"Mass immigration" is about as meaningless as "Paris is worth a mass." Phrases that stir up strife or enmity do not serve our people or provide policies in the best interest of the community. In fact, such political posturing drives wedges among members of different communities throughout the United States.
We do not help ourselves if we indict immigrants, legal or illegal, as the cause for the dilution of the Jewish vote. Such slander borders on stereotype to suggest that Jews vote as one monolithic bloc.
The Jewish people have a history of enduring persecution as a people always cast as forever-visitors and outsiders in nations which suspected their motives are attacked their basic dignities.
The Lord commanded His people, once they left Egypt and established their name and land in Canaan, to treat strangers in their midst with great respect:
"Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
"Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
"If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
"And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless." (Exodus 22: 21-24)
Let us also remember that the Israelites were well taken care of when the walked out of Egypt. After breaking the covenant of blessing with Abraham, the Lord warned the Father of a multitude that his people would suffer:
"And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
"And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
"And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
"But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." (Genesis 15: 13-16)
The Lord promised "great substance" for Abraham's future generations, confirmed in Exodus:
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.
"Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.
"And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people." (Exodus 11: 1-3)
The Israelites took the Egyptians for all they were worth, more than back pay for the four hundred years of slave labor which the children of Abraham had endured.
Psalm 105 gloriously recounts the turn of events which blessed Israel from a nation of oppressed strangers to children of the Most High:
"He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes." (Psalm 105: 37)
As strangers oppressed for four hundred years, the Israelites understood the blessings that were accorded to them. So that they would never forget what the Lord had saved them from, the Lord commanded that His people would treat the stranger in their midst with great respect. Other passages which touch on the privileged status of the stranger:
"And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
"But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19: 33-34)
"Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:
"But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing." (Deuteronomy 24: 17-18)
"Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen." (Deuteronomy 27:19)
There is no room for scapegoating the immigrant, the stranger in our communities. There is certainly no value or esteem in claiming that the immigrant threatens the democratic hegemony of the Jewish people.
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