Family Member of Jewish Prisoners Speaks Out

Note from Director, Rhonda Moskowitz 

Rachel, the sister of Philip, one of the main people in our film, is one of the most remarkable women I’ve ever met. She has a first cousin who was on Death Row and a brother in prison for crimes he committed to support his Oxycontin habit, but she picks up the pieces, is an amazing caretaker as well as an amazing all-round human being.  The family members of Jewish prisoners are off most peoples’ radar screens and the families bear enormous burdens.  But Rachel soldiers on… (No pun intended, as she was a Jewish soldier in Desert Storm, the food drop over Kuwait.)  Here’s what she wrote in Nov. 2008 about being in our film:

“My name is Rae, short for Rachel and I am Rosol’s daughter, Philip’s sister, Myra’s niece and Elijah and Neveah’s godmother and Aunt. I would like to thank Rhonda not only for her interest in our family, but also for her compassion and respect for my family and our story. Both her and Sean are part of our family and we all love them dearly. I must admit in the scheme of this whole project I am probably the biggest “hardass” there is. I not only wondered why make this movie at all, but why glamorize the mistakes made by those who obviously were only thinking of themselves. I am slowly beginning to understand. I do realize that EVERYONE has a story in their own right. My family has gone through more turmoil than most but I want you to realize this is not a family of misfits. G-d does not give you anymore that what you can handle and I believe my family handles much more than average. Our family has also been full of extremly strong women. My bubbie (grandmother) was absolutely the single most strongest woman I ever knew. She held our family together while letting my grandfather believe he did. She raised two daughters, 20 years apart, instilled in us all a very overpowering bond in our religion and connection to our family. Yom Kippur is also a very hard time for me. It is my favorite holiday and hardest in one. I am not a perfect Jew. I can forgive for the most part but I have a very hard time forgetting. My mother has had a hell of a time holding our family together over the years and she has done a remarkable job. Unfortuneately our “family name” is the real victim here. From Martin, From Phil, and the people who really suffer are the innocent, the children. I hope that when you see this film and hear this story that you don’t spend your time feeling sorry for my brother, feeling sorry for my cousin but for the ones caught in the “wake”. My aunt, nephew and niece as well as my mother whose only mistake was unconditional love. My family is not unlike everyone else’s, we just have more to carry.
Thanks, Rhonda “