BJC Loving Our Honduran Neighbors
Hey, Beth Jacob! We have an open-hearted opportunity to pour some love into the world and help our Honduran neighbors through our friend Miguel, who we met in October 2019 when we learned with him at a Post-Kiddush Learning.
"Klal hagadol batorah," declared Rabbi Akiva, the central principal of the Torah: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Lev. 19:18)
Miguel is a U.S. citizen who has chosen to live his life among people in poverty in Las Vegas, Honduras. By living on the smallest portion of his teaching pension that he can, Rabbi Amy Ariel's retired high school teacher gives everything else away so that his neighbors - and friends - can have more life. with his life, he teaches to love without limit, and with his support, and the support of donors through him, folks in his community have received help with life-saving food, medical care, and shelter. Babies, like Maicol in our cover photo, have been born healthy. Women have had access to birth control. People have had blood-transfusions. Children have had access to education - and school supplies. And so many people have celebrated their birthdays with cake bought at a local bakery.
In mid-January 2020 another caravan of hundreds of Hondurans set off from San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras walking toward Guatemala, most with the hopes of eventually reaching the U.S. border. We know what's happening at our border. We know about the deaths in detention, the untreated medical issues, the separations of parents and children. . . we know. People in Honduras know, too. We can help "upstream" so that fewer people feel the desperation that drives them to leave home.
Three-dollars a day.
That's about the wage for someone working in a sweatshop in Honduras making so much of the clothing we wear.
The BJC Social Justice Immigration Committee has set the challenge for our community to raise the equivalent of JUST THREE DOLLARS A DAY for the next year to help Miguel do this important work in Honduras.
We will post pictures and stories about our neighbors and updates about the good the money is doing. We have determined that this GoFundMe platform is the best way to raise and track this money, and Amy Ariel and Liddy Rich will cover all of the platform fees so that 100% of Beth Jacob donations will go directly to our neighbors. 
