As the Syrian refugee crisis continues to be exploited by politicians in the USA, the International Business Times ran an article reporting that many American Jewish community leaders have been calling on the country’s elected officials to infact do more, and not less, for those fleeing the war in Syria.

…for many Americans Jews, the idea of turning away people in need potentially because of their religion has sent an alarming message. The Anti-Defamation League, an organization that works to protect civil rights for Jews and other minorities, issued a statement Tuesday condemning the governors who said they would reject Syrian refugees.

“The people fleeing Syria are fleeing the same types of terrorists that did these attacks in France last week,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of ADL said Wednesday. “We need to have effective screenings for refugees, we need to look at the multi-layered process to make sure it works. But ADL works on behalf of all people regardless of how they look, where they’re from, who they love. The idea of discriminating against refugees based on their faith strikes us as very un-American.”

Georgette Bennett, founder of the Multifaith Alliance For Syrian Refugees, noted the very real dangers of leaving young children in the refugee camps open to the very extremism that has ravaged so much of the Middle East.

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Published by Forward.com

A New Jersey synagogue had recently arrived Syrian refugees join them for what has become Jewish tradition on Christmas: Chinese Food.

“As Jews, we all come from refugee families and we know in our bones what it’s like to have hateful rhetoric directed toward us,” said Rabbi Tepperman of Montclair N.J.’s Bnai Keshet, whose members organized the gathering for 10 families, all Muslim. “Many of our parents were Holocaust refugees.”

“Members of our congregation and people throughout the Jewish community have really felt called to help the refugees,” Tepperman told NJ.com.

The Friday evening event coincided with the Sabbath and began with started with blessings over candles and challah bread, the news site reported.

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