HIAS Refugee Shabbat

Refugee Shabbat is a moment for us to dedicate a Shabbat experience to refugees and asylum seekers. The fastest-growing European refugee crisis since World War II is still ongoing. People seeking asylum are being turned away at borders around the world. And this year, for the first time ever, the total number of displaced persons globally is over 100 million. This is a critical moment for all of us to reaffirm and redouble our support for refugees and asylum seekers.

We are pleased to announce that Sabrina Lustgarten, HIAS’s new Global Vice President, will be speaking at our service. Lustgarten is from a family of refugees herself. Lustgarten’s grandparents fled World War II and HIAS stepped in to ensure they got to rebuild their lives in Colombia. It was an intervention that the family never forgot. And so it was with a sense of history and gratitude that Lustgarten began her career at HIAS in 2003 when she opened the office in Ecuador to respond to the Colombian refugee crisis.