OS Social Action Allies

Or Shalom does not necessarily agree with all positions of each organization, yet finds common ground with them in the struggle for social justice from a Jewish perspective. This list is not comprehensive (listed alphabetically):

American Jewish World Services (AJWS)

Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice

Faith in Action Bay Area

HIAS (fka Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society)

Keshet: Full LGBTQ equality and inclusion in Jewish life

Mazon - A Jewish Response to Hunger

National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)

National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)

New Israel Fund - Advancing democracy and equality for all Israelis

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) today denounced the anti-immigrant Davis-Oliver Act, introduced in the House of Representatives, as inhumane and un-American. NCJW CEO Nancy K. Kaufman released the following statement:

“NCJW is steadfastly opposed to the Davis-Oliver Act, which should instead be known as the Trump Mass Deportation Act. It further stigmatizes immigrants, worsens their legal situation, and does absolutely nothing to contribute to a rational and humane solution to our immigration dilemmas. 

“The bill would commandeer local police and law enforcement resources to identify any persons suspected of lacking legal status to reside in the US and deliver them to immigration authorities. It disrupts police-community relations that are critical to public safety and incentivizes racial profiling. Furthermore, it closely resembles a similar law enacted in Arizona, most of which has been ruled unconstitutional. 

“The bill would massively expand the population of those who can be deported by broadening the scope of criminal convictions for which a noncitizen can be deported to include misdemeanors from long ago. It also mandates the hiring of 2,500 more ICE agents, 12,500 more detention or deportation officers, and 60 immigration prosecutors. 

“Finally the bill eviscerates the minimal due process that now exists for those facing deportation. It would allow indefinite detention, which would negatively impact vulnerable populations, including asylum seekers; increase mandatory detention; and require added detention beds. The only beneficiaries would be the private prison companies reaping millions in additional profits.”

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Reconstruction Rabbinical College/Jewish Reconstructionist Communities are dismayed as President Trump prepares to take action to close the doors to thousands of refugees seeking shelter and relief from the humanitarian crises in which they find themselves.

In one of his first acts since taking office, President Trump plans to reverse the foundational US stance as a haven for those subject to persecution, genocide, displacement and violence. His planned Executive Order will significantly limit how many individuals and families fleeing “terror-prone countries” – people who are most in need of safety and asylum – can find respite.

The entire American Jewish community, indeed a majority of the American community, is made up of descendants of refugees and immigrants. Our ancestors came to this country seeking safety, security and a better way of life for their families. Following the biblical exhortation to welcome the stranger, the US welcomed our families to these shores, many met by a statues whose very presence honors that legacy.

Right now, the global refugee crisis has reached immense proportions. There are an estimated 65 million displaced people awaiting rescue, mostly in “terror-prone” and Muslim-majority countries. What is not understood is that Muslims make up the overwhelming majority of victims of terrorism. Yet there are the very people we will be turning away.

As Jews who remember our ancestors’ experience and who look for inspiration to the Torah’s exhortation to “welcome the stranger,” we cannot be silent while our borders close. The RRA and the RRC/JRC strongly urge President Trump to reconsider his Executive Order and to keep open the doors to those most in need. We also urge members of Congress to continue to fund the refugee resettlement and family reunification programs.

We call on our rabbis, leaders and members of our communities to speak out on this issue and contact the White House and their elected representatives in Congress to urge support for refugees without regard to religion.

Watch a video of a speech from the AZJN or read a transciption below.

"Dear Friends and Comrades:

Yesterday was Holocaust memorial day. Trump decides that it was great timing to attack refugees.

As a Jewish person, who's own family has survived not only the fascism of Nazis but then the fascist Argentinean military dictatorship, Trump's administration is echoing the same racism of the 1930s

We see the white supremacist, Islamophobic, anti-Jewish, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic and able-ist hate and violence Trump fuels and is fueled by.

To Trump, [and] his administration of bigots, we say 'never again. for anyone. never again. for anyone.' "