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THE JEWISH Nov. 27, 2015 • 15 Kislev 5776
Parshas Vayishlach • Candlelighting 4:11 pm • Luach page 6
Vol 14, No. 45 • TheJewishStar.com
THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES
‘The unspeakable anguish of Ezra’s family and friends must strengthen our resolve’ By Deborah Fineblum JERUSALEM — It was eerily quiet in the old Ben Gurion Airport building in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. Of the 500 people gathered, many were students spending the year after high school in Israel’s yeshivas, seminaries and assorted other programs. Others were former neighbors of the Schwartz family who made aliyah from the Boston suburb of Sharon, Mass., over the years — including this reporter. The only sound heard was the slow singing of Ezra Schwartz’s friends, arms wrapped around each other. That was until Rabbi Seth Farber stepped up to the microphone. “We were brought up on the Zionist dream,â€? he said. “There is no young man or woman who is unscarred by what happened in the last 52 hours, but we cannot give up on the dream. The unspeakable anguish of Ezra’s family and friends must strengthen our resolve here.â€? Days ago, Ezra Schwartz, age 18, was just another one of the (]UD 6FKZDUW] DW IDU OHIW ZLWK KLV IRXU \RXQJHU VLEOLQJV LQ KLV KRPH 6DWXUGD\ QLJKWÂśV IDUHZHOO FHUHPRQ\ IRU (]UD 6FKZDUW] LQ WKH ROG %HQ Continued on page 4 WRZQ RI 6KDURQ 0DVVDFKXVHWWV )DFHERRN *XULRQ $LUSRUW EXLOGLQJ LQ 7HO $YLY 'HERUDK )LQHEOXP
OU urges: Keep the door open to Syrian refugees
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Ethiopia to Israel to Lawrence
The leadership of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America said last week that â&#x20AC;&#x153;while security concerns must be paramount, our focus as a nation should be on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;getting to yesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;? on permitting the entry of Syrian war refugees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We cannot be naive in our assessment of the determination of terrorists to exploit the refugee crisis. And we should limit immigration to those individuals who share our American ideals and aspirations,â&#x20AC;? the OU said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, we also must recognize that the majority of these refugees are ďŹ&#x201A;eeing terror themselvesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;violence like we have witnessed in Paris. They are families, women, and children who are running for their lives. We cannot and should not blame them for the actions of an evil terrorist organization. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Jewish community has an important perspective on this debate. Just a few decades ago, refugees from the terror and violence in Hitlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Europe sought refuge in the United States and were turned away due to suspicions about their nationality. In fact, the
Jewish immigrants that ultimately came to these shores fully adopted American values and have contributed greatly to the fabric of our great nation of immigrants. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thus, we encourage a sensible process of reviewing and enhancing security. Neither partisan politics nor xenophobia can have a place in that debate. While security concerns must be paramount, our focus as a nation should be on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;getting to yes.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Congress and the Executive Branch should review the screening program for refugees and strengthen it as appropriate. The process under which individuals can enter the U.S. on tourist or student visas should be reviewed as well. America has both the creativity and compassion to successfully address the competing considerations and we urge our political leaders to work toward achieving this delicate balance.â&#x20AC;? INSIDE: Columnist Jeff Dunetz takes a different view, in a column titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Keep them out! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bogus to compare Syrian refugees to Jews ďŹ&#x201A;eeing Hitler.â&#x20AC;? Page 7.