Acton #35: HIAS event

Exodus: I See Myself In You

A few months back the chesed committee at our shul held a HIAS volunteer event. Kids bagged packages for refugees while the adults heard a speaker talk about the organization. I was unable to attend, but ND and U went. U was really struck by the presentation, told me about it later, and we made a donation.

As a result we were invited to a special gallery event with artist Siona Benjamin. We attended and were reminded of the importance of HIAS's organization.

It was a nice night out, a reminder of how serious the refugee issues still are. The night we went was the same day the court gave it's decision on the travel ban. Mark Hetfield spoke about how the decision was actually good. That because the ban only stopped a very small number of people from entering the US it was a relative victory. Hearing this reminded me of just how nuanced many of these issues are... the things I read quickly in the news have so much more behind them than I usually know.