Jewish Discovery Center to host gangster-turned-Orthodox Jew for annual Shabbat event

Yahoo

13-02-2025

At 21 years old, Yehudah Pryce was a gang member facing 24 years in a maximum security California state prison for armed robbery.
At 42 years old, Pryce will fly from the Los Angeles area to Lackawanna County this week to talk about his path from gang life to Orthodox Judaism at the Jewish Discovery Center's second annual community Shabbat Dinner and Inspirational Lecture at 6 p.m. Friday, 216 Miller Road, Clarks Summit.
Born to a Sri Lankan mother and a Jamaican father, the Orange County native felt racial tensions from a young age and lacked a sense of belonging, drawing him to gang life.
'I found people who did not care about all the rules of society,' Pryce said in a phone interview Wednesday. 'They just happened to be gang members and drug dealers and all that.'
That led Pryce to becoming a dedicated gangster in his youth, where he 'made a living off robbing drug dealers.' His house was shot up, his mom's vehicle was shot, and he spent time in and out of juvenile hall.
By the time he was 19, Pryce was arrested and booked into county jail for robbery, and at 21, a judge sentenced him to 24 years in prison — four years for robbery with 10-year modifiers for displaying a gun and for committing the crime to benefit a gang.
'I just assumed that an early death or a life in jail was going to just be part of my story,' Pryce said. 'I was a dedicated gangster, and that's just what happened.'
After his sentencing, he was transferred to Pelican State Bay Prison — a supermax facility on the Northwestern corner of California — where he eventually began to study religion, though he wrote it off as 'opium for the masses.' The prison hired a rabbi, and enjoying arguments, Pryce decided to debate the man.
'He essentially said, 'Look, if you look throughout history, Judaism has worked for the Jewish people,'' Pryce said.
That resonated with him.
'They had a perception of God, and then they decided to enter into a relationship with God, and that created Jewish identity,' Pryce said, explaining that perception and adherence to traditions allowed the Jewish people to maintain their religion, identity, language and culture for thousands of years. 'To me, the Jewish people became proof that God existed, and then I wanted to get to know this God of the Jews.'
Pryce started to voraciously read books on Judaism in prison, teaching himself how to read and pray in Hebrew while memorizing Hebrew scriptures. After a transfer to a lower security prison, he became the lead Jewish chapel clerk for six years, and while at that prison, he met his future wife on Instagram using a contraband cellphone.
He was released early due to overcrowding in 2018 at the age of 35 after 16 years of incarceration.
Prior to his release, he reached out to a rabbi and shared his story of juvenile delinquency to Judaism, and the rabbi told him the community would love to have him when he got out of prison. He entered a formal Orthodox Jewish conversion program and eventually moved to Irvine, California. He was only earning $10.50 an hour as a dish washer, but someone in the community rented a room to him.
'I was able to enter a community,' Pryce said. 'It's my first time I actually experienced like a true community. … They didn't judge me by my background.'
He completed his conversion to Judaism in June 2020 and married his wife, who is also Jewish. He also earned his doctorate of social work, which he uses as a senior director of a nonprofit organization that provides rehabilitative programming for inmates and people outside of prison.
Rabbi Benny Rapoport of the Jewish Discovery Center said his brother runs a school in Orange County and knew Pryce and his children. So, Rapoport said his brother called and told him about Pryce's story.
'When I saw a photo of his bright smile, right away, I knew that this is a story from darkness to light,' Rapoport said.
The rabbi invited Pryce to speak at the discovery center for its second Shabbaton, or Shabbat experience, he said. The Shabbat, or Sabbath, dinner is part of a project the center started in honor of Rapoport's late mother-in-law, Lea Slavin, called Lea's Legacy.
'She really loved the Sabbath, and her Shabbat table was absolutely delightful with flowers and food and people and drink and warm words of Torah messages and inspiration and stories,' Rapoport said. 'Friday night dinner is a very special time of Jewish community enrichment.'
Under Lea's Legacy, Rapoport said they built a kitchen in her honor called Lea's Kitchen, they hold a women's monthly learning program, women's baking, and now for the second year, the Shabbat dinner and lecture, he said. The dinner is $18 for adults and open to the public, Rapoport said.
Pryce's message transcends religious groups, he said.
'The message is for all people of all kinds — that no one's life is easy, no one's life is smooth. It's always filled with ups and downs of various sizes and challenges,' Rapoport said. 'Dr. Pryce is a living example of how to overcome and not just survive the challenges but to thrive and continue to grow.'
When he speaks Friday, Pryce said he hopes people experience a deeper appreciation of Judaism and the Jewish experience, what it can do in the world and how it transforms lives.
'I just hope people walk away inspired,' Pryce said.
To RSVP for the dinner, email [e-mail] or call/WhatsApp [phone]. For information, visit jewishnepa.com.