Our Kabbalat Shabbat service at 7 p.m., October 19, will include participation HIAS’ National Refugee Shabbat, during which Jews across the country will consider the plight of refugees. The parsha (Torah portion) for this shabbat will be Lech Lecha, which describes the beginning of the experience of wandering in search of freedom for the Jewish people. This makes it a particularly meaningful opportunity to deepen our understanding of today’s global refugee crisis,

There are now more than 65 million people who have fled their homes due to persecution and violence. Before October 19, one way to learn more about the global refugee crisis is by viewing the film Human Flow, a documentary by internationally renowned artist, Ai Weiwei. With footage from 23 countries, this powerful film visually documents the staggering scale of the current global refugee crisis – the greatest human displacement since World War II. The film can be found on Amazon, iTunes, Youtube and other streaming media (see https://www.humanflow.com/watch-at-home/ for links.)

CLICK HERE TO PREVIEW THE MOVIE HUMAN FLOW (2 min. 26 sec.)

Hill Havurah stands with HIAS in seeking to alleviate the plight of refugees and we support the local Good Neighbor program in helping to re-settle refugees in the DC area. We hope you will join us on October 19 as we participate in National Refugee Shabbat.