T’ruah is outraged that President Trump is advancing his racist, anti-immigrant agenda by concocting a phony “invasion” as grounds for declaring a fake national emergency in order to secure funding for his unnecessary border wall. This action represents a grave abuse of power that threatens our democracy.
The more than 2,000 rabbis and cantors of T’ruah, who represent the moral voice of the Jewish community, stand in solidarity with immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, along with all Americans who treasure our nation’s commitment to fighting for the basic humanity of all people. We will continue to stand up to the Trump administration’s ongoing threats to our national institutions and values.
In the Torah cycle, we are in the midst of a series of portions that describe the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), a unifying structure built with the free-will contributions of the people. In contrast, the storehouse cities of Egypt were built through coercion, by slaves under threat of violence, to serve the ego of a self-involved Pharaoh.
In defying the will of the majority of American voters who do not want a border wall, and in resorting to an extreme tactic that should be reserved for only the most dire of circumstances, President Trump has shown, yet again, his tendency to resort to actions more befitting an autocratic tyrant in the mold of Pharaoh than the President of the United States. His declaration today demonstrates anew his lack of fitness to lead this country.
We call on Congress and the courts to exercise all the tools at their disposal to end this disgraceful emergency declaration as quickly as possible.
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights mobilizes a network of more than 2,000 rabbis and cantors from all streams of Judaism that, together with the Jewish community, act on the Jewish imperative to respect and advance the human rights of all people. Grounded in Torah and our Jewish historical experience and guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call upon Jews to assert Jewish values by raising our voices and taking concrete steps to protect and expand human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.
To learn more or to speak with T’ruah Executive Director Rabbi Jill Jacobs, contact Julie Wiener at jwiener@truah.org.
