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#Mensch: Out of egypt

We have 60,000 African refugees in Israel and have responded with an utter lack of imagination, humility and empathy. Two options have emerged: One, “losing the Jewish character of our state” by integrating the refugees and two, imprisonment / deportation. My God! We are Talmudic thinkers – creating worlds from a text’s vowel change –and technological innovators — developing solutions like a camera in a pill! — but can only imagine two options for refugees? We must apply our Jewish-thinking, in the Jewish state, to the pressing moral issues of our time. I’ll leave you with this question: Would a schmuck “protect” the Jewishness of our state by refusing to act like a Jew?

Don’t be a schmuck.

About the Author
Rabbi Susan Silverman is a writer, teacher, activist and Director of Second Nurture: Every Child Deserves a Family and a Community, that partners with synagogues in the US to gather in support of local foster families.