What's Happening at JPSI
Co-Founder and Director Rabbi Ted Sanders Passes On
Chairman Chaplain Gary Friedman awarded Chaplain of the Year!
Gallery of Recent Photos
In Memoriam: Rabbi Ted Sanders, JPSI Co-Founder and Director
Information and photo courtesy of the Houston Jewish Herald Voice, Sept. 8, 2005.
Rabbi Theodore (Ted) Sanders, Tuvia Ben Yosef, died Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, after a brief illness. He is survived by his wife, Janet Sanders; children, Joanne Berman, Mark Sanders, Kenneth Sanders, Ronald Sanders, Sandra Sanders, Elissa Sanders, Susan Sanders, Helene Bookbinder, Richard Bookbinder; and grandson, Zachary Sanders.
Born in McKeesport, Pa., on Nov. 19, 1924, Rabbi Sanders attended Yeashiva and became a rabbi at a relatively young age. He served in congregations in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. He was executive director of United Hebrew Schools and the Yeshiva of Philadelphia. He also served as executive director of the John F. Kennedy Peace Awards for the western states.
After relocating to Texas in 1977, he became the spitiual leader of Clear Lake's Congregation Shaar Hashalom. Following that, he was rabbi for Congregation Shearith Israel in Wharton. In the late 1980's, he was chaplain at the Texas Medical Center for out-of-town hospital patients. He also served as the only Jewish chaplain for the Texas Department of Corrections at TDC's 28 prisons, a post he held until his recent illness.
A strong advocate for fair, unbiased and humane treatment of Jewish prisoners, he worked diligently and tirelessly implementing improvements and better quality of life for this group. Well known in and around the community, Rabbi Sanders was active in citizen committees and community boards. He sat on the city of Houston's police advisory board and was on Westbury Hospital's board for 10 years until the hospital closed. An excellent speaker and an extremely personable man, he had a wonderful sense of humor, great warmth and loved to tell stories and jokes. He delighted in helping people, particularly the sick and anyone in need.
His warm, caring and compassionate nature was known to those fortunate enough to know him. His knowledge, wisdom, experience and ability to help and comfort those in need was appreciated and remembered by those whose lives he touched. His goal was to help make a positive difference for those around him. He was a gentle, kind man with a beautiful singing voice who loved music, animals and people.
Those who were fortunate enough to have the listening, empathetic ear and kindness of Rabbi Ted, as he liked to be called, in their darkest hours will never forget him. Those who have known him as a family member, friend, rabbi, speaker, chaplain, cook, overall helper, fixer and funny man will never forget him, either. For all those people and many more who just knew him, his death will be monumental and extremely sad.
Graveside services were held on Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 at 3 p.m., in the Beth Jacob Cemetary. Rabbi Jack Segal officiated.
Donations to the Houston Hospice would be deeply appreciated by his family.
--Houston Jewish Funerals
Chairman Gary Friedman awarded Chaplain of the Year!
On August 9 Chaplain Gary Friedman, chairman of Jewish Prisoner Services International, was presented with the "Chaplain of the Year Award" at the 135th Congress of Correction in Baltimore.
During his acceptance speech, Chaplain Friedman spoke on some of the current issues faced within prisons today.
“The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act – or ‘RLUIPA’ as it is commonly called – was not only unanimously passed by both houses of Congress, but just 10 weeks ago, it was also unanimously upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. As was evidenced in briefs submitted to the Supreme Court, RLUIPA has not been the monster that some corrections people had projected that it would be. In fact, for those corrections systems and institutions that have already been properly providing for inmate religious practices, it has been relatively easy to meet the standards of RLUIPA. To those of you who have been stonewalling RLUIPA pending the Supreme Court’s ruling, I would encourage you to do the right thing now by getting on board and complying with RLUIPA”.
“As you walk through the Congress exhibit hall, I’d like to ask you to count how few of those exhibits have anything to do with keeping people out of prison or returning to prison – and please do stop at those exhibits. You might conclude – as I have – that the Business of Corrections has gotten way out of hand and that too many people have vested financial or political interests in others being incarcerated. I, for one, would assert that we need to re-direct our thinking and tax dollars toward prevention and teaching errants how to become functioning members of our society”.
“The corrections world has apparently come to the realization that religious programs really do work and so-called ‘Faith-Based’ prison units and even entire prisons are popping up all over the place. I certainly encourage the development of these programs, but there is a serious need to set standards for them so that they do not become proselytizing machines, so that all inmates have equal opportunity to participate in them from their own given faith perspectives, and so that their moral and legal integrities are insured”.
