Washington Synagogue Becomes Haven For Refugees
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — A synagogue in Olympia, Washington has become a haven for refugees.
Temple Beth Hatfiloh, a Reconstructionist congregation with some 175 member families, announced on Wednesday evening that it has become a sanctuary congregation, working in conjunction with other regional faith communities and immigrant rights organizations.
“In support of immigrant rights, the congregation pledges to participate in actions up to and including physical sanctuary,” the synagogue said in an announcement.
The synagogue’s rabbi, Seth Goldstein, said at an opening event on Wednesday evening that his congregation had been working on the plan for months.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have detained more 1,600 undocumented immigrants in Washington State, local news station KIRO 7 reported.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected]
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
