Rabbi Elliott's Blog

Dear Chevre,

This has been a heart-wrenching week, with the bombing in Beirut, the bombing of the Russian airliner, the horrible attacks in France, yesterday’s attack in Israel and the hostage crisis in Mali.

Simultaneously we have seen a weakening of resolve to welcome Syrian refugees, themselves fleeing terror. Yet, the response of the organized Jewish community has been remarkably unified in its steadfast support of welcoming Syrian and other refugees fleeing persecution. Many of these statements of support point to the prejudice and fear that in 1939 lead the majority of Americans to oppose permitting even Jewish refugee children into the United States.

For more on what you can do to respond to the refugee crises click here for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. For a fuller discussion of our own family refugee stories and how this impacts our approach to this moment in history join us this Shabbat.