DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) — Over the past five years, members of Judea Reform Congregation have helped resettle 13 refugee families from such countries as Afghanistan, Haiti, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. Many of its volunteers are still caring for them. They recently sent the refugee families a spring food gift basket to celebrate Ramadan, Nowruz and Easter.

Welcoming refugees is still a core mission of the synagogue, but no new refugees will be welcomed at the annual Refugee Shabbat commemoration this weekend. With President Donald Trump’s executive order, signed the day of his inauguration, all refugee admissions have been frozen, with the exception of Afrikaners, South African white farmers, of which 2,000 have been resettled across the U.S.

Instead, at Friday night (March 13) services, the congregation will hear from the first Latina member of the Durham City Council about the city’s efforts to welcome immigrants. Next month, volunteers from this synagogue will join up with the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Durham to start a sewing circle for Afghan women who have been resettled in the area in the past few years. Volunteers from both congregations will drive the women to the sewing circle and offer free day care for their children.

Refugee Shabbat was started in 2018 by HIAS, the Jewish refugee resettlement agency, to encourage Jewish congregations to remember where they come from and recommit to helping others. This year nearly 200 congregations across the country have signed up to host a Refugee Shabbat event. “Right now, with all that’s happening around the country, the energy level is very high in the Jewish community to be taking action, and Refugee Shabbat is maybe the easiest thing to do,” said Rebecca Kirzner, a spokesperson for HIAS.

Founded in 1881 in New York to help Jews fleeing persecution abroad, HIAS, formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, now helps non-Jewish refugees primarily.

Marian Abernathy, who heads Reform Judea’s Refugee Resettlement & Immigrant Justice team, said the congregation is as ready to do the work as in the past. “The commitment within Judea Reform hasn’t wavered,” she said. “People feel truly committed to welcoming the stranger and to loving our neighbor. We’re trying to figure out the best ways for us to continue to engage and support them.”

Three faith-based resettlement agencies — HIAS, Church World Service and Lutheran Community Services Northwest — sued the administration on behalf of 120,000 refugees who had already been vetted and screened abroad to come to the U.S. when the ban was issued. Several thousands already had booked their travel to the U.S.

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Last week, in a setback for advocates of refugees, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California reversed a U.S. District Court’s ruling ordering the government to allow those previously approved for resettlement to come to the U.S. The case is ongoing.

In January, the Trump administration went further with a new policy allowing the Department of Homeland Security to detain and rescreen refugees already in the U.S. but who have not yet obtained a green card. About 100 such refugees living in Minnesota were recently detained as part of Operation PARRIS (Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening). On Feb. 27,  a federal judge issued an injunction prohibiting the detention of refugees who have applied for but not yet received their green cards. The injunction applies only to Minnesota.

HIAS is suing the government on this policy in conjunction with the Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts. In all, HIAS is involved in seven legal challenges to the Trump administration’s refugee ban and immigration enforcement agenda. 

For Jews whose parents, grandparents or great-grandparents came to the U.S. to escape oppression and persecution or to find new opportunities, immigration is a core American Jewish experience. Many recoiled in horror at the massive immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

Rabbi Matthew Soffer of Judea Reform in Durham traveled there in late January after organizers issued a call for clergy to come and witness what was happening there. “I was a little worried that I would come home more depressed having witnessed a government that is abducting human beings and making them disappear,” said Soffer. “And what blew me away was how powerful and how fierce the love is among all of the people who are dropping everything and asking, ‘How can I help?’”

Soffer was at the Minneapolis airport heading back to Durham when Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old American intensive care nurse, was shot and killed by immigration agents. Soffer decided to stay several more days to be in solidarity and offer comfort to people in the city.

“There is something about this moment that is making it clear to people in our community that this is exactly what our tradition commands in terms of response,” Soffer added. “It’s at these moments when they matter most.”

He knows his congregation is behind him. And while there are no new refugees arriving in the near future, members of Judea Reform continue to work with those who arrived before Trump’s ban.

A handful of Judea Reform volunteers pack and deliver boxes of food from the Emanuel Food Pantry to refugee families every week. They coach people wanting to pass a driver’s license test or working toward a professional certificate that will allow them to move into better, higher paying jobs, or guide them how they can apply for financial aid to attend college.

“I want to help people see what it means to be a neighbor and not just read Torah about what kind of neighbor we have to be, but actually get closer to our neighbors,” Soffer said. “We’re really trying to translate our story into our own obligations.”

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