Tzedakah is an important Jewish value. And right now, two congregations in the Baltimore area are practicing it by aiding a refugee family from Afghanistan in their quest to seek humanitarian parole and U.S. citizenship.
Beth Am and Hinenu Baltimore have been working to bring a family of 21 people over to the U.S. since 2021, when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan toward the end of the U.S.’s war in the country. At the time, a Maryland resident with family in Kabul connected with Hinenu and Beth Am in hopes that they would help bring his family overseas and help them apply for humanitarian parole.
Through a joint GoFundMe campaign, the congregations raised over $16,000 for the family. Recently, their request for asylum has been approved.
But the family’s efforts to start a new life in Maryland are far from over. They now have to apply for green cards, which can cost $1,440 to $1,760 per person. It’s a significant expense for any new U.S. resident, let alone a family of 21.
“The first stressor is the amount of money, and if you want to keep a family unit intact, you really need that amount of money,” explained Natalie Spicyn, the former chair of Tzedek Beth Am, Beth Am’s social justice-focused group. “The other is that [the family has] received advice from lawyers to get these green card applications out before November, so there’s a concern that they need to have them processed and approved before the next president is elected or reelected.”
While Spicyn is no longer chair of Tzedek Beth Am, she has been in frequent contact with the family and recently joined them for an iftar meal during Ramadan.
The family’s father, who spoke with the JT on condition of anonymity for him and the rest of his family members, said that he’s known some of the leadership at Hinenu and Beth Am for years, which is how he thought to reach out to them for aid.
“My father, he used to tell me always that the Muslims and Jews, we are cousins. My father had a great relationship with the Afghan Jewish people who fled Afghanistan during the civil war,” he said.
In addition to raising money for the family’s asylum and green card applications, the Beth Am and Hinenu communities have also been helping them out by providing services. Congregants have been tutoring the family in English, teaching them to drive and helping their children start attending local schools.
Beth Am is continuing to take donations, hoping to reach $8,000 so the family can apply for at least five green cards, but is currently requesting that people donate through their website. Fundraising websites like GoFundMe usually take a small cut of the money raised in exchange for hosting the fundraiser, so raising these funds through the congregation’s website will ensure that all money goes to the family instead of a third party.
“I’m a first-generation American, and my family was resettled from Poland. I think a lot of us share those immigrant stories, so as a community, we can really relate to this family’s story,” Spicyn said. “We would be really touched if people across Maryland were interested in contributing, because these people may very well be their neighbors.”
The family’s father said that he has been incredibly grateful for the support Baltimore’s Jewish community has shown him, his children and his extended family. But they’re not out of the woods yet, so any help people can offer would be greatly appreciated.
“I don’t want my relatives to be disappointed, because they have lost everything. They came here with nothing,” he said. “But now they’re going to school, they have a beautiful life, they’re happy.”
