Join us in the sanctuary at 6pm for an uplifting, musical, refugee shortened Shabbat Service and stay for a 7pm panel discussion with experts in the field, and  an oneg hosted by  Sara Lourie,  Deborah Black and Mich Kabay. The Refugee Shabbat is a program of HIAS. Join with us as we stand in solidarity with refugees, asylum seekers immigrants and vulnerable communities. 

Jill Martin Diaz (VAAP Vermont Asylum Assistance Project)

 Jill (they/them, elle/ellx) is an immigration attorney licensed to practice in New York, Vermont, and the District of Vermont. They come to VAAP from Vermont Law and Graduate School where they taught doctrinal and clinical immigration law and directed the Center for Justice Reform Clinic. Previously, Jill practiced as a Vermont Poverty Law Fellow at Vermont Legal Aid and an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Sanctuary for Families New York. Jill partners with Connecting Cultures–New England Survivors of Torture and Trauma (NESTT) as their legal director and also serves on the Vermont Judiciary’s Access to Justice Coalition, regional and national committees of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the Vermont Queer Legal Professionals co-founding leadership team. The National LGBTQ+ Bar Association recognized Jill’s achievements by honoring them as one of 2023’s Top 40 Lawyers Under 40.

Seth Lipschutz (CVRAN Central Vermont Refugee Action Network)

Seth was a public defender for 30 years.  He specialized in prison conditions, criminal appeals, and immigration issues.  After he retired in 2019, he has continued to volunteer in immigration cases for people seeking asylum and related matters.  He is a member of Beth Jacob Synagogue in Montpelier, where he also taught Hebrew to children for many years.

Matt Thompson (USCRI/VRRP US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants)

Matt Thompson works for the Vermont field office of USCRI (U.S. Committee for
Refugees and Immigrants) formerly know as Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program
(VRRP). USCRI Vermont has offices in Colchester and Rutland, providing refugee
resettlement services (currently suspended) and self-sufficiency and integration services
to refugees, asylees, and others. Matt and his family have been involved with JCOGS for many years, with his wife Courtney helping teach Kinderlach, and with his children, Ella and Noah, participating in
family programs. More recently, his family experienced the joy of their oldest child,
Ella’s, mitzvah ceremony at JCOGS in July 2023.

Melissa Battah  (Executive Director of Vermont Interfaith Action)

Melissa began organizing in the Barre-Montpelier area in 2011. She has decades of NGO experience focusing on Economic Justice, Housing, Cultural Education, Immigration and Gender/Ethnic/Racial Equity. Prior to beginning her work with VIA, Melissa mentored middle school students in Florida; coordinated prayer journeys in Thailand; and managed resource development for a community organizing group in Nazareth, Israel. Melissa has worked at the Barre Community Justice Center, was a founding member of the Vermont Ethnic and Social Equity in Schools Coalition, served as Chair of the Board of Directors at the Good Samaritan Haven and is a vestry member at Good Shepherd Church (Episcopal) in Barre. She is the Treasurer of the Barre Town PTO and is a Justice of the Peace.

Sonali Samarasinghe (USCRI US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants)

Sonali Samarasinghe is the Field Office Director (Interim) ofUSCRI Vermont. She is an international award-winning journalist, human rights activist, lawyer, and former diplomat. A Sri Lankan
American, Sonali practiced law for many years and worked as a
journalist focusing on human rights, including government
corruption and women’s issues. She has served as editor-in-chief
of a national weekly newspaper and as a political columnist and
satirist in Sri Lanka. In the United States, she has been an Edward R. Murrow Fellow, an
International Journalist in Residence at the Graduate School of Journalism, City
University of New York, a Neiman Fellow of Journalism at Harvard University, and a
Writer in Residence at the Ithaca City of Asylum. She believes it is a human right to be treated with dignity and respect while able to understand the world around us. In her spare time, she enjoys theater and the performing
arts, jazz, reading, and writing, and is a published author.