immigration

Reflections on Illness, Separation, and “BallinStadt,” My Family’s Ellis Island

The former emigration station in Hamburg has special meaning for me because both of my grandfathers departed for Colombia from there in the 1930s.

Hineni, Here I am…

“Accompaniment Urgently Needed for Asylum Court Case.” Volunteers are needed on June 6th.

Mission at the Mexico-US Border

Human beings have devised many rules of three. Perhaps we are physically programmed to create these rules because our bodily ...

They’re Coming to America

For several weeks now, I’ve maintained a careful silence in my 9th grade Jewish Literature classroom about the politics of immigration ...

We Are a Nation of Immigrants

Last night I participated in my town of Westborough’s Interfaith Thanksgiving. Our program was entitled ‘Welcoming the Stranger’, recalling that ...

America and the Sin of Sodom

“We are not a country that should turn children away and send them back to certain death,” -Maryland Governor, Martin ...

Like Ruth, I’m an Immigrant

I am an immigrant to the United States. I am the holder of a green card—the documentation that gives me ...

Let Us Come Home

Dan Brotman is a gay man from Massachusetts. So, legally, he can marry his fiancé, Keith. The only catch is ...

Statues and Golems

I was 28 before I first saw the Statue of Liberty in person. I’d been accepted to grad school in ...

A Contemporary Story Of Redemption

“My father was a wandering Aramean.” With this quote, from Deuteronomy 26:5, we begin not only the Maggid (story-telling) portion ...