THE ALEPH INSTITUTE

Mission Statement

The Aleph Institute is a not-for profit Jewish religious, educational, and humanitarian organization serving the Jewish community. We offer a multitude of services to Jewish men and women confined and their families, focused on the premise that "no Jew is forgotten" and that "no Jew is alone."

What we do

The Aleph Institute is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) religious organization and provides welcome relief for incarcerated Jews and their families who tend to be overlooked by traditional American Jewish organizations.  Aleph’s mission is generally a thankless one.  The Institute struggles against challenging odds to reach Jewish inmates who are scattered throughout the prison system, state hospitals, and group homes.

At the same time, the programs and services of Aleph are designed to attain maximum impact not merely within the prison environment, but also during the transitory period after incarceration when a sense of religious community can help former convicts rebuild their lives as productive citizens. The success of Aleph’s programs attests to the power of its Torah-based approach to serving prisoners, their families and humanity in general.

Our History

Beginning in the 1980’s, the US prison system began to grow exponentially, which as a consequence scattered and separated the already minute numbers of incarcerated Jews, and thus left many to slip through the cracks of most chaplaincy services.

In 1981, at the express direction of the Lubavticher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of sainted and blessed memory, Rabbi Sholom Ber Lipskar set out to support a segment of the Jewish population that, for years, had suffered from gross neglect.  He began Aleph as a one-man operation based in Miami, Florida. The intent was to locate Jewish inmates and supply them with regular Rabbi visits, Shabbat services, books and Torah studies.

Ten years later, in 1991 Rabbi Moishe Mayir Vogel, opened the Northeast regional office and today continues to run and oversee the branch in our newly acquired building in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, Squirrel Hill. 

Today, Aleph has evolved into the nation's most trusted and effective advocate for Jewish prisoners and their loved ones.  Aleph’s programs have been implemented in dozens of regional, state and federal correctional facilities, and its staff and personnel have gained the endorsement of a skeptical prison system, thereby according the organization with a unique level of confidence and responsibility. 

If you know of someone in prison or a family of an inmate who needs help, please do not hesitate to call the Aleph Office.  We are available around the clock, seven days a week.

 ** Please note due to constraints on our resources, we cannot offer legal services, nor can we presently assist non-Jewish inmates or those interested in converting. For a complete disclosure of what Aleph can and cannot do for you, click here.

** If you or a loved one have general questions about Judaism and would like to learn more about the Seven Divine Laws of Moses given to all Jews and Gentiles, www.asknoah.org is a wonderful resource.