Starting a new thing... let me know what you think. Presenting... this week's #TorahMeme & D'rash
According to the US government,
“Refugee status or asylum may be granted to people who have been persecuted or fear they will be persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, and/or membership in a particular social group or political opinion.”
In this week’s parsha, #KiTetzei, we read that we are to grant asylum to one who seeks refuge within our community: “You shall not turn over one who seeks refuge with you..., [they] shall live with you in any place [they] may choose among the settlements in your midst, wherever [they] please; you must not ill treat [them]” (Deut. 23:16-17). Though the original context of this verse is that of an escaped slave from across tribal boundaries, the larger meaning to me seems clear. We, as Jews, are to grant refuge – to welcome and to protect – those who come to us looking for a safe haven from persecution.
As we read these words in synagogues across this nation, we also hold the knowledge that our own Supreme Court ruled this week to allow the “third country transit asylum ban” to go into effect, even as it works its way through the lower courts. What are we as Jews to do with this tension?
Later in the parsha we read, “Always remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; it is because of this that I command you to do this thing [leave produce in the field for the widow, stranger, and orphan]” (Deut. 24:2). We are commanded to care for others because, despite our current privilege, collectively we remember what it was like to be in the position of need and the target of oppression.
Whether our privilege that of owning grain fields and vineyards that produce more than we need to subsist, as it was for our ancient ancestors, or that which comes from speaking unaccented English or being born into American citizenship, we are commanded, throughout the ages, to pay it forward – to do for others because we were slaves in the land of Egypt. And, in our day, we must too.