Rabbi Mike 'keeps it real'

On April 1, Rabbi Michael Uram entered the Eastern State Penitentiary - the penitentiary on Fairmount Avenue that has housed the likes of Al Capone and Willie Sutton. He was there to dedicate the Alfred W. Fleisher Memorial Synagogue, a chapel built in the 1960s and restored and renovated for use today.

But for the associate director of Penn Hillel dedicating a synagogue - even one at a prison - is just a day in the life.

He explained that in the 1960s, the Philadelphia Jewish community decided to take care of the Jewish prisoners at the Penitentiary - including a rapist and a serial killer - by holding Passover seders, bringing them rabbis and building the chapel.

The Penitentiary has long closed, but as its board members walked through the building and saw the synagogue dilapidated, they imbued the stories of the Jewish prisoners and the community that rallied to help them, Uram described.

According to Uram, the Jewish community plans to use the space, which now holds an exhibit about these prisoners and those involved in building the chapel, for weddings and bar and bat mitzvah celebrations.

When Uram got the call from a friend of a friend to be involved with the Fleisher Synagogue, he "thought it was a wacky and cool thing," he said.

"It's profound to mark the way that the Jewish community took care of the people who were outside of the law and society," he said. "It expresses Jewish values of kindness."

At 32 years old, Uram will become the director of Hillel next year. He explained that he will be the youngest director at any major Hillel across the country - by 10 years.

He grew up with what he called a "very comic-book" idea of Judaism - "there was a good guy, a bad guy and a food."

As an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, Uram was vice president of his class, was in a fraternity, played guitar in a band and wasn't involved in Hillel. After taking a religion course to fill a requirement, Uram found that his faith was the thing he was most intellectually curious about.

"In deciding to become a rabbi, I was afraid because I wanted to be a 'normal person.' But the choice kind of dragged me kicking and screaming," Uram said.

He added, "I wanted to break down the stereotypes about what it meant to be a rabbi and what it meant to be Jewish."

As director, Uram has big plans.

"If college is this amazing complex world to explore so that students can engage in a process of self authorship, there should be the same opportunities culturally and religiously," he described. "You can walk out and say, 'This is what it means to be Jewish.'"

While his job description may change and his goals may be larger, his main focus remains listening to students.

"I don't want to just think about the institution and lose touch with the student," he said. "I want to keep it real."

April 13, 11:45 a.m. - This article was corrected to reflect that Uram will become the director of Hillel in 2010.

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