🄷 Refugee Shabbat + Shabbat B'Yachad

The JCA will be joining Jewish synagogues across the country in observing our annual HIAS Refugee Shabbat.

Dinner and an educational program will follow the normal Friday service falling on Shabbat B‘yachad - young adults welcome as always!

The educational program will focus on JCA efforts to support people seeking asylum in our town, as well as other JCA efforts in support of just immigration policies. We will hear updates on the broader, national immigration context, and Rabbi Greene will help raise our awareness of resettlement issues in Massachusetts for people who are refugees and asylum seekers in our region. He will also spotlight ways we can offer our support for this important and sacred work.

As a community, we will reflect on the central Jewish value of “welcoming the stranger.” The evening will include an inspirational service that interweaves refugee/immigrant-related themes, raising our awareness and opening our hearts. We are honored to have Rabbi James Greene, Chief Executive Officer of Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts, a major refugee resettlement agency in MA, offer the Dvar Torah.