Immigrants

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

When our boat sailed by the Statue of Liberty I got goose bumps just thinking about what this sight must have meant to the masses of immigrants who sailed past her on their way to America. This symbol of freedom is one of those things that makes me proud of my country, a place that welcomes the all those yearning to be free. This great country of ours is built on the lives of immigrants who have worked hard to make this land their own and have blessed this land with their talent.



Most of these people passed through Ellis Island on the way to their new home. The Lower East-side of New York became crowed with these new Americans, fresh off the boat.



At the suggestion of my favorite rabbi one of the things we did in New York was to visit the Tenement Museum. It was a very educational and emotional tour. We went through two of the 300 square foot apartments that were home to two of the families of the many immigrants, one appeared as it did in 1890s, the other as it was in the 1930s. Life was very hard for these people as they adjusted to a new land that was in the midst of economic hard times. Most did not speak English and lived in great poverty.

Some things never change. People of that time formed political parties to keep these newly arrived citizens out of America because they had a different religion and spoke no English. It was said they would hurt our country and never be real Americans. The children and grandchildren of these immigrants are now part of the American tapestry and have helped to make our land a great place.

I hope our country still can be a place that welcomes the huddled masses yearning to be free. I believe these new arrivals can help bless this country and make it a stronger, more beautiful place.

God bless America.