Dear TBZ Community,
This Shabbat, we are joining many communities around the country marking the 5th annual Refugee Shabbat, a project of HIAS, the world’s oldest refugee agency. Originally set up by Jews to help fellow Jews for reasons of religious imperative and communal solidarity, HIAS in the 2020s is a multi-continent, multi-pronged humanitarian aid and advocacy organization with thousands of employees dedicated to helping forcibly displaced persons around the world in keeping with the organization’s Jewish ethical roots.
TBZ has long been committed to the work of welcoming and supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Since 2016 we have been doing this through our affiliation to NBARC (Newton-Brookline Asylum Resettlement Coalition), an interfaith group of six congregations working together to provide community-based support to asylum seekers in Newton and Brookline, Massachusetts.
This Shabbat, we will be welcoming former NBARC clients who will speak about and share their immigration experiences with us. We will also welcome volunteers from TBZ and NBARC congregations to these special Shabbat services, both Friday evening and Saturday morning.
And how fitting it is that Refugee Shabbat is on Shabbat Beshalach, the Torah portion telling the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt and crossing the sea to freedom! Nothing about the journey in the Torah is easy. The people of Israel leave Egypt, running away from oppression and fearing persecution. They can only take what they can carry with them. They are going to a place where they hope they will do better, they will be better, but the journey is long and hard. Of course there are so many connections we can make between the story of the Exodus from Egypt, Jewish history through the generations, as well as the current refugee crises.
In their journey leaving Egypt, the Torah describes God’s presence as follows:
וַיהֹוָה הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם יוֹמָם בְּעַמּוּד עָנָן לַנְחֹתָם הַדֶּרֶךְ וְלַיְלָה בְּעַמּוּד אֵשׁ לְהָאִיר לָהֶם לָלֶכֶת יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה
Adonai went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, to guide them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, that they might travel day and night.
לֹא־יָמִישׁ עַמּוּד הֶעָנָן יוֹמָם וְעַמּוּד הָאֵשׁ לָיְלָה לִפְנֵי הָעָם
The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
A pillar of cloud and fire which never left the people as they journeyed invokes the notion that these sojourners were protected at all times and were not left alone.
This is a theme that recurs in the narrative of the wilderness. God manifests in an active way and God’s presence is dynamic throughout the journey. In this specific case, God’s indwelling in the world is symbolized by the mysterious, intangible, incorporeal elements of fire and cloud, guiding the people through the untamed wilderness.
As I think of the ways that God manifests in our world, in our own lives, I am reminded of the teaching from the Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 14a:
ואמר רבי חמא ברבי חנינא מאי דכתיב : ״אחרי ה’ אלהיכם תלכו״
וכי אפשר לו לאדם להלך אחר שכינה
Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says:
What is the meaning of the verse: “follow Adonai your God,” . . . .
Is it possible for a mortal to follow the Divine Presence?
And the response is:
אלא להלך אחר מדותיו של הקב”ה
One should follow the attributes of the holy , blessed One
The text then illustrates this with examples of God’s actions that we should imitate in order to follow in God’s path:
Just as God clothes the naked (clothing Adam and Eve), so too, should you clothe the naked.
Just as God visits the sick (visiting Abraham after his circumcision), so too, should you visit the sick.
Just as God comforts mourners, (comforting Isaac after Abraham’s death), so too, should you comfort mourners.
Just as God buried the dead, (burying Moses) so too, should you bury the dead.
The four examples presented as the core of following God’s path are rooted in empathy and in our capacity to see each other. Our capacity to see a person who lacks clothing, to understand and respond to this basic need. To see a sick person and be present for their pain. To comfort and be present for someone who has suffered a loss. And to give a person their final rest on this earth.
God manifests in this world through us and not (just) through pillars of cloud and fire. We become conduits and vessels for that manifestation of God. And this is why we, as Jews, continue to respond to the humanitarian crises of our times.
Torah is unequivocal regarding our obligation towards the stranger, towards the refugees, towards the one that is looking for a palace to be, to live, to exist far away from danger and oppression.
At TBZ we will continue to support and engage in this work fully. If you would like to get involved, please contact Fiona Epstein, co-chair of TBZ’s Immigration/Refugee Resettlement Action Group, at fepstein56@comcast.net. (We are so grateful to Fiona, Jenny Berz, and all TBZ volunteers who make this work happen!)
Below, I am sharing some actions that HIAS has sent us to further engage in this work. I hope you take a memento to read through and get more involved.
I look forward to seeing you on Shabbat and welcoming our guests. I know it will be cold – dress warmly and come anyways if you can! We have heating and warm clothes, thank God!, join us celebrating Shabbat and welcoming former clients of NBARC as they share their story of immigration.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing. And may we have a joyful, sweet, and peaceful Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rav Claudia
Here is a list, provided by HIAS, of different ways that anyone can take action for refugees and asylum seekers: