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Dear Congregants,
Our Social Action Committee members have brought to my attention an issue that may be of concern to many of you. As you know, there has been a concerted federal effort to round up and deport immigrants. The NC General Assembly recently passed two bills enlisting local law enforcement and other state officials to assist in this effort. Governor Josh Stein vetoed both bills. His reasons: SB 153 as a costly diversion of our law enforcement resources. HB 318 as an unconstitutional detention solely on the basis of suspected immigration violation.
Jewish history is replete with the devastating effects of persecution as refugees and immigrants. Knowing in our DNA exactly what the consequences of scapegoating entail, we are naturally sensitized to similar impact upon others. Jewish Theological Seminary professor David Marcus states: “It is an astonishing fact that the Bible has more laws dealing with the protection of the stranger than with any other law, including honoring God, observing the Sabbath, festivals, etc. Obviously, for the biblical legislator, concern for the stranger was considered a religious value of supreme importance.” 46 times, in fact, Torah commands us to attend to the plight of the stranger in our midst, to show mercy and justice.
If you are so moved, I encourage you to consider contacting your state representative NOW (
https://www.ncleg.gov/findyourlegislators ) and express your opinion about whether they should uphold Governor Stein’s veto of those bills.
Robert Kline
CBI co-Chair of Social Action Committee
