“Welcoming the Stranger and the Refugee” by Rabbi Jordie Gerson, Jan.8, 2016

On Sunday, January 8, Rabbi Jordie Gerson preached on “Welcoming the Stranger and the Refugee: Gifts from Unexpected Places”. Rabbi Gerson, a graduate of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City, and Harvard Divinity School, is a well-known writer and speaker who served as a Rabbi at Yale University and New York University and is a frequent contributor to The Forward, The Huffington Post, and the Harvard Divinity Bulletin.

This Sunday, she taught us about the ancient Jewish value of hachnasat orchim – welcoming the stranger, by calling upon the week’s Torah portion (Vayigash – when Joseph’s brothers arrive in Egypt as refugees), the story of the magi, and the Syrian refugee crisis.