Members of The Jewish Center in Princeton discuss the connection they feel with Syrian refugees fleeing for their lives.
PRINCETON - For some members of the Jewish Center of Princeton, their connection with the millions of Syrian refugees fleeing warfare and conflict in their native country, is both difficult and deep.
The new Princeton logo designed by town resident Jeff Leonard. "We understand what it means to be faced with life or death," congregation member Melissa Hager said. "We as a group absolutely understand what it means to leave one's homeland."
That connection is part of the reason the congregation recently decided to work toward housing a Syrian refugee family, though the process is a slow one.
Rabbi Adam Feldman of the Jewish Center of Princeton said that he first brought the idea forward to the congregation around the fall of last year during the Jewish holiday, Sukkot. The holiday is about, "creating peaceful shelters," Feldman said.
It was something that resonated first with him, and then with his congregation.
Since Feldman first discussed the idea in the fall, Hager and another member of the congregation, Louise Sandberg, have taken over the planning process.
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They have been keeping in touch with various organizations around New Jersey and New York like the Jewish relief organization HIAS or First Friends of New Jersey & New York Corp. The organization would be responsible for connecting the center with a family, Hager said. Then the center would pair a refugee family with a family in the congregation as a temporary home until they find a more permanent solution.
Since many Syrian refugee families are held up in a process that could take nearly two years, Hager said the center might end up housing a family in need who are not from Syria.
Still, the story of the millions of Syrian refugees making a daring - and often dangerous - bid for safety from the war in their home country, was what drew many members of the congregation together in the first place.
Hager expressed the feeling of solidarity she had in a letter she wrote to the congregation a month ago.
"We know what it means to be homeless, made to leave places we once called home and to wander seeking freedom. We have been, at various times in our history, refugees and strangers in strange lands," She said in the letter.
The process is slow going. Like the Nassau Presbyterian Church, which is also trying to provide housing for a refugee family, the Jewish Center congregation doesn't know whether they'll house someone in a matter of weeks or a matter of months.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.