The Program that Saved my Jewish Education

Posted by Larry Schooler on Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 15:01 pm

It’s only been a few weeks since I became involved with HIAS and the Young Leaders, but already I feel a deep sense of passion for their work – from the start, HIAS’ issues resonated with me. During my recent participation in HIAS’ Advocacy Mission – where I interacted directly with policymakers in Congress, the United Nations, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), and others – I realized how closely these issues are tied

All You Need is Love .... And a Good Jewish Lawyer

Posted by Leon Wildes on Thu, Dec 09, 2010 at 18:59 pm

Leon Wildes, HIAS Board member and Senior Partner of the immigration law firm of Wildes & Weinberg, P.C., recounts his experiences as the former immigration attorney for John Lennon in this first person account, published in the New Jersey Standard.

Reflections from Last Year’s HIAS Advocacy Mission

Posted by Sanaz Meshkinfam on Wed, Dec 01, 2010 at 16:15 pm

I am a proud Jewish Iranian American. At the age of 9, I, along with my family, immigrated to the U.S. from Iran. Although my family was resettled through a similar organization like HIAS, the majority of the rest of my friends and relatives resettled in the U.S. through the assistance provided by HIAS. In the last 10 years, I have been involved in almost every single political activism group and in civic, national, and global politics working on political

Worlds Colliding – Jewish Ethics and Refugee Law Through the Lens of the Shoah

Posted by Aliyah Phillips on Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 16:59 pm

After completing my first year of law school, I began the summer of 2010 feeling that I was about to embark on two very separate journeys. One would bring me to HIAS in Israel to intern in the field of refugee law; the other would bring me to New York, Germany, and Poland through Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) to study professional ethics using the Holocaust as a lens.

Within the first week of my internship

"Obama" – a Congolese Refugee Young Leader

Posted by Amy Schwartz on Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 17:06 pm

Differentiating what leadership means for the youth in America compared to the youth in Africa is a clear topic of discussion.

As you might already know from reading my previous blog posts for HIAServe, I have come here to East Africa as a HIAS Young Leader, a volunteer program of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society that I’ve been active in for the last three years.

HIAS Young Leaders use advocacy, education, community service, and fundraising to continue HIAS' longstanding mission of rescue,

Nathaniel in Europe/Israel -- Greetings from Tel Aviv!

Posted by Nathaniel Berman on Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 13:55 pm

We spent an incredible Shabbat in Kiev, and had the chance to meet up with my fellow Young Leader and HIAS Board Member Valentin Povarchuk, who was coincidentally in Kiev for business. We had the chance to make home visits to refugees that HIAS assists in Kiev, then we visited a facility run by Integration Centre at ROKADA Charitable Fund (a human rights agency supported by UNHCR, which provides services for Afghan refugees). We then took a tour of historic

Nathaniel in Europe/Israel - Greetings from Vienna!

Posted by Nathaniel Berman on Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 13:50 pm

Yesterday we visited HIAS' office in Vienna, which serves as an Overseas Processing Entity (OPE), providing services such as a cultural exchange program to prepare refugees for life in the U.S. For instance, one of their programs teaches refugees how to open a bank account in the U.S.

We then visited the U.S. Consulate, the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the local offices of the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which provides services to the Jewish Iranian refugees processed at the

How I Spent My Summer Vacation – A Law Student’s Experience at the HIAS Tel Aviv Office

Posted by Aliyah Phillips on Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 16:34 pm

Crash Course in Israeli Asylum Law

I couldn’t have asked for a better first week at my internship in HIAS’s Israel office. When I came in to work on Monday morning, I met with my supervising attorney, Sivan Carmel, and she gave me an in depth introduction to refugee law in general and in Israel, and HIAS’s activities here. She explained how Israel began reviewing asylum seekers’ claims in July 2009, less than a year ago. Before that, the United Nations

Mission Countdown: Preparing to visit HIAS' operations abroad

Posted by Nathaniel Berman on Mon, Oct 04, 2010 at 15:04 pm

Hello readers and welcome to my first HIAServe blog post! I have been given the opportunity to travel with members of HIAS' Board of Directors on the upcoming Mission to visit HIAS' operations in Austria, Ukraine, and Israel. We leave this weekend, and I'm already so excited! The draft agenda that we received seems jam-packed with extraordinary meetings, including with refugee coordinators, United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representatives, and ambassadors. I consider my participation in this mission to

Of Note: Seeking Refuge and Renewal with HIAS' Assistance During the High Holiday Season

Posted by Gideon Aronoff on Fri, Sep 03, 2010 at 15:02 pm

Each year, as we approach the High Holidays and prepare to observe Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, Jews around the world reconsider their actions of the past year in order to recreate their lives anew. This season is a focal point for our spiritual lives as we turn in repentance, but it also represents a central theme in Jewish history and life – a search for refuge, family connection, and shelter that allows us to fulfill our lives and