By: Associated Press
KENEDY, Texas -- For two hours a month, a handful of Jewish inmates at the state's Connally Unit prison celebrate their heritage.
Seated on fold-up chairs around a small table, they cover their heads with yarmulkes, the skullcap of faithful Jewish males. They munch on matzo crackers and macaroons. They drink red grape juice in white Styrofoam cups.
And they make toasts with the man who links the Jewish free world to the faith they struggle to observe behind bars.
The Jewish identity of these inmates will reach a peak this week when the eight-day Passover holiday begins.
Rabbi Yosef Marrus of San Antonio makes the hour-and-a-half drive each month to the prison near the South Texas town of Kenedy. He helps Jewish inmates turn a conference room into a makeshift synagogue.
The Orthodox rabbi of the Chabad Lubavitch of South Texas said "no Jew is left behind, no matter where they are.''
Six state prisons are designated for Jewish services and educational programming. Marrus is one of three official Jewish chaplains for the state's 861 inmates who profess Judaism.
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