Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Mipnei Darchay Shalom: For the Sake of the Ways of Peace
Reflections on Social Issues and World Events
Reflections on Social Issues and World Events
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| NO HUMAN BEING IS ILLEGAL A Statement about Immigration by Members of the Jamaica Plain Interfaith Clergy Group – April 2006 You shall not mistreat or oppress a stranger who has come over to you, for you were strangers…. (Exodus 22:20) |
Throughout America, debate about immigration fills the spring air. Beyond politics, this
debate is about real human beings, people who are often invisible, people who live in the
shadows of American society.
As clergy, we have a responsibility to every human being, each created in the image of
God. Every person is a citizen in God’s world. No human being is illegal. As a still small
voice, constant amid the din, God speaks for the most vulnerable and calls to us, God’s
partners, to give voice to those without a voice. We are commanded to remember the
weakest among us, the “orphan, the widow, the stranger.” We have learned from the
prophet Micah what God seeks of us, “only to do justly, to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with God.” We therefore each affirm our commitment to give comfort and care to
all who come to us. Seeing the image of God in each person, we shall never ask for
further documentation.
In this season of rebirth, of renewal and liberation, we strive to embrace the underlying
truths in each of our traditions that speak to the unity of all people. As we urge
compassion for the stranger among us, we seek justice for the poor and neglected who
are already Americans. In a just economy the poor will not be pitted against each other.
Wealth squandered in wars against others of God’s children is wealth upon which a
peaceful economy could be built, with jobs for all.
From one small neighborhood of America, we speak as local clergy, aware that justice
begins closest to home, in our own communities and neighborhoods. In hope, we join our
voices to the rising rainbow chorus that is calling for justice throughout the land. We pray
through word and deed that the still small voice that speaks for the most vulnerable will
infuse the national debate, making justice and compassion the cornerstone of a new
immigration policy.
Rabbi Victor Hillel Reinstein
Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue
debate is about real human beings, people who are often invisible, people who live in the
shadows of American society.
As clergy, we have a responsibility to every human being, each created in the image of
God. Every person is a citizen in God’s world. No human being is illegal. As a still small
voice, constant amid the din, God speaks for the most vulnerable and calls to us, God’s
partners, to give voice to those without a voice. We are commanded to remember the
weakest among us, the “orphan, the widow, the stranger.” We have learned from the
prophet Micah what God seeks of us, “only to do justly, to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with God.” We therefore each affirm our commitment to give comfort and care to
all who come to us. Seeing the image of God in each person, we shall never ask for
further documentation.
In this season of rebirth, of renewal and liberation, we strive to embrace the underlying
truths in each of our traditions that speak to the unity of all people. As we urge
compassion for the stranger among us, we seek justice for the poor and neglected who
are already Americans. In a just economy the poor will not be pitted against each other.
Wealth squandered in wars against others of God’s children is wealth upon which a
peaceful economy could be built, with jobs for all.
From one small neighborhood of America, we speak as local clergy, aware that justice
begins closest to home, in our own communities and neighborhoods. In hope, we join our
voices to the rising rainbow chorus that is calling for justice throughout the land. We pray
through word and deed that the still small voice that speaks for the most vulnerable will
infuse the national debate, making justice and compassion the cornerstone of a new
immigration policy.
Rabbi Victor Hillel Reinstein
Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue
| Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue 43 Lochstead Avenue, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 |