Bet Haverim Rabbi 'Saddened' By State's Immigration Bill

The map stood against a wall in the Clairmont Road building that local synagogue shares with . A crowd of brightly colored pins poked out from Eastern Europe. A smaller, more diffused collection of pins protruded from North Africa. Other outliers stood alone, scattered across various locations.

Minsk. Tehran. Warsaw. Vienna. These are the origins of Congregation Bet Haverim’s members. Like those of the greater Jewish community, they span the globe.

The display was part of Bet Haverim’s immigration-themed Passover seder Tuesday night. Participants signaled their families’ roots by marking them with pins on the map. The seder, or ritual service and feast, aimed to tell the stories behind the colorful pins and explore their relationship with the nation’s immigration debate.

Jews observe Passover every spring to mark the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt as described in the Bible’s Old Testament. Seders are held on the first and second nights of the eight-day holiday. While Bet Haverim’s Tuesday night celebration boasted all of the trappings of a traditional Passover celebration, this was not your grandmother’s seder. The text that accompanied the seder included quotes from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez and Eugene Debs alongside those of Jewish theologians.

Rabbi Joshua Lesser opened the evening by condemning Georgia’s recently passed immigration legislation and urged participants to act on their convictions.

The law, inspired by a similar bill in Arizona, would allow local and state police to arrest undocumented immigrants. It currently awaits Gov. Nathan Deal’s signature.

“I am saddened that our immigration laws passed last week,” Lesser said. “Tonight we will explore the immigrant experience, documented and undocumented. Perhaps we’ll be led to some sort of action.”

Midway through the seder, participants paused to discuss their personal stories of immigration. Lesser urged them to also consider “ways that we can make Atlanta or the world a more just place for immigrants and strangers.”

The room erupted in impassioned conversation as the 150 attendees engaged those seated around them. Congregants discussed their roots in distant lands, ranging from Lithuania to India. They revealed their families’ various motivations for moving to the United States. Some fled persecution. Others merely sought to advance their careers.

Lesser closed the discussion by questioning a portion of Georgia’s immigration bill that allows for the criminal prosecution places of worship that house undocumented immigrants. He urged the congregation to have a “conversation” about this clause.

“Is it appropriate for some kind of civil disobedience?” he posed.

Bet Haverim’s unique history also informed the program Tuesday evening. The congregation was founded by members of Atlanta’s gay and lesbian community. Its membership now consists of 60 percent straight households and 40 percent gay households, Lesser said.

The rabbi said in an earlier interview that Bet Haverim’s historical legacy “allows (the congregation) to create a sense of empathy.”

The four glasses of wine that traditionally symbolize the Israelites’ freedom from oppression also commemorated the modern struggles of immigrants at Bet Haverim Tuesday night, including those in the gay community.

The final cup was dedicated in part to the Faith Coalition for the Uniting American Families Act. The coalition advocates for immigration reform that ends “discrimination against LGBT families” by ensuring that any reform legislation allows lesbian and gay Americans “to sponsor their permanent partners,” according to the group’s website.

Participants praised the seder on their way out the door.

“Beautiful, wonderful, sad and joyous at the same time,” said Beth-Ann Buitekant of East Atlanta. “I believe (immigration reform) is an issue of social justice and I love the way Rabbi Josh brings together past and present.”

Will Robertson of Tucker said he also appreciated the connection between the holiday’s ancient narrative and the modern issue of immigration.

“I thought it was beautifully done,” he said. “The parallels between the Exodus story and modern folks being oppressed are beautiful.”