Afghan Refugees Will Speak At Jewish Community Center On Saturday

HARRISON, NY — This weekend, a family of Afghan refugees who relocated to Westchester will tell their story at the Jewish Community Center of Harrison.

More than four years ago, Reshad and Zulfar Ahmadi and their two young children fled Kabul after "being verbally and physically attacked by Afghan insurgents because of Reshad's work with the U.S. government," officials from the Jewish Community Center of Harrison said.

Now, on Saturday, March 5, the family will talk about their experience moving to the area as part of the center's participation in Refugee Shabbat 2022, a worldwide service involving readings that relate to the refugee crisis and community members sharing their experiences.

Ronit Razinovsky, the synagogue's education director, is scheduled to speak at the service as well, sharing her journey from Israel to the United States.

"We are very excited to be a part of Refugee Shabbat," said Eric Nussbaum, JCCH's executive director. "We are particularly proud of our community's work helping the Ahmadis settle in the United States. The Jewish story is so closely linked to the immigrant experience. Helping the stranger in our midst is foundational to the Jewish people."

Services on Saturday begin at 9:30 a.m., both in-person (the community center is located at 130 Union Ave., Harrison) and over Zoom. Anyone who wants a Zoom invitation can call the JCCH office at 914-835-2850.

The center's resettlement committee is currently helping to resettle nine of the Ahmadi's relatives — grandparents, siblings and a toddler — in White Plains, as they've been living in a refugee center in the United Arab Emirates after fleeing Afghanistan in October.

Anyone who wishes to help that effort can donate to a GoFundMe for the family, which so far has raised $15,289 with a goal of raising $30,000.

Donate here.

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