Brief Summaries of Public Radio #4: Nextbook.org (6/23/2008)
Show: The Nextbook Podcast
Episode Date: June 23, 2008, "Within Four Walls."
Length: 9 Minutes.
Producer: Nextbook is consistently strong web-based/print/podcast on "Jewish literature, culture and ideas." (rss, podcast subscription).
What I Didn’t Know:
- Eastern State Penitentiary, on the outskirts of Philadelphia and defunct since the 1970s, once housed a synagogue. Discovered during a recent archaeological dig (the prison has been museum and site of scholarship since 1988), the synagogue served Jewish inmates beginning in the 1920s. The site is now under study and restoration. This report from Nextbook includes a fascinating oral history from the synagogue’s rabbi (still alive) and a kosher butcher who used to supply the congregation with meat.