HIAS is the refugee agency that has aided hundreds of thousands of Jews for more than a century. It is likely that ancestors of readers of this piece, and is certainly true of me, benefited at Ellis Island or Galveston from the intervention and aid of HIAS. I have no beef with that, only gratitude.
Other readers who are descendants of Holocaust survivors or who emigrated from the USSR also likely benefitted from HIAS. Here, too, only gratitude.
HIAS has expanded its mission to aid primarily non-Jewish refugees. Its website says that since 1975, and even more so since 2000, HIAS as a matter of policy has directed its resources to assist refugees and immigrants of all religions, ethnicities, nationalities and backgrounds. It has helped many such refugees and immigrants to reunite with their families, and to resettle in the US. In 2018, the very large majority of such refugees have been non-Jewish. No problem here, either, since the Jewish refugee issue has largely vanished and agencies that do good things have a right to alter their mission.
HIAS is currently active in opposing the Trump administration’s aggressive policy to deport immigrants. I would take a more nuanced approach than either HIAS or the administration, but I have no problem with HIAS, as a refugee agency with a long and distinguished history, acting according to its best lights.
Here’s my beef. What is “HIAS?” It is “HIAS,” nothing else. And that is not a tautology. HIAS is no longer what it once was and once was proud to be. HIAS is no longer the “Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.” Its Wikipedia entry is under “HIAS” and notes that it was “founded” as Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, but its name now is HIAS. By its very name — which identifies an organization and a mission more saliently than anything else — HIAS no longer raises a Jewish banner. HIAS no longer speaks to the world as Jews. It is no longer “Hebrew.” HIAS no longer says to refugees, “It is Jews who are helping you.” HIAS no longer is the agency that aided my ancestors and yours. HIAS no longer projects itself as a Jewish effort. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society no longer exists.
“HIAS” is not seen as an abbreviation. Everyone knows that “ADL” stands for Anti-Defamation League, the organization’s official name. “JFNA” stands for “Jewish Federations of North America.” “JCC” stands for “Jewish Community Center.” The full name is the real name. HIAS stands for nothing, just HIAS. No one knows the full name. It is not a convenient abbreviation. It is a symbol and a symptom of assimilation. Proud Jews don’t reduce their identity to official, bland acronyms.
One would think that if one’s current mission is to aid “immigrants of all religions, ethnicities, nationalities and backgrounds,” one would find it valuable for all of these citizens of the world to know that the “Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society” provided the aid. One would think that the good name of the Jewish people is worth disseminating.
Here is a beautiful opportunity to counter anti-Semitism, but it is squandered behind the sterile, opaque “HIAS.” If you don’t know HIAS’ history — and those immigrants “of all religions, ethnicities, etc.” do not know its history — you would never know that “Hebrew” is behind the chesed.
If HIAS sees itself as no longer a Hebrew immigrant society, but as an immigrant aid society that is Hebrew, then let it say so openly, proudly.
The transmogrification of the “Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society” into “HIAS” is another example of the illusion that the universal can supplant, rather than complement, the particular. When the Jewish banner is set aside on pragmatic grounds, Jewish life shrinks. HIAS set aside “Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.”
If the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society changed itself into HIAS, then HIAS can change itself back into Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. It should, for the sake of pride in the Jewish people and projection of Jewish ethics into the world. It is not enough for Jews to do good, it is necessary for Jews to be seen doing good. The name says it all. “HIAS” says nothing. “Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society” says everything.
Go for it.
Rabbi Dr. Hillel Goldberg is editor of the Intermountain Jewish News where this article, first appeared. Reposted with permission..