Abq Jew ® Blog: All Who Are Hungry

All Who Are Needy: The Albuquerque Jewish community, along with Jewish communities all over the world, will soon invite -

All who are hungry, come and eat;
all who are needy, come and celebrate
Passover with us.

This year, we are perhaps even more attuned to the cries of the afflicted.
Therefore, Abq Jew invites us all to help each other. Here are a few ways.

ADL New Mexico

The New Mexico Region of the Anti-Defamation League has recently issued a

Statement by New Mexico Jewish Communal Organizations and Clergy
in Support of Refugees and Immigrants

We, the undersigned Jewish communal organizations and community leaders from across the State of New Mexico, now join national Jewish organizations and communities throughout the United States in expressing our support for refugees and immigrants.

New Mexico was home to pioneering Jews fleeing discrimination, persecution and hardship. New Mexico was the destination of Jewish scientists and other refugees escaping the Nazis. As we give thanks for our lives in the place that was a refuge for our ancestors, we also recall Jews who were barred from immigrating to the United States during the Holocaust and perished.

Today, thousands of refugees and families who survived war and other violence, and were approved for resettlement in the United States after years of vetting and review, are being turned away. We cannot be silent as victims of war and terror are again denied entry. The United States can protect its residents from threats without closing its doors to legitimate refugees and barring immigrants based solely on where they come from.

Welcoming refugees and immigrants is vital to who we are as Americans and as Jews ....

Click here to read the full Statement, which was endorsed by almost all
major New Mexico Jewish organizations and clergy.

Mazon - A Jewish Response to Hunger

Each year at the Seder, we ask the traditional four questions.

And each year, Mazon asks a Fifth Question to raise awareness about a particular hunger-related issue and spark important conversations around the seder table.

This year, we turn our attention to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which faces proposals for devastating changes and cuts that would increase the problem of hunger.

Charities and houses of worship provide important temporary assistance for emergency situations, but they simply do not have the capacity or resources to feed the overwhelming number of people in need.

Federal food and nutrition assistance programs serve as our nation's frontline defense against food insecurity. SNAP is the nation's most important and effective anti-hunger program, targeting assistance according to need and helping millions of Americans to purchase adequate food for an active, healthy, and productive life.

So this year, please join us as we again ask The Fifth Question:

How can we protect the precious safety net
that supports those who are hungry?

Click here to add Mazon's Fifth Question to your Seder.

HIAS - Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

Throughout our history, violence and persecution have driven the Jewish people to wander in search of a safe place to call home. We are a refugee people. At the Passover Seder, we gather to retell the story of our original wandering and the freedom we found.

But we do not just retell the story. We are commanded to imagine ourselves as though we, personally, went forth from Egypt – to imagine the experience of being victimized because of who we are, of being enslaved, and of being freed.

As we step into this historical experience, we cannot help but draw to mind the 65 million displaced people and refugees around the world today fleeing violence and persecution, searching for protection. Like our ancestors, today’s refugees experience displacement, uncertainty, lack of resources, and the complete disruption of their lives.

Over the past year, we have read almost daily about humanitarian crises, watched xenophobic hate crimes increase, and been overwhelmed by the sheer number of people being persecuted. In the United States, in particular, we have experienced a devastating closing of doors to refugees.

We now have the opportunity this evening to move beyond the headlines and the statistics to focus on the individual experiences behind the numbers and policies. These are the experiences of refugees around the world who, like the ancient Israelites, are finding liberation amidst brokenness and rebuilding their lives.

Tonight, as we embrace the experience of our ancestors, we also lift up the experiences of the world’s refugees who still wander in search of safety and freedom.

Click here to download HIAS’s 2017 Haggadah Supplement.

AJWS - American Jewish World Service

The Passover story chronicles the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. It celebrates the movement from oppression to liberation and our belief that tyranny can be thwarted and justice can prevail.

Around the world today, courageous people are making similar journeys—leaving behind violence, poverty and persecution and seeking security, freedom, prosperity and peace.

Several months ago, I felt the power of the Passover story as palpably as I ever have when I travelled with AJWS to Cambodia. My sense of what it means for a people to go from slavery to freedom deepened when I spent time listening to the modern-day narratives of Cambodians who live in the shadow of a genocide that claimed 2 million lives. They are recovering from their traumas through the sheer force of will—and, today, continue to fight oppression and lay the foundation for democracy, equality and freedom for all Cambodians.

This juxtaposition between the deepest injustice and the most transcendent hope reminds me of our own people’s transformations—from slaves in Egypt to a free people at Sinai; from those Jews who did whatever they could to resist the genocide perpetrated against us, to Jews today who find meaning in that tragic chapter of our history by standing up for freedom for others in the new millennium.