By Mary Jane Suzman
The volunteers visiting the Syrian family use every possible opportunity to practice English. If cooking with the mom, we point out the names of food ingredients and cooking utensils. If playing with the children, the names of colors and toys. Thus one day, the “art project”: the idea was to color a circle of white paper with markers, cut it into a continuous spiral, and hang it from a string. The three-year old soon tired of coloring, but with a gleam in his eye discovered that the markers could be stuck together and stacked into a tower. He proceeded to carefully and patiently stack up as many markers as he could wrest from his brother into a tower that he could lift up almost to the ceiling! Meanwhile, his four-year-old brother finished his circle. We cut it out, and then the last step – to staple on the string. He regarded that staple with such a mixture of entrancement and curiosity! We folded more paper and he stapled a couple more times. He carefully extracted staples from the paper to examine them more closely. We opened the stapler so he could see how it worked. Then he wanted to try it out on more things – a marker, the cuff of his shirt, the edge of the couch! In the short term, this sort of activity could perhaps be a little hard on clothes and the apartment. But in the long term, it is just this sort of curiosity and experimental spirit that has in the past, is now, and will in the future, make America great.
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By Mary Jane Suzman
The family has been here a month, and they have begun to tell their story. Because of the war, they left Syria in 2011, one week after they married. They sought refuge in Jordan, and for the first year, life went well. But as more and more Syrian refugees came, Jordan made it harder and harder for them to get permits to work. And without a permit, working was illegal. Thus it became very difficult to earn enough to support the family - two boys were born to them in Jordan. Both the mom and the dad have very large families. The mom has 8 brothers and sisters, 25 nieces and nephews; the dad has 15 siblings altogether from his father’s 2 marriages. The brothers and sisters are scattered over Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and one in Germany. None are here. The family had developed an extensive friend-and-family network in Jordan during the 6 years they resided there. This made it very very hard for them to leave into the complete unknown. They cried on the airplane all the way here. They immediately began to feel better upon getting the warm welcome from the team who met them at the airport with smiles, teddy bears and flowers. And by the next morning, after exploring their apartment, they were thrilled! They recognized the thought and care that had been taken with the apartment and its contents – the drawers full of just the right-sized clothes; the kitchen beautifully stocked with dishes, pots, pans and food; toy trucks and blocks and books; even a big welcome sign and labels in Arabic! And they were most moved that Jewish volunteers would think to provide halal meat for them. They also got a warm dinner and welcome from the two other Syrian families that are in the same apartment complex. With the help of a translator, we were able to say a couple of things too. We told them that many of our grandparents came here as immigrants and were helped to get settled, and that it was therefore our joy and job to help them get settled in turn. Perhaps when their children or children’s children are settled, they would be able to help the next group. We also told them that we were sorry they didn’t know it while they were flying and crying, but that our hearts were with them on that airplane the whole time. And how happy we all are that they are here. I think this will not be an easy year for the family. New beginnings are difficult. America is not easy for those who are just learning English. And there is no replacement for the family they left behind in troubled places. But this plan our temple has with JFS - we can help a lot! By Nancy Lightman
Our family has arrived! It is such a wonderful feeling to know that in some small way you have changed the lives of four strangers. Four people, a mother, a father and two small boys, who have waited so long to find a place to call home and a community to welcome them. The challenges we faced to provide this home are minor compared to the challenges this family had to overcome to make it to this home. Our team was amazing. Twice we were hopefully anticipating the arrival of families. Each family unit was slightly different. Five family members instead of four. An infant girl and two toddler brothers had now become a toddler boy and a five year old boy. With each change in families, we were saddened by those left behind. But never did we give up hope that a family would one day arrive and that we would be able to welcome them. The third family is here and settling in. The greatest bonus from working on this initiative was watching a group of people rally to the call for help. The Sisterhood within hours purchased everything on the wish list for the kitchen, bedrooms and bath. Families with Young Children and the Nursery School completed their wish list for the children including clothing, strollers and car seats. A Bat Mitzvah and her mother organized toys and books. Individual members gave furniture, clothing, dishes and housewares not to mention monetary donations. We had support from Shir Tikvah and Newton Highlands Congregational Church. All we had to do was send out the word and some many of you responded quickly. Cindy and I have received thanks and praise for our work. We pass on the thanks and praise to you all. We both have said that because so many people signed on to help move items to the apartment, clean and paint if necessary, setup the various rooms, it made our work light. The thanks belong to all who gave, all who shopped for food that filled the cabinets and refrigerator, and all who came out in a snowstorm to setup the new home and finally all who are continuing to help the family settle in. To Amira and her husband Basel, who labeled items in Arabic and created a "Welcome to your New Home" sign in Arabic, we say thank you. To be welcomed in your own language is a perfect touch. The apartment was transformed into a warm and welcoming home. Great thought was given to all the details of the setup. Amira said she was amazed to see so many people work so hard for a family they do not know. I thought she should not be amazed. No one should be amazed. This is what is expected of us. We should all remember we were once strangers in a strange land. We only took that deep seeded experience and followed our hearts. By Rabbi Laura Abrasley
