you Dr. Riggs,” I answered, “after the initial bump in the road, everything went smoothly and I greatly appreciate your help.” Dr. Riggs then said, “Rabbi could I ask you a favor?” “Sure,” I responded. “Rabbi, please jot down my private number. Next time you have a problem, please call me directly, and not the president. The president warned me that the next time he hears a complaint from that Rabbi in Alabama, I am going to be looking for another job.” Until today, I have no idea what Mrs. Wertheimer’s connection to the White House was, but it definitely worked out in our favor!
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