The Charlotte Jewish News- November 2026- Page 28
Once Strangers, Now Welcoming Strangers
By Amy Lefkof
To celebrate Sukkot, Jewish Community Refugee Initiative( JCRI) held its annual Sharing the Harvest volunteer event in partnership with Refugee Support Services( RSS). RSS is a local post-resettlement organization that supports refugees, former refugees, asylees, special immigrant visa holders and humanitarian parolees who have resettled in Charlotte.
With the help of nearly 40 volunteers, including middle school students from Charlotte Jewish Day School( CJDS), JCRI assembled 125 tote bags for refugee families served by RSS. Each contained 12 to 13 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, pantry staples such as flour, sugar, salt, and pepper, and household essentials including hand sanitizer and dish soap.
The effort also drew support from across the community: Publix provided the bright green totes, Amélie’ s French Bakery donated 120 loaves of sourdough bread for the third consecutive year, and Jewish Family Services( JFS) contributed bags of rice. RSS said the tote bags help families work toward self-sufficiency“ and feel a sense of belonging in their new community.”
Temple Beth El’ s Rabbi Asher Knight drew a connection between Sukkot and the experiences of refugees arriving in Charlotte. During Sukkot, Jews dwell in temporary structures that recall the fragile shelters of the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after escaping slavery in Egypt. The holiday, Knight said, asks Jews to confront their own vulnerability and to consider the precarious conditions many refugees have endured and the harrowing journeys they have made in search of a safe haven.
Looking over the fruits and vegetables waiting to be distributed, Rabbi Knight pointed to the work unfolding around him as an expression of the Jewish imperative to welcome the stranger. The CJDS middle schoolers had made that gesture all the more personal, writing messages on Sukkot notecards tucked into each bag.
Among the volunteers was Casey Kaplan, a Temple Beth El member and Charlotte Jewish Preschool mother, whose ties to the Jewish community also include her participation in the Bernstein Leadership Group cohort. For Kaplan, the work reflected the themes of the holiday.
The Sharing the Harvest event“ was such a wonderful reminder, especially during the joyous time of Sukkot, of our responsibility as Jews to take care of the stranger,” she said.“ It was an honor to provide even a small piece of Sukkat Shalom, or Shelter of Peace as mentioned by Rabbi Knight, to some of our most vulnerable neighbors.”
Julie Sanner and her three sons were the first volunteers to arrive for the tote bag assembly line. Since the October 7th Hamasled attack on Israel, Sanner had wanted to find a way for her family to stand alongside Charlotte’ s Jewish community.
“ We prayed continuously for you all and still do,” Sanner said.“ And then to watch the world turn on the Jewish people with such hatred has sickened us. We desired to show our heart in action by loving the Jewish community and standing shoulder to shoulder with them, serving others to value each of you.”
Sanner arrived at the event with a different understanding of whom she would be helping.“ I thought we were going to be packing bags for Jewish refugees,” she said. When she learned the totes would go to non-Jewish refugees, Sanner said she was“ deeply moved” that JCRI was“ honoring the Torah by welcoming the stranger.”
Toward the end of the event,
Charlotte Jewish Day School middle school students and JCRI volunteers gather after assembling food packages for refugee families.
Volunteer Casey Kaplan laughs with friends while filling bags on the JCRI food assembly line.
three RSS staff members added personal histories behind the organization’ s work with newcomers. Julie Mikhachova and Kateryna Arsenieva described leaving Ukraine during the Russia-Ukraine war. Sadaf Alemi, who fled Afghanistan, asked the CJDS middle schoolers to imagine learning they had just one hour to pack their belongings and leave their country.
Alemi then widened the lens from her own experience to the families RSS serves.“ Many newcomers arrive with very little time to prepare and few people to turn to,” she said.“ Having a staff member who speaks their language and understands their journey helps families feel welcome from the very first conversation. Events like Sharing the Harvest remind us that our neighbors in Charlotte care, and that makes all the difference as families build a new home here.”
Mark Hetfield, former president and CEO of HIAS, formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and the world’ s oldest refugee resettlement agency, distilled the organization’ s mission into a single distinction: HIAS helps refugees not because“ they are Jewish, but because we are Jewish.” It is an obligation rooted in the Torah, where the commandment to welcome the stranger appears in various forms 36 times.
For JCRI, that commandment turns Jewish memory outward. The history of having been strangers, refugees and people turned away at borders becomes
not only something to remember but also a responsibility toward those arriving as strangers today.
Jewish Community Refugee Initiative( JCRI) is a layled initiative that connects Charlotte’ s Jewish community with local refugee communities through education, volunteer service and relationship-building. Now in its 10th year, JCRI brings together The Levine JCC, Jewish Family Services, Temple Israel, Temple Beth El, Jewish Foundation of the Carolinas and Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center. JCRI partners with organizations serving refugees and immigrants across greater Charlotte, including Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency, a local affiliate of HIAS; Refugee Support Services( RSS); ourBRIDGE for KIDS; and Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy. To learn about volunteer opportunities with RSS, contact Amy Lefkof at amyflefkof @ gmail. com or Elizabeth Weinstein at Elizabeth. c. weinstein @ gmail. com