This past fall, Temple Shalom joined a project with several Boston area congregations to help settle Syrian refugee families in the greater Boston area. This project, organized by Jewish Family Services of Metrowest (under the guidance with HIAS), involved raising funds to support these families as well as organizing awareness of the ongoing global refugee crisis in the world. This past Tuesday night, Feb. 14, I joined a delegation at Logan Airport to help welcome the most recent arrivals. I shared my experience in the following d’var Torah delivered at the Temple Shalom Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion, Yitro, contains a remarkable story of arrival, perhaps one of the most transformative moments of arrival in our people’s narrative. This story of transformation takes place at Mount Sinai, a place understood in Jewish tradition as God’s mountain. Here at the mountain in the wilderness, we, the Israelites, arrive to encounter God as we become partners in a covenantal relationship. This moment of revelation will change us – as individuals perhaps, but more importantly as a people. The text takes care in several verses to suggest that everyone within the Israelite community is present at this moment of revelation. The commentators are particularly interested in noting that this revelation is communal and inclusive. We arrive together. We encounter together. We become a people together. The importance of this sense of community and inclusivity for all to experience the presence of the Divine is picked up in several midrashim. One of my favorites teaches that not only were all those who left Egypt present at the foot of Sinai – so, too, were the souls of all those yet to be created. In other words, each one of us stood at Sinai. Perhaps we had not yet arrived, but we would be due in our time. And our access to revelation, therefore, should be no less diminished. Last night, I had the blessing of being present at an arrival of a different kind. I stood as witness at an airport gate as four souls disembarked from an airplane. The four souls were young and tired and overwhelmed. Two of the souls were very little boys – almost 5 and a little over 3. They experienced most of their arrival with cranky tears clinging to their beautiful young mother and their kind father. The four souls had traveled thousands of miles over many years to arrive at this place. What little I know of the hardships they have endured over the course of their travels leaves me a bit breathless. I know they left Syria under duress in 2011. I know they have lived in several camps and cities in Jordan since leaving Syria. I know they went through years of application and conversation and examination to even be considered ready for the journey towards freedom. I know they were approved and ready to come, but were delayed due to ignorance and misunderstanding. And I know I am in awe of the passion and persistence of those who fought to push back this ignorance and misunderstanding so that they could arrive at Logan Airport on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. And we were there with a few others to welcome them – with flowers and stuffed bears and a smile that said I am glad you are here. I am glad, we are glad, you have arrived. You belong here with us in our wider human community. We will make space for you to have access to the revelation of freedom and possibility and inclusivity that we have known for many years now. Someone shared this revelation with us years ago. We are blessed to share it with you now. Letters that have been mailed to congregants, which I have helped co-author, speak of frustrations we feel over the refugee situation. Here is something you can do, we wrote. Through that letter, through newsletter articles, by word of mouth and in other ways, we have activated a strong committee, raised funds, and are ready to go. We would sponsor two families coming to this area. If felt great.
All of that happened before the Trump-Bannon closure of our gates. The rationale they use is that they are keeping America safe. Interesting that the facts don’t match that. Terrorist acts in this country have never been the result of immigrants from Syria. In fact, those immigrants have been victims of terror in their own country far beyond what most of us can imagine. Terror that leaves them with trauma that will last a life time. To get here from Syria as an immigrant requires eighteen to twenty-four months of screening by a number of government offices, and it includes security, health and the vetting of your personal online presence. Nothing about your life is secret. Under the Obama administration, vetting became extreme. With over 65 million displaced people in this world, 22 million are refugees. Only 1 percent gets resettled in a third country, and we, the wealthiest country in the world only took in 0.42% of them. That was already abysmal. Now, the number is lowered, and Trump is keeping out Syrians. The greatest number of refugees during the past four years has been from Syria. A few lines from a poem by Warsan Shite titled “Home”. . . you have to understand that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land. Two Mondays ago I had an early morning call. Could we be ready to welcome a family on February 7? Of course we were ready. We would keep it secret for a few days, aware of the pending disaster from the White House, hoping it would be delayed just long enough. The mood swing was severe. By Wednesday night we knew it wouldn’t be happening. So now, how do we make a difference? How do we keep the wonderful energy of the committee and all those that have generously supported our work from dissipating into frustration? We know there are political actions that we can take. Marches, phone calls, letters. From making Newton a Sanctuary City to writing letters to the editor. As each day brings us closer to another election, it will become important to be active! Stay informed. We will continue to offer educational opportunities at Temple Shalom. Our next speake, Yotam Polizer, knows firsthand the experience of refugees through his work with IsraAid in Greece and in Germany. He can also report on their work in Jordan. IsraAid is especially tuned in to working with children who have experienced trauma. Join us on February 13 at 7:30. We know there are recently arrived families that need our help. We are learning about some of these families and will make needs known. We want to use the resources of the committee. Volunteer to be an ESL tutor at our library. Immigrants need to learn English to be successful. This is a hands on way to help. Many agencies have ways you can work with recent immigrants. We will try to gather a list to post on this website. If you can, support groups financially that are working on these issues: HIAS, ACLU, SPLC, IsraAid. The needs are endless. In our new environment, we need to support each other, work for change, and do all we can. Two of my favorite lines from our Shabbat morning service are the following, and I will leave you with these to think about. Pray as if everything depended on God Act as if everything depended on you. One never knows who you will meet while waiting in line at the grocery store.
