 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!

