My People Were Refugees Too
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My People Were Refugees Too

Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 42 seconds

Refugee and Asylum Advocacy Training

Yesterday my wife and I participated in a Refugee and Asylum Action Advocacy Training sponsored by HIAS. America is an idea, and now is the time to welcome the stranger and protect the refugee.

Being referred to by many as an advocate, it was strange sitting in a room at Temple Emanu-El in Westfield. I had to hold myself back from speaking up, jumping the plan, and encouraging everyone to make calls, set up meetings, and advocate.

I had to remind myself that we were attending to represent Temple Sha’arey Shalom. So, I listen and learn.

I am here because I am looking for something to replace my life’s work as I enter the third week of retirement, realizing that the key to being a leader is learning patience and finding a way to be a team player.

Being Jewish by marriage, I keep thinking about how my family history of being a refugee from Ireland fits with the diaspora. If our people were refugees too, the reason they left to come to America is not that important.

America is an idea. Ireland is a great country, but it’s not an idea. Great Britain is a great country, but it’s not an idea. That’s how we see you around the world, as one of the greatest ideas in human history.

Bono

The goals seem easy compared to decades of seeking adequate funding for a place to call home.

The Refugee Advocacy Asks are:

  • Keeping the refugee resettlement program open;
  • Holding the Administration accountable in reaching its 30,000 Presidential Determination (PD) level for FY19;
  • Increasing the PD to at least 75,000 in FY20;
  • Maintaining adequate funding for the program; and
  • Reviving bipartisan Congressional support for the program and finding common ground with administrative agencies.

The following steps become less clear. Can we move ahead, or do we need to gain support from our temple?

Finally, we agree to continue to meet.

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Godwin: A Novel

Read: February 2025

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Godwin: A Novel

by Joseph O'Neill

Today, I dove into “Godwin” by Joseph O’Neill, the brilliant mind behind “Netherland,” which snagged the title of Best Book of the Year from the New York Times Book Review. This captivating tale follows the adventure of two brothers embarking on a globe-trotting quest to find an extraordinary African soccer prodigy—someone who might transform their lives forever. The thrill of their journey and the promise of discovery have me hooked!

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Read: November 2024

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Year of Wonders: A Novel

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Read: January 2022

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Trouble the Saints

by Alaya Dawn Johnson

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Trouble the Saints is a dazzling, daring novel—a magical love story, a compelling chronicle of interracial tension, and an altogether brilliant and deeply American saga.

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Read: March 2023

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Hello Beautiful

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Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is a gorgeous, profoundly moving portrait of what’s possible when we choose to love someone, not despite who they are but because of it. Although several sources recommended Hello Beautiful, I chose the novel based on the title as it is how I always greeted Jan. I highly recommend this book as it is one of the best I have ever read.

Hello Beautiful is an exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, Little Women. Knowing it was not him, William Waters’s experience growing up as an only child was an engaging character in the early portion of the novel. However, my hero was Sylvie, the dreamer who pursued true love and found it in a place one would less expect to find it. The consequences of her love reverberate over decades in their families. 

The following passage is one example of a well-written book.

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The Goodreads summary provides an overview,

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it’s a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three younger sisters: Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book and imagines a future different from the expected path of wife and mother; Cecelia, the family’s artist; and Emeline, who patiently takes care of all of them. Happily, the Padavanos fold Julia’s new boyfriend into their loving, chaotic household.

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The Jan Lilien Education Fund sponsors ongoing sustainability and environmental awareness programs. Gifts made this month; I will match dollar-for-dollar. All donations are tax-deductible.

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Read: September 2024

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Salvage the Bones: A Novel

by Jesmyn Ward

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Read: April 2022

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My Evil Mother: A Short Story

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Goodreads provides a concise overview.

Life is hard enough for a teenage girl in 1950s suburbia without having a mother who may—or may not—be a witch. A single mother at that. Sure, she fits in with her starched dresses, string of pearls, and floral aprons. Then there are the hushed and mystical consultations with neighborhood women in distress. The unsavory, mysterious plants in the flower beds. The divined warning to steer clear of a boyfriend whose fate is certainly doomed. But as the daughter of this bewitching homemaker comes of age and her mother’s claims become more and more outlandish, she begins to question everything she once took for granted.

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