Westchester’s Jewish Community Lifts Up Refugees

Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration (WJCI), a humanitarian organization that provides critical support for forcibly displaced people, is once again a regional sponsor of the fifth annual Refugee Shabbat, powered by WJCI's partner HIAS. The event is set to take place on or around February 3rd-4th, 2023.

Refugee Shabbat is an initiative that encourages Jewish congregations, community organizations, and individuals across the United States and around the world to dedicate a Shabbat experience to raising awareness about the global displacement crisis, reaffirming support for refugees and asylum seekers, and taking action at a time when the right to seek asylum is being severely abridged in the U.S. and around the world.

WJCI is supported by UJA-Federation of New York, a key partner in mobilizing the Westchester community, the Jewish Federation of North America, and The Shapiro Foundation. With this assistance, WJCI offers a speakers' bureau covering a wealth of refugee and asylum experiences. This year's scheduled speakers include Tetiana Kotelnykova from Ukraine, a student at Columbia University who received a full scholarship as a displaced person; Farhad and Haroon Ghafoori and Fardin Ghafoor, three brothers who fled Afghanistan when their lives were in danger for serving the American military; and Brad D Fernando, Del Cid Ramirez from Guatemala who grew up a child of a victim of human trafficking.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, WJCI has served as an anchor for Ukrainians moving to this region and has helped operate and motivate volunteers to step up to help. Its vital partners have done the same. UJA-Federation of New York has provided more than $ 22.1 million in emergency funding worldwide, which includes funding to address the urgent needs of refugees in Ukraine, Europe, Israel, and New York. With the support of The Shapiro Foundation, the Jewish Federation of North America launched a $1 million Ukrainian Resettlement Grant Initiative to resettle and support Ukrainian refugees seeking safety in the U.S. Open Arms for Refugees has also provided a 25K grant toward WJCI’s Ukrainian resettlement initiative. These funds have enabled WJCI to widen its net considerably to help Ukrainian refugees by creating Welcome Circles throughout the region, groups of individuals resettling Ukrainian refugees escaping conflict. However, its focus remains on assisting all refugees.

"Because of the support of UJA-Federation and HIAS, our key partners, we are able to extend the opportunity of Refugee Shabbat to many more congregations than in the past. We hope that people, who didn't know the significance of helping or how they can help, will walk away from an observance fired up with a new sense of urgency to make a difference and step further into resettlement work," Rosen Fink said. "This year, nearly fifty congregations, organizations, and academic institutions throughout Westchester, Rockland County, and the Northwest Bronx will host Refugee Shabbat observances, and we could not be more proud of our community. The numbers are unprecedented."

This year, HIAS set the date of Refugee Shabbat earlier than in previous years to align with the Torah portion Beshallach — the iconic reading from the Book of Exodus where the Israelites cross the Red Sea with only what they could carry, establishing a thematic connection with displaced people around the world. In addition, HIAS will kick off Refugee Shabbat early with a launch event for the HIAS "Welcome to Congress" campaign, which seeks to raise awareness about refugee issues in the new legislative session in Washington.

WJCI is an entirely volunteer-run, non-partisan organization that envisions the United States as a place where refugees, asylum seekers, and all other immigrants can live safely and in dignity. The organization includes Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, and non-denominational Jews from around the Westchester region and partners with institutions and individuals of all faiths who assist and act on behalf of immigrants and refugees.