“Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,
Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free”
Sermon, June 2, 2006
Rabbi Bruce Kadden

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

These words, from Emma Lazarus’s poem, The New Colossus, reflect the ideal view of our country toward those who seek refuge on our shores.  And for most of our country’s history, they have also reflected the reality.  Indeed, I am sure that many of your ancestors, as mine, came here, perhaps on a ship that went right past the Statue of Liberty that bears these words.

Our country is a nation of immigrants.  Some of us are first generation Americans; many of us are second generation Americans; a few of us may be third generation Americans and there might even be a couple of fourth or even fifth generation Americans.  But all of us are here because at some time in last one hundred, or at the most 150 years, our ancestors chose to leave their homeland and come to America. 

And we are here because America, for the most part, welcomed them with open arms.  There were exceptions, when nativist sentiment significantly limited immigration quotas, sometimes –as during the Holocaust—with tragic consequences.  But for the most part, America has, indeed, welcomed the tired, poor huddled masses who yearned to breathe free.

Now, however, our nation is engaged in an intense debate about immigration and how we should deal with the challenges it poses.  The Senate and the House of Representatives have each passed very different immigration bills.  President Bush has spoken out on the type of changes that he would like to see to our nation’s immigration laws. 

I am not interested, this evening, in commenting specifically about the pros and cons of the bills, although I do have a strong opinion.  Rather, I want to offer some reflections about immigration based both on Jewish tradition and experience and on living in Salinas, California for 20 years.

Salinas, as you are probably aware, is home to a large immigrant population, most of whom are from Mexico.  Among the large Hispanic population, most are in this country legally, but some illegally.  Some are citizens and some are not.  Almost all of them have come to the United States for the opportunity and want nothing more than to be productive members of our society.

The produce industry, which is the major employer in the area, depends greatly on manual labor, a lot of it seasonal.  Much of the produce that we consume is either grown in the Salinas Valley or processed into packaged salads there.  I don’t have to tell you that those who work in the fields work very hard for relatively little compensation. 

The Hispanics were very proud of their heritage; Cinco de Mayo was an important day for the community.  But they were also proud to be Americans or to be living in the United States and grateful for what this country offered them.  And if it appears that they cling more closely to their native language, foods and ethnic traditions, who’s to say that this approach is worse than other groups that more quickly integrated into the great melting pot of American society?  When all is said and done, I have not doubt that they too will find their niche in the greater society, preserving those aspects of their heritage worth preserving, while embracing the common culture that we all do.

The same general scenario is replicated in many other communities and in many other areas of employment such as the restaurant industry and the hospitality industry.  For our economy to function effectively requires a large number of individuals who are willing to start out working for minimum wage.  Without significant numbers of immigrants to fill these positions, we would face great challenges.

I want to reiterate that most of these people are here legally, pay taxes, and contribute to the community.  Those who have been in the country for some time usually learn English, move up to higher paying jobs, and become integrated into the general populace.  Salinas, of course, did face its challenges:  controversy concerning bilingual education, a high rate of teen pregnancy, drug and gang problems, but what community does not have such challenges?

Indeed, when Jewish immigrants settled in the Lower East Side of New York city in significant numbers they faced many serious problems; because of the Jewish commitment to education, we may have dealt with these challenges better than most immigrant communities, but we cannot pretend that we were immune to them.

Throughout our history, we Jews have been a wandering people, often dependent on the hospitality of others to escape persecution.  We have benefited greatly when countries have opened their doors to us and have allowed us to live freely and peacefully within their borders.  And, of course, we have more than repaid those countries through our contributions to virtually every aspect of life.

Israel, too, has opened its doors, not just to Jews from virtually every country in the world; after all, that is in part why it was created.  But Israel has also generously opened its borders to refugees such as the Vietnamese boat people and others fleeing war and oppression.  It has absorbed many non-Jews from the former Soviet Union who came to Israel with Jewish relatives.  And it has brought in guest workers from many countries to meet the labor shortages that were created following the first Intafada which prevented many Palestinians from working in Israel.

Over and over, our Torah teaches us to love the stranger because we were strangers in the land of Egypt.  There may not be a more important lesson in the entire Torah.  Because we know what it is like to have been slaves, to have been persecuted, to have experienced pain and suffering because we were strangers in a land not ours, we need to be especially sensitive, welcoming and loving to those who are strangers in our midst. 

Of course, this does not mean that we must allow every “stranger” who wants to enter our borders to come in and automatically become a citizen.  But it does mean that we must treat those here with compassion and that we should create an immigration process that is fair and workable and meets the needs of our economy.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”  These words remind us that America at its best has been a place where those in need could find refuge, where those who suffered could find hope, a place where your ancestors and mine came and embraced the American dream.  Let us hope and pray Lady Liberty’s torch will continue to shine, lighting the way for those who wish to enter and become a part of this great land.

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