Immigration
Photo by Rob Stradling (CC)
Like nearly every ethnic group in America, the Jewish American story began with immigration. Stories about Eastern European Jews moving to Lower East Side tenements in the early 20th century and Soviet Jews finding refuge in America in the 1980s exist at the core of American Jewish experience.
The Jewish biblical legacy also contains a tremendous story of immigration, and the oppression that often comes along with it. As one passage in the Torah reads, “And [God] said to Abram, ‘know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed for hundreds of years. Later, the Torah brings home the point by stating, “When strangers sojourn with you in your land, you shall not do them wrong; [they] shall be as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Ways to Serve
- Mentor students who are English-language learners.
- Write grants for an immigration organization.
- Volunteer for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
- Advocate for fair pay for migrant workers.
- Volunteer for an organization that benefits immigrant children.
Find more opportunities at Repair the World’s service opportunities page.
Learn More
Jacob the Migrant Worker Sam Berrin Shonkoff, My Jewish Learning
Principal Sees Injustice, and Picks a Fight With It Samuel G. Freedman, New York Times 3.2008
Al Pi Din Heksher Tzedek
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