JANUARY 16 • 2020 | 19

Jews in the D

and how we might best sup-
port them.
”
Rabbi Jeffrey Falick of the
Birmingham Temple
Congregation of Humanistic
Judaism in Farmington Hills
recounts that they have been

Rabbi Jeffrey
Falick

working on
immigration
issues since
2016, with a
big ramp-up in
January 2017
in response to
the govern-
ment’
s “Muslim ban.
”
Birmingham Temple
declared itself a sanctuary
in 2017 and became part of
the Sanctuary Network of
Michigan. The congregation
has sponsored a Syrian ref-
ugee family for almost three
years, and it issued a resolu-
tion to resist the deportation
of undocumented immi-
grants.
Regarding federal immi-
gration policy, Falick says,
“Nothing has changed — at
least, nothing for the better.
We have discovered even
more children were detained
than the government at first
admitted, and more are being
detained. ICE keeps looking
for cost-savings in the already
inadequate way the children
are cared for.
“Things are as bad as they
ever were,
” he added. “Trump
has put pressure on Mexico to
keep asylum seekers without
even letting them over the
border into the U.S. The U.S.
government has decided to
charge asylum seekers to pro-
cess their applications.
”
The legal environment
for pursuing asylum claims
and for immigration status
is convoluted and horrible,
Falick says, adding that peo-
ple caught in this system need
legal help. The Birmingham

Temple supports the efforts
of Freedom House in Detroit,
which helps immigrants with
legal representation and with
job assistance.

DIFFERING VIEWS
Meanwhile, some Jewish
organizations support the
Trump administration in its
efforts to restrict immigra-
tion.
Dorene Weisberg, co-pres-
ident of the board for the
Michigan Jewish Action
Council (MJAC.us), says
MJAC “incorporated in
spring of 2017, after wit-
nessing what appeared to be
a coordinated effort by the
standard Jewish agencies to
resist the newly inaugurated
president and attack all of his
policies and ultimately smear
him with accusations of
anti-Semitism.
“We decided we could no
longer tolerate the assumption
that those agencies provided
the final word on the beliefs,
standards and activities of 100
percent of the Jewish popula-
tion, particularly on the local
level, here in Michigan. We
continue to believe there is a
substantial Jewish population
(at least 25 percent) not in
agreement with those agen-
cies, and we hope to be the
one agency that can represent
and be the home for those
Jews here in Michigan.
”
Asked specifically about
immigration, Weisberg refers
to the statements of a rabbinic
organization, the Coalition for
Jewish Values. Its vice presi-
dent, Rabbi Yoel Schoenfeld,
condemned the Obama
administration’
s policy “under
which large numbers of illegal
immigrants who infiltrated
across the southern border in
the U.S. were not prosecuted
for the illegal entry.
”

continued from page 17

TEMPLE SHIR SHALOM’S
CHI
CKEN SOUP

COOK-OFF

CHI
CKEN SOUP
COOK-OFF

Templ
e

Shi
r Shal
om’
s

10t
h
annual
Chi
cken Soup Cook-Off!

Sun. Jan. 26

12:30–2:00pm

Taste 20+ Chicken Soups!

Professional & Amateur Divisions

Sponsors (as of Jan 10):

Art Fishman Burning Bush Fund
Beau’s
Best Homes Title Agency
Ciao
Cutting Edge Cuisine
Detroit Jewish News
Fran and Gary Grossman
Franklin Village Boutique
Harris Altman Injury Lawyers
Jennifer’s Café
Lisa and Josh Sherbin
Lulu’s Coney Island
Mort Meisner Associates
Napoletana Classic Italian
Panera Bread
Pegasus Entertainment
Pine Lake Market and Deli
Platinum Dish Catering
Sallyjo and Barry Levine
Schneiderman & Sherman
Steve’s Deli
Sweet Spots
Temple Shir Shalom Brotherhood
Temple Shir Shalom Preschool
Tony’s Deli
Val’s Deli

@Temple Shir Shalom

info
+
tickets:
www.SoupCookOff.org
or (248) 737-8700

The whole community is invited!