Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area.

In a world that is too often hostile to the stranger and the refugee, the San Francisco area, to its immense credit, has been a beacon of hope and welcome. The Jewish community, in particular, has been an active advocate on this front.

Today, those most desperately in need of rescue are not behind an Iron Curtain. They are fleeing civil war and unending conflict in Syria. They are in camps and cities across the Middle East, watching as their life savings dwindle to nothing along with their food rations. And they are risking perilous journeys, over land and sea, in search of safety and freedom. This global crisis demands stronger U.S. leadership, and as Jews, we should be the first to say so.

The history and experience of American Jews means that the plight of the Syrians, and refugees everywhere, resonates for us. While this is most certainly a global crisis, assisting refugees is a very Jewish issue, and many significant voices in the Jewish community are stepping up to demand that we not turn our backs on the most vulnerable among us. We know what it means to be strangers in a strange land. We also know the impact we can have when we come together to speak out for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers.

It was not long ago that the American Jewish community, including right here in the Bay Area, galvanized around the resettlement of Soviet Jewry following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many of us still remember the way the Jewish family service organizations based in San Francisco, the East Bay and Silicon Valley mobilized to assist the Jewish refugees fleeing the Soviet Union to come to Northern California. Increasingly, we are seeing this same heightened level of recognition from the American Jewish community that our government can do more, which in this context, means working to alleviate the Syrian crisis.

Syrian refugees at a railway station in Hungary on Sept. 3 photo/wikimedia commons-mstyslav chernov

What makes this case unique, however, is that for the first time in Jewish history, our community is mobilizing in force to help refugees — not because they are Jewish, but because we are. The growing response under way in the Jewish community — from rabbis to lay leaders, organizational heads to members of our local congregations —reflects an appreciation for this major moment in our history. Synagogues across the country used the High Holy Days as an opportunity to focus on the current crisis. Thousands have already joined HIAS’ call to the president urging the U.S. to step up its leadership by resettling at least 100,000 Syrian refugees on top of the 70,000 refugees resettled annually.

The stories of Syrian refugees are only one piece of what is actually a global refugee crisis — the largest since the conclusion of World War II.  Worldwide, there are more than 60 million refugees and displaced persons, from places as diverse as Sudan, Iraq, Colombia, Somalia and Ukraine. It is time for our community to mobilize and meet the needs of the millions of refugees and asylum seekers displaced in the world today, and that starts with advocating for the United States to raise the resettlement ceiling.

Raising the resettlement limit to reflect the urgency of the global crisis will allow Syrian individuals and families to start new lives in safety and freedom, as so many others have before them. And for the refugees currently being resettled in the United States, we can and must do more to create a welcoming environment.

This week, Winnie Gacheru, director of psychosocial services for HIAS Kenya, spoke at Hillel at Stanford University. As an expert on refugees, she explained what HIAS has learned about addressing the long-term mental health needs of refugees through many years of counseling and direct service. No matter where they wind up, all refugees face the challenge of rebuilding their lives in a new place, providing for their families and overcoming the trauma that forced them to leave in the first place.

In the past weeks, the energy and resolve in the Jewish community to help and protect refugees has been a source of inspiration and hope. The Torah tells us to “love the stranger” 36 times. These words are deeply embedded in the psyche of American Jews, and for that reason, I know that the community will continue to seek ways to translate their compassion and empathy for contemporary refugees into meaningful action.

Not because they are Jewish, but because we are.

Mark Hetfield is the president and CEO of HIAS, the global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees.