For the last week, I have been attending the 133rd annual convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) in sunny San Diego, CA. I have been blessed to connect with friends and colleagues, old and new, and to undertake a rejuvenating regimen of torah lishmah (study for its own sake), professional development workshops, and invigorating prayer experiences. In addition to these amazing opportunities and programs, on Tuesday we had the option to leave the convention center and choose from several off-site visits to local organizations.
I boarded a bus full of Reform Rabbis who, like me, had found the session entitled “Welcoming the Stranger” to be particularly interesting. Together we drove to a Migrant shelter operated by Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFSSD). When we entered the nondescript building, we were confronted by beautiful, colorful murals adorned with hummingbirds (poignant symbols of the natural processes of migration) as well as these words: “En Nuestra Communidad Nadie Se Queda Solo. No One Stands Alone in Our Community. “ We met with Michael Hopkins, the CEO of JFSSD, who told us about the organization’s history of over 100-years of welcoming new immigrants making their way across the southern border. They were especially instrumental in resettling Jewish refugees fleeing the horrors of the Holocaust. Today, even though many fewer refugees and asylum seekers seeking entrance into the United States through the southern border are Jewish, JFSSD is no less dogged in its commitment. As Hopkins said to us, “We used to do this work because they were Jewish, now we do it because we are.” This Shabbat, we celebrate the beginning of the Hebrew month of Nisan, wherein we also commemorate our people’s Exodus from Egypt with the Passover holiday. When we read about the miserable circumstances of our enslavement, we must remember the people in the world today who remain in bondage. We do so with the words of Emma Lazarus’ “Epistle to the Hebrews” ringing out in our consciousness: “we are none of us free until we are all free”. As we will read in just a few short weeks in Parshat Kedoshim: “When strangers reside with you in your land, you shall not wrong them. The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your own citizens; you shall love the stranger as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33-34). As we begin our Pesach preparations, may we be inspired by the immigrant experiences of ancestors, both ancient and modern. May our own story of Redemption and Revelation remind us of our responsibilities to the most vulnerable among us. Even so, may this Shabbat be a restful one, that we might be restored in our compassionate desire to work towards a more just world.
