Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on October 27, 2015

A Message from Rabbi Weintraub

Rosh Hoshana and Syrian Refugees

The most oft-repeated special prayer of the High Holidays is the Uvchen, three paragraphs repeated twenty two times over Rosh Hoshana and Yom Kippur. It is a remarkably uplifting prayer, given its authorship by Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri during a time of vicious Roman oppression in the Second Century. It anticipates the flourishing of first, all humanity, then Israel, and then the righteous during a future era of universal peace. This progression is understood to mean that only when all the world enjoys security and dignity, can Israel and the righteous live freely. The message of this prayer, especially given its provenance, is that even within the darkness and violence of this world, we can find and foster compassion and enlightenment. Mlo chol haaretz Kvodo. All the world is full of G-ds glory. Three are holy sparks everywhere. As we prepare to join in community and prayer on Rosh Hoshana, images of desperate Syrian refugees fill our TV and home computer screens. Over eight million Syrians have fled from their homes. Some are internally displaced, some linger in teeming refugee camps in neighboring countries, and some wander desperately. According to many experts, this is the largest refugee crises since World War II. Several thousand Syrian refugees have already died, and many, especially children, face illness, injury, exploitation, and possibly, death. I am aware that these are people who were raised to despise Jews and to dream of the destruction of the Jewish state. They may include former soldiers and terrorists with innocent Israeli blood on their hands, and certainly the children and grandchildren of those killers. There is also a clear danger that ISIS and other terrorists will exploit this exodus and attempt to infiltrate and undermine Western societies. However, as Jews, we are obligated with the Mitzvah of Hatzala, rescue, active intervention whenever even a single life is at stake, let alone millions of lives. There is no Good Samaritan law in Halacha because Jewish tradition doesnt see this intervention as heroic or exceptional. It is what a human being should do when another is mortally threatened. In three days we will read the story of G-ds rescue of the lad Ishmael, who is dying in the desert after his banishment from Abraham and Sarahs home. The Midrash imagines that the angels then protest, arguing that the descendants of Ishmael will be vicious anti-Semites. G-d responds And what is Ishmael right now, righteous or wicked?....According to his present deeds, I will judge him. My children are alive today because organized groups of people, conspiracies of goodness,mobilized to save the lives of their grandmother and her sisters in Nazi Europe. I am very proud that today Jewish organizations across Europe are mobilizing for Syrian refugees. In England, World Jewish Relief, founded seventy years to rescue Jewish children from Nazism, is raising funds for Syrian refugees. Our sister Masorti (Conservative) Synagogue, the North London Synagogue has set up a drop in center that provides legal services, medical treatment, counseling, food and clothing. In Italy and Germany, Jewish groups are channeling funds raised by international Jewish agencies to house, feed and otherwise support the newcomers. Even in the Arab word, in Jordan, at Zaatari, a refugee camp of about 85,000 residents, much support comes from international Jewish organizations. Israeli medical personnel, mostly through the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, have treated about 2000 Syrians injured in the fighting. To read the full text please click here.

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