Jail
Jailצילום: אייסטוק

"Every month they give me 300 minutes of time to talk on the phone, which means 10 minutes a day. Thank G-d, I have 10 children, so to have a real conversation with everyone is impossible."

Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, former CEO of Agriprocessors, once the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the United States, described to his childhood friend Bentzi Sasson, life behind bars. The conversation was published in the Pesach edition of the Kfar Chabad magazine.

Convicted of fraud, Rubashkin was harshly sentenced to 27 years in jail as well as a 31 million dollar fine and is currently serving at the Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville (FCI Otisville), a medium-security federal prison for male inmates near Otisville, New York.

During his court case, the defense claimed that the judge was biased, since most of the charges against Rubashkin for employing illegal workers and moneylaundering were disproved but despite this he received a maximum sentence.

According to the interview, Rubashkin begins his day at around 4:30 AM, when he starts to study Chassidus until the doors of his cell open at around 6:00 AM. He then goes to shower which he views as an alternative to dipping in the Mikvah before daily prayers.

During the day, inmates are counted several times, and they spend approximately 9-10 day-time hours in the cell. The cell contains a toilet without any walls, which harms his ability to learn since as he put it "how can you learn with that filth in your room? How can you feel like a person in that situation?"

After davening, Rubashkin turns to breakfast, "if you can call it that, since the kosher food served in prison isn't exactly edible," Sasson writes.

During the week, Rubashkin mostly eats Matzah and tuna fish, which he purchases in the cafeteria. When visitors come, they are permitted to buy him packaged meals and warm it up in the microwave.

Throughout the day, Rubashkin spends his day learning, writing Torah thoughts, helping others put on Tefillin, and writing back to the many who send him letters.

Every Wednesday he presents a class in Tanya, and after Mincha in the shul, he sits with fellow inmates and studies Talmud.

As organized as this life may sounds, Rubashkin admits: "There are things you can never get used to."

Throughout the conversation, Rubashkin expressed his steadfast faith in Hashem and His plans, emphasizing that "nothing happens in this world on its own and since everything happens from above, it must be good. It happens that a person needs to "recharge his batteries" and the way to do this is through Torah study."