One would think that announcing yourself as Jewish in prison would be on the list of things to avoid, along with dropping the soap and trying to get a game of hopscotch going in the yard. But it’s all the rage in Washington state:

The Seattle Weekly’s exposé on the “amazing phenomenon of non-Jews claiming to be Jewish” among the state’s incarcerated reveals that of the 120 prisoners granted a kosher diet, only ten percent are actually Jewish.

And not one of SW’s interviews with “Washington prisoners who have declared themselves Jewish and are receiving kosher food have yet to yield an actual Jew.”

Not surprisingly, the Washington State Dept. of Corrections has less strenuous notions about “what makes a Jew” than even the most Reform rabbi. Basically, all you’d have to do is wave your knuckles and say “I’ve still got a foreskin, but I’m Jewish!” and you’re in, which is why a litigious Catholic murderer is now leading Friday night services.

Even more sinister is the way neo-Nazi and other gangs are taking advantage of the practice of serving “kosher” prisoners at the same time, which gives them an opportunity to meet three times a day.

It’s not just in Washington either; prisons in Arizona and Michigan have had to deal with “the Jewish con” as well. “Weeding out the fakers” takes time and money away from groups like Jewish Prisoner Services International, who do their best to aid true Jews on the inside.

The full story is fascinating.