Yesterday, Sunday, February
19, 2017, I was honored to share a few remarks at an event celebrating and
honoring refugees, held by MDHA supporter, the East Plano Islamic Center. Here
is what I said:
My father was a Syrian
refugee. I am a refugee.
Now, since my name is David
Gruber, this declaration might puzzle you. That does not sound like a typical
Syrian name… Allow me to explain.
Ancient Israel, like
most societies of its time, was an agrarian society, and so their festivals
centered around agriculture. However, as they developed their founding myths,
my ancestors incorporated themes from these myths into their already existing
celebrations. Perhaps the most fundamental theme, that they incorporated into
these traditions, was the idea that we are refugees.
Therefore, one festival
morphed into a celebration marking the escape from tyranny and persecution in Egypt. Another
festival came to commemorate wandering in the wilderness. A third festival
became a time to recognize the divine grace inherent in refugees building a new
life in a new land.
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Family of Syrian refugees at
East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC).
EPIC is a supporter of MDHA.
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On that third festival, the
Israelites were commanded to acknowledge this divine grace, bring an offering
to the priest, and proclaim their thanks for their resettlement in a new land.
In giving thanks, they were
commanded to retell their entire refugee story. However, they were not to begin
the story from the Exodus from Egyptian tyranny. They were commanded to start
the story, from the very beginning, far back in the mists of time, when they were
but a family, not yet a people. This family, like the people that later
descended from it, were refugees too.
Do you know where this
family came from? The first words of the story tell us, “A wandering Aramean
was my father…” Do you know how we would say, “A wandering Aramean was my
father…” in today’s English? “My father was a Syrian refugee!” Yes, the
founding myth of our ancient faith begins with acknowledging that our mythical
patriarchs and matriarchs were Syrian refugees.
Our acknowledgement of refugee
status goes one step further, though. The Ancient Rabbis tell us that it is not
just our ancestors, who escaped tyranny by divine grace. We did too. For if
they had not escaped persecution, we too would still be living under a tyrant.
They command us thus, “In every generation a person must regard himself as
though he personally had gone out of Egypt.” We are to see ourselves as
refugees!
This is not a difficult task
for Jews. We have fled persecution many times in our history. Most American
Jews are descended of people who fled from European tyrants. In this blessed
land they sought and found equality. However, they also witnessed the
intolerance and bigotry, that caused the doors of this land to shut, as
European Jewry was destroyed, and six million of our brothers and sisters were
murdered.
When the magnitude of the
Holocaust became evident, we, as Jews, coined a term worthy to be shared by
Americans of all creeds: Never again! Never again will we stand idly by. Never
again will we allow bigotry and intolerance to rule the day. Never again will
we sentence innocents to death by omission. We will stay true to our founding
myth.
My father was a Syrian
refugee. I am a refugee.
