Let the leftists take the refugees

Hundreds of left-wing U.S. rabbis have signed an open letter sponsored by the New Israel Fund and other leftist groups, urging Israel not to deport tens of thousands of illegal African refugees. If they get their way, Israel will be far less Jewish and far less livable for Jews. They compare the refugees to the gerim of the Torah, non-Jews living in the Land of Israel who the Israelites were commanded to treat with the same kindness they showed to fellow Jews. But this is a false comparison. The gerim were a relative handful of people who accepted the truth of the Torah and sincerely desired to be part of the Jewish people. The only connection most of the refugees have to Israel is their desire to take advantage of its generosity.

 

The “Jewish values” the leftists claim to champion are nothing but old and discredited social theories that have no connection to authentic Judaism and have never been proven to work anywhere. But if they want to be taken seriously, they should at least practice what they preach. So what I propose is that each signer of the letter take one or two refugees into their own home, and feed, clothe and house them at their own expense, until such time as they become upstanding and self sufficient citizens, no matter how long it takes. 

 

That’s the least they can do. After all, don’t their “Jewish values” require that they place other people’s needs above their own?  And if the refugees make their lives a living hell by abusing their hospitality and showing no respect for them or their property, the way they do to the people of south Tel Aviv, well, they’ll just have to become more tolerant. After all, the refugees have suffered in ways the leftists haven’t, so they have no right to judge them or criticize them in way. Their only moral choice is to give them everything they demand, no matter what the cost to themselves. So I urge every leftist rabbi to live up to his own stated values and set the example that he demands others follow by taking personal responsibility for at least one refugee.