Earlier this week I was beginning to make a dent in my Chanukah food shopping list, potatoes, sour cream, apples, brisket and other holiday items. My cart was full and my mind was racing with what I had to accomplish that day. I was delighted to see a fellow Temple member and we chatted about the status of our Humanitarian Refugee Project and the long list of tasks we need to complete before our first family arrives in February. We said good-by and I returned to my attention to the check-out line ahead of me. The woman in front of me apologized for eavesdropping but wanted to know what I had just been talking about. I told her about Temple Shalom’s partnership with the Newton Highland’s Congregational Church to help resettle two Syrian refugee families. This lovely woman proceeded to tell me that all she wanted for Christmas from her family was a donation to our cause in her name. She gave me her email, I promised to send her information and later that day I did .A few days went by and last night I received an email from my grocery line heroine. “I made a donation to your project tonight. I am so touched by your synagogue's initiative to do something good in the world. (This is the most hopeful thing that I have heard since the election.) I also took the liberty of posting the link to your website on my Facebook page. I wish you and your family and your congregation a very Happy Chanukah.” Kindness can come from anyone, anywhere at any time. For me it was in line, at Shaw’s in Chestnut Hill, from a stranger who wanted to help. My heart is full. A week ago today we had the good fortune to host Rabbi Rachel Grant Meyer, HIAS Director of Education. As often as I have heard the numbers, they are as stunning as they are so hard to picture. These are the numbers she shared:
Knowing this, the news this week from Syria brings me to tears. Human beings, including children, are just being left to die in Aleppo as the government regains power. So last night when we had fifty people show up for a committee meeting, it felt good. Fifty people that stepped up to say, let me do what I can. Fifty people to help resettle two Syrian refugee families in our area. Temple Shalom, now partnering with the Newton Highlands Congregational Church will find apartments, cover rent, provide furniture and supplies for the apartment. A small number of volunteers will work face to face with the families. And I know it is more than that fifty. We’ve had over 200 at a dinner, over 70 at last week’s educational event, many others giving, so many approaching me. This is a community effort. It is the spirituality of action. It is the opportunity to do some good. It is a community stepping up to a challenge together. Oh, and the families! We now know about our first family. It is becoming more real. Our first family has three young children, so we have a crib on our shopping list. So the numbers that turn around in my head now are not just displaced persons, refugees, and how much money to raise, now the number is 2. Two real families. Join me! A Congregational dinner attended by over 200 people launched our commitment to resettle and support several refugee families in our community. Rabbi Laura Abrasley reminded us that our forefather, Abraham welcomed strangers into his tent, and so we too will continue this tradition.
Our featured speakers included a Syrian refugee family telling of their experiences in settling here, as well as a compelling account of the overall situation by Professor Dana Janek of Lasell College. Danny, only ten years old, told of his difficulty transitioning into schools here. Although he relished the reduced amount of homework, he encouraged children meeting newcomers to help them understand how the school functions, and to teach children who do not know English how to speak it. The family had seen their home destroyed, had moved to a small apartment on the fifteenth floor, lost their business, and finally left Syria, making their way to a refugee camp in Jordan. We were fortunate to meet this family and are thrilled to be working with Jewish Family Services of Metrowest and HIAS in the resettling of other refugee families. Please watch your emails and Temple notices for further programs, ways to get involved and help. It is a large and important project that will need all the help it can get – focused thought, funds, and multi-stranded action! Contact us for more information, or to get involved. |