Rabbi Allen's Speech from the March for Immigrant Rights
Minneapolis, February 12, 2006
We live in a world that is increasingly fragile. For too many people, the fate of humanity as a whole is of little concern as long as their particular grouping within the family of humanity is viable and protected. I am rabbi Morris Allen and I stand here before you today as a representative of my congregational community, Beth Jacob in Mendota Heights, of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association, and of the larger Jewish community through Jewish community action to tell you that there is no security for any one of us, if those on the margins of society feel threatened and at risk. The ancient rabbi Hillel over 2000 years ago addressed the importance of creating alliances and the necessity for interaction this way.
Im ayn ani li mil li, Uksheani Latzmi mah ani, vim lo acshav, amatia
If I am not for me, who will be?
But if I am only for me, what am I
And if not now, then when?
Judaism teaches the following—You shall know the heart of the stranger for you yourself were strangers in a strange land. At the heart of our story of origin as a people, is the realization that our enslavement in Egypt demanded that we never lose sight of what it means to be marginalized, that we forever identify with those whose fate at any given time is on the margins, whose connection to the society in which they live is trampled upon by those who are willing to ignore or oppress. Our core story demands that working for justice for those who are the stranger in every generation in any society is the fulfillment of the biblical command that is imposed upon us. My parents are first generation Americans, their parents having fled from the political torture and economic privation of the Jew in Europe 90 years ago. In the early part of the 20th century, the huddled masses were the Jewish immigrants the Irish the Italians. They were abused and taken advantage of, they struggled mightily to establish a place for themselves in the land of the free. They lived through the taunts of anti-Semitism and anti Catholicism and worked in the sweatshops where their concerns were ignored. They were no different than the immigrant today whether from Mexico, Somalia, Liberia, Cambodia or any other from whom one seeks to find refuge in America. They were subject to governmental games no different than INS workers today who stage phony OSHA gathering to identify non- documented workers. They were subject to fear and degradation, they were victims of societal indifference and often times societal anger. Immigration has always been a wedge issue for those who try to create fear and insecurity in society and to capitalize on that. Back then, the phrase was "lets keep America American," today it is lets make sure we are not paying for those who come here "illegally." Today in the words of the ancient sage Hillel, we immigrants and children and grandchildren of immigrants say if we are not for ourselves who will be, but if we are only for ourselves what are we. But perhaps most important, if not now then when—when will find see an America where the immigrant is celebrated for their contributions, where the immigrant is seen as the greatest fulfillment that this country has to offer—hope opportunity and freedom. Together, as people of religious traditions all, we can begin to change a society that is indifferent and often times beligerent. Remember the heart of the stranger for we were all once strangers in a strange land. Let us march together and let us stand together shoulder to shoulder to insure that hope, opportunity and freedom are finally realized and accessible for all.
Rabbi Morris Allen
Beth Jacob Congregation
We live in a world that is increasingly fragile. For too many people, the fate of humanity as a whole is of little concern as long as their particular grouping within the family of humanity is viable and protected. I am rabbi Morris Allen and I stand here before you today as a representative of my congregational community, Beth Jacob in Mendota Heights, of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association, and of the larger Jewish community through Jewish community action to tell you that there is no security for any one of us, if those on the margins of society feel threatened and at risk. The ancient rabbi Hillel over 2000 years ago addressed the importance of creating alliances and the necessity for interaction this way.
Im ayn ani li mil li, Uksheani Latzmi mah ani, vim lo acshav, amatia
If I am not for me, who will be?
But if I am only for me, what am I
And if not now, then when?
Judaism teaches the following—You shall know the heart of the stranger for you yourself were strangers in a strange land. At the heart of our story of origin as a people, is the realization that our enslavement in Egypt demanded that we never lose sight of what it means to be marginalized, that we forever identify with those whose fate at any given time is on the margins, whose connection to the society in which they live is trampled upon by those who are willing to ignore or oppress. Our core story demands that working for justice for those who are the stranger in every generation in any society is the fulfillment of the biblical command that is imposed upon us. My parents are first generation Americans, their parents having fled from the political torture and economic privation of the Jew in Europe 90 years ago. In the early part of the 20th century, the huddled masses were the Jewish immigrants the Irish the Italians. They were abused and taken advantage of, they struggled mightily to establish a place for themselves in the land of the free. They lived through the taunts of anti-Semitism and anti Catholicism and worked in the sweatshops where their concerns were ignored. They were no different than the immigrant today whether from Mexico, Somalia, Liberia, Cambodia or any other from whom one seeks to find refuge in America. They were subject to governmental games no different than INS workers today who stage phony OSHA gathering to identify non- documented workers. They were subject to fear and degradation, they were victims of societal indifference and often times societal anger. Immigration has always been a wedge issue for those who try to create fear and insecurity in society and to capitalize on that. Back then, the phrase was "lets keep America American," today it is lets make sure we are not paying for those who come here "illegally." Today in the words of the ancient sage Hillel, we immigrants and children and grandchildren of immigrants say if we are not for ourselves who will be, but if we are only for ourselves what are we. But perhaps most important, if not now then when—when will find see an America where the immigrant is celebrated for their contributions, where the immigrant is seen as the greatest fulfillment that this country has to offer—hope opportunity and freedom. Together, as people of religious traditions all, we can begin to change a society that is indifferent and often times beligerent. Remember the heart of the stranger for we were all once strangers in a strange land. Let us march together and let us stand together shoulder to shoulder to insure that hope, opportunity and freedom are finally realized and accessible for all.
Rabbi Morris Allen
Beth Jacob Congregation
posted by Jewish Community Action Staff at 3:50 PM
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