Letter from Berlin

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg is Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK and rabbi of New North London Synagogue. He visited Berlin with IsraAID to find out more about their work with refugees living in Germany. This piece first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. Read it here. I’m shown a child refugee’s drawing of the journey to Europe. It’s […]

On visiting Kurdistan

Rosalind Bluestone is Founder and Director of Goods For Good. Goods For Good distribute much needed aid to refugees around the world. At present their focus is supporting displaced people in Ukraine and refugees in Kurdistan. In Kurdistan there are approximately 1.8 million refugees distributed over three provinces; Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimaniyah. There are 0.8 million […]

What I do for a living – A Befriending Co-ordinator

Malte Gembus is the Mentoring and Befriending Co-ordinator at The Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE). Whenever I’m being asked what I do for a living, I usually take a long breath because I know I’m in for a long haul. I usually try to sum it up with something along the lines of “I […]

Impressions from Calais

Holly Kal-Weiss volunteered in Calais for the second time last week. If you would like to join her in volunteering in Calais, visit our Volunteer in Calais page to find out how to get involved. My second weekend to support refugees was very different from the first. I went the first time with trepidation, excitement and […]

Wide Awake: A spiritual response to the collapse of compassion

This is a Rosh Hashanah sermon, written and delivered by Rabbi Sharon Brous, founding rabbi of IKAR. Delivered 14 September 2015/1 Tishri 5776. Read the original posting of this sermon here and find out more about IKAR here. Four facts: In the last 4½ years, the war in Syria has killed about 240,000 people, including 20,000 children. 6 […]

Reflections from the NNLS asylum drop-in

Deborah Koder co-founded and co-ordinates the New North London Synagogue drop-in for asylum seekers. Taking place once a month, the drop-in supports asylum seekers in the UK, offering them a range of services, as well as food, clothing and supermarket vouchers. Read more about it here.   To say I was moved to help by […]

Keep the door open

This is a Rosh Hashanah sermon, written and delivered by Rabbi Jeremy Gordon, rabbi of New London Synagogue. Delivered 14 September 2015/1 Tishri 5776. Read the original posting of this sermon and more sermons by Rabbi Gordon here. I gave a sermon earlier this year. It was after the death of one of my heroes, Sir Nicholas […]

Indefinite Detention: ‘Happening on your doorstep’

This was a speech delivered by Souleymane of the Freed Voices group to Jewish community members who gathered at the JW3 centre on October 7 ’15 to determine how best to respond to the ongoing refugee crisis. It was first featured on Detention Action page and can be read here.   Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My […]

Refugees Welcome? Indefinite Detention in the UK

Sam Grant is Campaigns and Programme Manager for Rene Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights. What is the issue? This year has seen the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War. Amid heated debate about the UK’s response, the shameful truth is that Britain is the only country in Europe where asylum-seekers are […]

Of Refugees and Migrants

Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah is the rabbi of Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue. She delivered this sermon on Shabbat Lech L’cha/Saturday 24 October 2015. Over the past four years, the news has been dominated by the refugee crisis; in particular, by the millions of refugees fleeing from the conflict between the extremist warriors of so-called […]