Let Refugees In: Beachwood Rabbi Signs Letter Urging Trump To Welcome Refugees

BEACHWOOD, OH — On Thursday, Robert Nosanchuk, the senior rabbi at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, added his name to a group of 1,500 rabbis nationwide calling on Donald Trump and his administration to adopt welcoming policies for refugees.

The letter urges the new administration to not alter or restrict the federal refugee program but rather bolster it. It urges the administration to make America a safe haven for those fleeing persecution for race and religion abroad. The letter and signatures were organized by an organization called HIAS, a Jewish nonprofit dedicated to the protection of refugees. The letter has been signed by rabbis from every major movement of Judaism.

“With more people forced to flee their homes than at any time since World War II, humanity is in a very dark place right now,” HIAS CEO and President Mark Hetfield said in a press release. “But over 1,500 rabbis from every major movement of Judaism and nearly every state have come together to fight this darkness with light, to let refugees know that we welcome them. With so many Jewish spiritual leaders stepping up and speaking out for refugees, we at HIAS are honored and inspired to work on behalf of the American Jewish community."

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the country and a temporary ban on immigrants and refugees from nations with a history of producing terrorists, the Council on Foreign Relations writes.

He has also suggested that he would halt the entry of Syrian refugees into America and deport refugees that have already been settled in the U.S.

Remembering History

In part, the letter from HIAS points out that the Jewish community is uniquely positioned, from a historical standpoint, to comment on the plight of refugees. It reads, "Jewish history bears witness to the critical choice facing our country: whether to rescue those in need or to construct barriers to keep them out."

Nosanchuk adds his own take on the unique history of Jewish people as refugees.

"When I have met refugee families in Cleveland, through the US Together program, (the HIAS local affiliate in Cleveland), I’m looking at them and seeing my own ancestors. These folks are trying to live in a safe and protected America, filled with opportunity," Nosanchuk said. "There are enough opportunities for them. Certainly there are enough opportunities for their well being and their children's well being."

Each year, between 500 and 700 refugees arrive in the Cleveland area, according to statistics from Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland.

Nosanchuk adds that the American political climate seems darker, more polarized, than maybe ever before. So, when you know less about a group of people, particularly incoming refugees, you tend to fill in their motives with suspicion, you assume they are sinister, he says.

"With my own ancestors, if they had not had the same opportunities when they got here, they would have surely perished. What more reason do I need to sign the letter? We want to let the administration and anyone in power know that America should be a safe place with the same opportunities it had when my ancestors came," he said.

Nosanchuk also said that he would have signed this letter regardless of who was president; if Hillary Clinton was being inaugurated on Friday, she and her administration would be getting the same letter, he says. There's so much turmoil around refugees and how the U.S. should progress in respect to them, Nosanchuk believes it's important to take a stand on this issue, regardless of politics.

The Impact

Nosanchuk said he hopes the letter impacts members of the Jewish community and a larger community of Americans. From an inner-faith perspective, he wants Jewish people to remember their own history, a history that is littered with corrupt regimes and vicious dictators beating and driving out the Jewish people.

He wants Jewish people to remember that the Torah says that you shall not oppress strangers, you should welcome them with love.

The teachings of the Torah remind Nosanchuk of his work with US Together. He says the organization coordinated the move of a family from the Middle East to Cleveland. The family had five children. US Together had found them a house. They needed furniture to make that house a home.

Nosanchuk and his family donated a bunk bed. He said it was the type of small, loving act that he wants his congregation and congregations around America to perform.

"The practice and history of Judaism tell us don’t oppress a stranger, not just because it's a bad idea, but we were strangers once," he said. "Our people have been beleaguered and battered by too many regimes to count."

He also says that he would be happy to sign an inter-faith letter stating the same message.

"We all must stand together on this issues," he said. "We cannot go the way of fear and polarization."

Image via Global Panorama, Flickr, used under Creative Commons