From “Rags” to… Integrity

I just returned from Goodspeed after seeing “Rags,” a musical about the Jewish immigrant experience in 1910. The story describes the experience of “greenhorns” arriving at Ellis Island in New York, fleeing a European past of pogroms, and seeking new lives, hope and aspiration in the New World. As described in the revised book, author David Thompson in a screenplay written by Joseph Stein “explores what might have happened to the families who had come to America from Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof).”  We see the tension between holding onto old values and entering a new reality, – “What do you keep? What do you leave behind?” In this musical, we are reminded that Americans already in the country view immigrants both as “fodder” to fuel the economy and also as potential threats to take their jobs and change their culture. The resonance with our current-day xenophobia and fear of immigrants is striking.

I cried at times during this play. In my real life, as I heard the chants of “build the wall” this past year, I saw in my mind an image of all four of my grandparents, who immigrated to New York from Poland, Lithuania and Russia in the same time frame depicted in “Rags.” Like the characters in the play, my grandparents left their families and fled from oppression, fear and little opportunity to create new lives and hope for the future in America. My grandparents struggled much as the characters in the play did with a hope and vision of the future for their children and grandchildren – – my future. I have a secure and happy life, a loving family, and I was able to craft my own future without fear of hunger, oppression or religious discrimination.

I believe that my responsibility as a Jew and as an American is to do what I can to assure that others have the same opportunities and protections that my grandparents received when they sailed into New York harbor three generations ago allowing my parents, sister and our whole happy family to thrive.  Temple Emanuel supports JCARR, the Jewish Community Alliance for Refugee Resettlement. This was one of the agencies that received our High Holiday Appeal support. JCARR welcomed three families to our community this past year, two from Syria and one from the Democratic Republic of Congo. My wife Joan and I will support JCARR this Hanukkah. I hope you might take a few moments to think about your own family’s history and our collective Jewish community history, and support JCARR and other organizations that welcome and support immigrants to our wonderful country.