Educational Resources
Resources for Jewish Holidays
Dec 19, 2024
The High Holidays
Dec 19, 2024
Every High Holiday season, join HIAS in working to create a more just world in which refugees and asylum seekers can rebuild their lives in safety and with dignity. Through our shared values of welcome, justice, empathy, partnership, courage, and resilience, we welcome the stranger and protect the refugee.
Dec 19, 2024
Sukkot
Dec 19, 2024
Each year, we recreate the huts in which our Israelite ancestors found refuge after escaping slavery in Egypt and wandering in the desert for 40 years. Sukkot allows us time to recognize our own fragility and reminds us that, for so many, shelter remains impermanent.
Dec 19, 2024
Passover
Dec 19, 2024
On this holiday when we remember the Jewish people’s journey to freedom, we know that our freedom is inextricable from those of all others fleeing from violence and toward safety. The HIAS Haggadah is full of readings and stories which connect the foundational liberation story of the Jewish people with the reality of the refugee experience in the 21st century.
Dec 19, 2024
Calendar
Dec 19, 2024
Check all the important dates for your Jewish and refugee year, or download our calendar, so you have them all to hand.
More Resources
Jun 26, 2023
Tisha B’Av Resource
Jun 26, 2023
This text study juxtaposes texts from Eicha (the Hebrew name for the book of Lamentations), with its graphic descriptions of a conquered Jerusalem, with stories and images from Kabul as it fell to the Taliban.
May 10, 2023
Ruth, Naomi, and the Refugee Experience
May 10, 2023
The Book of Ruth tells the story of refugees. The first refugees we learn about are Naomi, Elimelech, and their sons, who flee Bethlehem during a time of famine. Their need is so great that they go to the land of Moab, the historical enemies of the Israelites. The family is forced by circumstance to migrate to a place of uncertain welcome and perhaps even mortal danger.
Nov 13, 2022
Refugee Torah
Nov 13, 2022
Readings from Jewish scriptures and wisdom sources that talk about how we should think about receiving guests and refugees.
Nov 13, 2022
“For you were strangers in the land of Egypt” Peoplehood Papers 19
Nov 13, 2022
Peoplehood Papers 19 sets out to explore the Jewish responsibility to refugees in the 21st century in the context of Jewish history, legacy and commitment to Torah and Jewish values. We very intentionally explored the issue through the eternal yet very present Jewish lens: "For you were strangers in the land of Egypt."
Nov 13, 2022
Rosie and Warda Children’s Book
Nov 13, 2022
This book, aimed at children in grades 1-3, seeks to highlight the important contributions and cultural differences that refugees bring to our communities as well as our responsibility to welcome them.
Sep 16, 2022
Sep 16, 2022
Sep 16, 2022