Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

These are the words of Emma Lazarus, engraved on the Statue of Liberty. She wrote this poem in reaction to anti-Semitic pogroms in 1881 that drove thousands of Ashkenazi Jews to emigrate from the Russian Pale of Settlement and come to America.

My great-grandparents fled another round of pogroms in Russia and Poland in 1905, seeking freedom and opportunity and a better life for their children. I am the descendant of immigrants who arrived in this country speaking no English and espousing what was a very foreign faith.

The core principle of that faith resonates and guides me today as I try to walk and work in this world, as I seek tikkun olam – to heal the world – in the best way I can through my nonprofit and volunteer work: You shall not wrong nor oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. This, in various forms, is the most repeated phrase in the Old Testament.

It is because I hold my family history, and these words, in my heart, that I am so deeply appalled at the immigration ban levied by the new administration. That’s why, rather than writing this month about fundraising or governance or nonprofit policy, I feel compelled instead to talk about why and how we, as nonprofit leaders and American citizens, need to speak up and act on our principles.

If your organization provides services for immigrants or refugees or those adversely affected by presidential executive orders, whether that be art classes or counseling or food provision, you need to make your voice heard. You need to know that strong advocacy for sound and compassionate policies is something you can legally do as a nonprofit organization (though you cannot speak for or against a partisan political candidate, which it appears would apply to our new President who has already filed officially as a candidate for 2020). You should be working with your staff and board to be ready to respond quickly to help and support your clients. You should provide a safe place for your community for civil dialogue, education, inspiration, activism, and connection.

I’m hoping these two quotes will raise your spirits and help carry you forward:

Mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. Woody Allen
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose. Dr.Seuss

And this one, that I return to over and over again, for reassurance and strength:

It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it. Rabbi Tarfon, Pirke Avot

The gravity and extent of the task – all the tasks we are facing right now – may seem overwhelming; I know it does for me. But we cannot give up. This is our country, this is our faith, these are our people; now is the time.