Why HIAS hides behind an anonymous acronym
I have a beef with HIAS. The organization was long known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society before it was renamed as a Hebrewless acronym in 1975 as an undefined acronym.
This refugee agency aided hundreds of thousands of Jews for more than a century. It is likely that the ancestors of many readers of this piece — and it is certainly true of mind — benefited at Ellis Island in New York or the port of Galveston in Texas from the intervention and aid of HIAS. I have no beef with that, only gratitude.
Other readers who are descendants of Holocaust survivors or who emigrated from the Soviet Union also likely benefited from HIAS. Here, too, only gratitude.
In recent decades, HIAS expanded its mission to aid primarily non-Jewish refugees.
Its website says that since 1975, and even more so since 2000, it prioritized assistance to refugees and immigrants of all religions, ethnicities, nationalities and backgrounds. In 2018, the very large majority of such refugees were non-Jewish. No problem here, either, since the Jewish refugee issue has largely vanished, and agencies that do good things have a right to alter their mission.
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HIAS is currently active in opposing the Trump administration’s aggressive policy to deport immigrants. I would take a more nuanced approach than either HIAS or the administration, but I have no problem with HIAS, as a refugee agency with a long and distinguished history, acting according to its best lights.
Here’s my beef.
What is “HIAS?” It is “HIAS,” nothing else.
Its Wikipedia entry is now found under HIAS, noting that it was “founded” as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. By its very name, HIAS no longer raises a Jewish banner. It no longer speaks to the world as Jewish. It is no longer “Hebrew.” It no longer says to refugees, “It is Jews who are helping you.” It is no longer the agency that aided my ancestors and yours. HIAS no longer projects itself as a Jewish effort.
For all intents and purposes, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society no longer exists.
HIAS is not an abbreviation. ADL stands for Anti-Defamation League, the organization’s official name. JFNA stands for Jewish Federations of North America. JCC stands for Jewish Community Center. The full name is the real name.
HIAS stands for nothing, just HIAS. It is not a convenient abbreviation. It is a symbol and a symptom of assimilation. Proud Jews don’t reduce their identity to official, bland acronyms.
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One would think that if one’s current mission is to aid “immigrants of all religions, ethnicities, nationalities and backgrounds,” one would find it valuable for all of these citizens of the world to know that the “Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society” provided the aid. One would think that the good name of the Jewish people is worth disseminating.
Here is a beautiful opportunity to counter antisemitism, but it is squandered behind the sterile, opaque letters “HIAS.” Immigrants “of all religions, ethnicities” who are HIAS’ beneficiaries do not know that “Hebrew” is behind the chesed.
The transmogrification of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society into HIAS is another example of the illusion that the universal can supplant, rather than complement, the particular. When the Jewish banner is set aside, Jewish life shrinks.
If the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society changed itself into HIAS, then HIAS can change itself back into the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. It should, for the sake of pride in the Jewish people and the projection of Jewish ethics into the world.
It is not enough for Jews to do good; it is necessary for Jews to be seen doing good. The name says it all.
HIAS says nothing. Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society says everything.
Rabbi Goldberg is editor and publisher of the Intermountain Jewish News, for which he has been writing award-winning commentary for over 50 years.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
