​In response to the President’s executive order on immigration, the Board of Directors of Yavneh: A Jewish Renewal Community resolves as follows:
 
As Jews, as citizens of the United States, and as inhabitants of the planet Earth:

• We affirm the dignity of all peoples, regardless of religion, ethnicity, skin color, sexual orientation/identity, country of origin or residence, and decry the many ways in which we unnecessarily divide ourselves.
• We stand against bigotry, xenophobia, hatred, slander, and oppression in all their forms.
• We stand for a country that celebrates religious freedom, welcomes refugees and immigrants, believes in building bridges and not walls, and values all human beings.

As we're taught in Torah, we are forbidden to oppress "the other," for we were strangers in the land of Egypt (Ex.  22:20). 

January 30, 2017