Tikkun Olam Kol Nidre Campaign

This holiday season, the Tikkun Olam Committee is raising money for two important organizations: Assistance for Immigrants & Refugees (AIR), a local organization, and HIAS, a national organization.

DONATE NOW TO AIR

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On Kol Nidre, co-chair Ari Linden gave the following speech. If you are considering donating to either of these worthwhile organizations, please take a moment to read the 5786 Lawrence Jewish Appeal.

Good evening, everyone. Some of you might be asking: why am I up here right now, and where is David Katzman? These are valid questions, to which I have answers. For four decades, David has approached the bimah on Kol Nidre to give the Lawrence Jewish Appeal, which has addressed our obligation to the perpetuity of Jewish life and its institutions beyond the walls of the LJCC. After speaking with David recently I now understand that an appeal for community tzedakah during Yom Kippur services is a tradition that goes back at least 150 years in synagogues of all denominations. David has decided that it is time to pass on the appeal to others, and it seemed logical that such a task would be taken up by the Tikkun Olam Committee, of which I am as co-chair, along with Ann Sagan, a representative.

Emerging both from discussions among the committee members and from the conversation I mentioned a moment ago, we determined that ‘Jewish causes’ could be, and indeed, ought to be, broadly construed, a decision that feels especially necessary during this unsettling moment. We decided, then, that we wanted to focus our efforts on those individuals and families who are, by most accounts, the most unsettled among us: immigrants and refugees, and specifically those who are seeking to rebuild their lives here in the US, for as long as this is still possible and still desirable.

More concretely, we want to highlight two organizations: one very local and one more globally oriented. The first is Assistance for Immigrants and Refugees (AIR), with whom we have already developed a significant relationship, as many of you are surely aware. By concentrating on AIR once again, our aim is to strengthen our institutional ties to this Lawrence-based organization, an action that accords with our outward-facing mission as a committee. Second, we wanted to focus on HIAS, a historically Jewish organization that used to focus exclusively on Jewish refugees, but which, as its website declares, now “provides vital services to refugees and asylum seekers around the world and advocates for their fundamental rights.”

Allow me to say a few more words on our relationship to AIR and to the two families whom we have already been supporting: I’m proud to say that as a congregation we raised enough money to purchase a vehicle for the Khaliqi family; in addition, we have donated bikes and computers and raised funds to cover basic needs for both the Noori and the Khaliqi families. For all these deeds, both they and the folx at AIR have expressed their sincere gratitude. We’ve made a difference. But recently, Chuck Olcese from AIR informed us that there are some very urgent—and very time-sensitive—needs that could be addressed with our donations.

Hassan Khaliqi, the Afghan refugee who spoke at LJCC earlier this year, has a large mass in his chest; according to KU Med, it needs to be removed before it potentially turns cancerous. The surgery will take him out of work for at least 12 weeks. AIR is currently in discussions with the school district where Hassan works about his continued employment and about what kind of sick/vacation leave can cover him. His Medicaid is also a question given the new federal budget issues and the fact that he is coming up on his one-year original designation for that aid. If he loses his wages for the 12 weeks, it would be over $7,500 gross. If he loses his job, it will be a while before AIR can get him employed again and he’ll have some restrictions—no chemicals, no heavy lifting, etc.

Additionally, AIR is looking for support for Fatima Noori, also from Afghanistan, who needs root canals on two teeth. The total will amount to about $2,300 (so we’re looking at about $10,000 total). AIR has some reserve funds that can help immediately, but our contributions—in whatever amount we can provide—will help them significantly and allow them to keep some funds in reserve for future emergencies.

We anticipate that starting this Friday—and early next week at the latest—there will be two, separate links which you’ll be able to access on the LJCC website, and which will allow you to donate directly to these organizations. Please contact Nixx if you encounter any issues while trying to donate.

I wanted to close by sharing some words by the German Jewish political theorist, Hannah Arendt. In a short essay from 1944, “We Refugees,” Arendt, a refugee herself, addressed the plight of the Jewish refugees from Hitler’s Europe. Early in the piece, she writes: “The story of our struggle has finally become known. We lost our home, which means the familiarity of daily life. We lost our occupation, which means the confidence that we are of some use in this world. We lost our language, which means the naturalness of reactions, the simplicity of gestures, the unaffected expression of feelings.” It is a quiet moment in the essay—followed immediately by a sentence about the family and friends who were left to perish in the camps—but it captures something almost universal about the daily challenges and lived experiences of refugees and immigrants, both then and now, regardless of the reasons why or the conditions under which they left their countries of origin.

On this evening, among the holiest of the Jewish calendar, I urge you to turn, yes, to our congregation and its needs, but also to these refugees and their needs; for we were once them, and we could become them once again. If we can, we must. I wish you all a G'mar Chatimah Tovah; may you be sealed in the Book of Life for a year of health, happiness, and meaning. Thank you.