We are Canadian Jews dedicated to protecting human rights
and freedoms throughout the world.
and freedoms throughout the world.
“Now a sojourner you are not to maltreat, you are not to oppress him, for sojourners were you in the land of Egypt… (Leviticus. 22:20)
Now when there sojourns with you a sojourner in your land, you are not to maltreat him; like the native-born among you shall he be to you, the sojourner that sojourns with you; be loving to him (as one) like yourself, for sojourners were you in the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your God! (Leviticus 19:33-34) |
After former US President Donald Trump issued executive orders in 2017 indefensibly barring entry to the US by immigrants and residents from seven Muslim-majority nations and suspending the admission of refugees from these countries, we felt compelled to speak out.
The Torah insists that Jews learn from our experience of oppression in Egypt and treat the immigrant, the refugee—those that differ from us—with the same degree of care that we should show to ourselves and our community: indeed, the Israeli Declaration of Independence echoes the words of Leviticus, declaring the new State of Israel “. . .will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture.” We also have a rich secular tradition of participation in the labour movement and in civil rights struggles. Jews have been pivotally involved in creating many of the major North American civil rights organizations. Our religious and secular traditions denounce xenophobia, but we are not immune to it. Indeed, observant Jews confess to the influence of xenophobia in our lives both individually and collectively, through our recitation of the Yom Kippur confessional, the Vidui. As a people who have known xenophobia and baseless hatred, we need to examine our own fear and even hatred of “the other.” As we are all ‘newcomers’ to North America, and very often to our specific localities within North America, we can not now look the other way as governments seek to build walls and close portals of entry. Our tradition enjoins us to care for the stranger as we care for ourselves. |