Pre-Election Immigration Lecture at Berwyn's Congregation Or Shalom

Berwyn, PA (October 9, 2016) – On the Friday night before Election Day 2016, Congregation Or Shalom invites the public to hear and ask questions about one of the most important and perhaps contentious issues affecting the Presidential election – immigration. Two regional experts on the topic, Catherine Miller-Wilson, incoming Executive Director of HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) Pennsylvania and Phillipe Weisz, HIAS Pennsylvania Managing Attorney, will offer an update of our state’s immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

Congregation Or Shalom continues its Friday Night Lecture Series on November 4 with 7:30 pm Shabbat services followed by an 8:15 pm presentation. The event is open to congregants and the public. Or Shalom, the western Mainline’s Conservative synagogue, is conveniently located in Berwyn on Route 252, between Lancaster Avenue (Route 30) and Route 3.

Starting November 1, Miller-Wilson will oversee the provision of legal, resettlement and support services to over 2,500 immigrants and refugees in the Greater Philadelphia area at a moment of growth. HIAS Pennsylvania is poised to increase the number of refugees it resettles in addition to expanding legal services to vulnerable immigrants, including unaccompanied and abused children, and survivors of interpersonal violence and those seeking citizenship.

“I am thrilled to be working at an organization that has such a significant impact on both individuals and communities,” Miller-Wilson said. “When the world faces the largest refugee crisis since World War II, I am proud to be at the helm of an agency that provides the legal and social services critical to the lives of millions forced to leave their homes. I am equally proud to be working with a multi-cultural, multi-lingual staff who are experts in their fields and extraordinarily passionate about the work that they do.”

Since 1882 the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in Pennsylvania has been driven by the Jewish value of “welcoming the stranger.” As their website, www. hiaspa.org explains, “HIAS Pennsylvania provides legal, resettlement, citizenship, and supportive services to immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from all backgrounds in order to ensure their fair treatment and full integration into American society.”

Or Shalom’s second November 4 guest, Philippe Weisz, has been an advocate for immigrant rights for over 15 years. He started his career as a staff attorney with the American Friends Service Committee, Immigrant Rights Program in Newark, New Jersey. There, he represented detained asylum seekers and immigrants from Central America. In 2000, he was named the program’s managing attorney. In 2006 he joined HIAS Pennsylvania as their managing attorney.

The First HIAS

It wasn’t that long ago that Jews were the focus of refugees and immigrant. Founded in 1881 originally to assist Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe, HIAS has touched the life of nearly every Jewish family in America and now welcomes all who have fled persecution.

From their beginnings in a storefront on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a group of American Jews organized to provide much-needed comfort and aid to thousands of Jews fleeing waves of anti-Semitic riots. While those who arrived were refugees – people who were being killed in their homelands because of who they were – the world did not yet have a legal concept for people who needed safe refuge outside their homelands.

In New York City, the once tiny Russian Jewish population swelled by the thousands. They formed the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society to provide meals, transportation and jobs for the new arrivals to Manhattan. A shelter was established on the Lower East Side providing dormitory space, a soup kitchen and clothing to any needy Jew. Decades later, in 1959, HIAS set up operations in Miami to rescue the Jews fleeing Cuba’s revolution. The focus on aiding non-Jews took a turn in the 1970s.

Following the fall of Saigon, the State Department requested HIAS’ assistance with the resettlement of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians. That year, HIAS found new homes for 3,600 in 150 communities in 38 states. While not the first time HIAS had assisted in the resettlement of non-Jews, the organization’s assistance with this large-scale refugee crisis garnered a special thank you from President Gerald Ford. HIAS continued to assist refugees from Southeast Asia through 1979.

In September 2001, HIAS celebrated its 120th anniversary with a "HIAS Day" festival in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Two days after the joyful celebration, Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked America, throwing the entire U.S. immigration system into turmoil. HIAS mobilized its network to continue serving refugees, despite extreme delays in the arrival process brought on by increased security measures and the reorganization of the Immigration and Naturalization Service into the Department of Homeland Security.

As their website, www.hias.org, declares “We understand better than anyone that hatred, bigotry, and xenophobia must be expressly prohibited in domestic and international law and that the right of persecuted people to seek and enjoy refugee status must be maintained. And because the right to refuge is a universal human right, HIAS is now dedicated to providing welcome, safety, and freedom to refugees of all faiths and ethnicities from all over the world.”

Congregation Or Shalom Friday Night Lecture Series

Congregant Warren Hyams has arranged a lively roster of speakers ranging from international travel to lawmakers to diplomats. Recent guest lecturers have included North Africa/Middle East travel expert Jerry Sorkin, Congressman Ryan Costello, PA State Senator Andy Dinniman and Mid-Atlantic Region Deputy Consul General to the Consulate General of Israel Moran Birman. For more information on Congregation Or Shalom, visit online at www.orshalom.com.