BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:230@ohavshalom.org DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211111T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211111T200000 DTSTAMP:20211029T184821Z URL:https://www.ohavshalom.org/events/afghani-refugees-assistance-discussi on/ SUMMARY:Afghani Refugees Assistance ZOOM Meetings 11/11 DESCRIPTION:A Note from Rabbi Ornstein \; 10/29/21\n \;\nDear Ohav Family:\n \;\nAs we move forward with our work on behalf \;of Afgh ani and \;other refugees moving to our area\, I want to thank all of y ou who were at our meeting last Thursday\, as well as all of you who \ ;reached out to express interest \;in this project. \;Many thanks\ , once again\, to all of you who were deeply involved in our first round o f refugee assistance work with Syrian and Afghani refugees over the last f ew years.\n \;\nWe have identified the following four opportunities fo r our Ohav family to be involved in welcoming our new neighbors and helpin g them to acclimate to life in the US\, specifically the capital district\ , over the next weeks and months ahead:\n \;\n1. \; \;Private cash\, materials and AMAZON wish list donations \;to our new neighbors through USCRI. \;See information attached at this link\n \;\n2.&n bsp\; \;Offering medical\, legal\, employment\, and other services&nbs p\;to these new immigrants through your professional practice or business.  \;(Please contact Margaret Slotnick of US Committee on Refugees and I mmigrants - USCRI- for more information about this: \;MSlotnick@uscri- albany.org)\n \;\n3. \;Participating in\, organizing or contributi ng to future \;Ohav donation drives \;that will provide our new fr iends with a variety of immediately necessary winter clothes and household items as they move into their new apartments here in Albany. \; \ ;\n \;\n4. \;Forming an \;Ohav Good Neighbor Team \;which will support \;an immigrant \;family with different kinds of help over an extended period of time. \;See information attached at this li nk\n \;\nWe will be holding two meetings on Zoom over the next two wee ks. \;Feel free to attend one or both meetings to find out more about helping with the drive/s and/or with the Good Neighbor Team.\n \;\nGoo d Neighbor Team Meeting: \;Thursday night\, November 11 at 7 PM:\nZOOM link \; \;\n \;\nDonations Drive Meeting: \;Thursday nigh t\, November \;11 at 8 PM:\nZOOM link\n \;\nI look forward to seei ng you at these upcoming meetings. I am proud of our Ohav family for respo nding so generously to this mitzvot of ahavat ha-ger\, loving and welcomin g the stranger\, and hachnasat orkhim\, showing hospitality to those in ne ed of it.\n \;\nShabbat Shalom\,\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\nA Note from Rabbi Ornstein 10/1/21\n\nDear Ohav Family: \;  \;\nSha nah tovah once again. On Yom Kippur eve\, I spoke of the prophet Isaiah's call to us to honor the true meaning of the Yom Kippur fast by performing acts of justice\, mercy\, and kindness towards those most vulnerable and i n need. Applying his words to the impending immigration of Afghani refugee s to our area\, I said the following from the bimah: A few years ago\, whe n Syrian and Afghani refugees were the new strangers in our midst\, the Oh av family answered the call of our greater capital district community to w elcome and guide them\, to give them a hand in this new promised land. Tod ay\, at this very moment\, the call needs to be answered again. The end of the horrible Afghan War and the ascension of the Taliban to power will br ing in their wake the mass evacuation of thousands of Afghani refugees – individuals and families – to the United States under the Special Immig rant Visa program. Albany has for many years been a major center of refuge e resettlement and I’ve been assured by refugee activists and profession als that our area will be seeing more Afghanis making the capital district their home.\n\nWe\, the children of the prophet who commanded us to let t he oppressed go free\; We\, the distant and recent descendants of refugees \; We\, whom the great Maimonides called compassionate people descended fr om compassionate people\; We have the opportunity to answer this newest ca ll to welcome these newest refugees into our midst\, to help them to heal from their traumas\, to give them the hope of a new life here in our home. In the weeks to come\, I will call upon our Ohav family to come together to discuss how we might make a difference\, how we\, former strangers in E gypt\, might lift up and support these newest strangers in our midst. I th ank those of us who answered the call in the past. I look forward to those in our family who will answer it in the future.\n\nThe future is now. Gov ernor Hochul has informed our community that our region\, one of the outst anding centers for refugee resettlement\, will become home to at least 100 Afghani refugees in the future. I have already heard from a number of our Ohav family members about their readiness to help with different aspects of resettlement. I look forward to our coming together to determine how we can help this newest wave of refugees seeking shelter in our country.\n\n All the best and Shabbat shalom\,\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.ohavshalom.org/wp-content/uploads/20 21/10/Afghan-welcome-1.png CATEGORIES:Featured Events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20211107T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR