On Thursday, April 26, JCARR welcomed a new refugee family from Syria, our third refugee family in a year. The normal anticipation and anxiety we feel in awaiting their arrival was heightened by the announcement of a proposed Executive Order that was rumored might be signed that very day that would halt refugee entry into the U.S. for 120 days and would cease the admittance of nationals of Syria.
We knew that morning that the family had boarded the plane in Istanbul. We knew they would land in JFK around noon. We didn’t know if they would be met in immigration and prevented from entering the United States. So, we waited, with heavy apprehension added to the normal anxiety.
When I received the phone call from the International Migration officer telling me they were leaving JFK for New Haven, I couldn’t wait to share the good news. The family of five arrived at 3:30 pm. Although they seemed happy when we settled them into their new home, the truth is they looked very tired. The mother explained they hadn’t slept in a bed for 50 hours. The three young children seemed anxious, needy, and the parents were doing everything possible to calm them, to reassure them, to give them what they needed to feel at peace.
Over the next weeks, JCARR volunteers provided needed clothing in the right sizes for each member of the family, familiar foods, toys and games for the children, and other household necessities. Our Cultural Orientation task force began the process of orienting them to their neighborhood and their new community; volunteers took them to a park, the library and the grocery store; we helped them apply for Social Security Cards, Cash Assistance and food stamps; we helped enroll the children in school and the adults in ESL classes. Medical appointments were made and transportation provided. We introduced them to the other Syrian family we welcomed on November 8, Election night. Little by little, our new family is settling in in their home in Hamden (see the pictures below).
The concept of Tikkun Olam tells us to search for a tiny spark of divine light, one small thing we can do to make the world better. In this time when we might feel overwhelmed by chaos, the folks involved with JCARR find that divine light in the eyes of the refugee children and the love their parents show for them. Doing what we can to help them build a new life here helps to soothe our fears and offers us hope for repair of the world.
Dr. Alan Morinis, the founder and dean of The Mussar Institute and an active interpreter of the teachings and practices of the Mussar tradition will be our Scholar-in-Residence. The Mussar Institute advances the study and practice of Mussar, a Jewish path of contemplative practices leading to awareness, wisdom and transformation for the journey of our lives.
