The 2026 Kol Tzedek Righteous Voices Speaker Series Presents
Because We Were Strangers
Join us for a Conversation with
Dr. Beth Oppenheim, CEO of HIAS
as she speaks to the Jewish response to immigration today
Thursday, June 4 at 7:30 PM
756 East Broad Street
Westfield, NJ
Join us in person at Temple Emanu-El
OR on livestream.
This event WILL NOT be recorded.
About HIAS
HIAS is a long-established Jewish humanitarian organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers through protection, economic assistance, mental health care, and advocacy. They help people rebuild their lives with dignity and opportunity while fostering more welcoming communities around the world, grounded in Jewish values.
About Dr. Beth Oppenheim
Dr. Beth Oppenheim is HIAS’ CEO and has 23 years of experience working in refugee resettlement and international development. She is an expert on issues of displacement and sustainable systems change with a focus on work in Africa, having lived in and supported organizations in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, and Mozambique, amongst other countries around the world. She has held leadership positions at two of the U.S.’ ten resettlement agencies, helping rethink the ways in which we continue to preserve welcome for newcomers across the country.
Oppenheim began working at HIAS in October 2023 and has held several senior leadership roles, serving as Chief Advancement Officer, Chief External Relations Officer, and Interim CEO. Under her leadership, HIAS has risen to the challenges facing the humanitarian sector with integrity and courage, centering the Jewish and humanitarian values at the core of the organization’s identity. Oppenheim has led the organization in reenvisioning its programmatic work and assistance for refugees and displaced people in the U.S. and around the world and ensuring the organization’s leading role in advocating against policies that demonize and harm immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
She holds a doctorate from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she focused on the ways in which local communities play an important role in solving critical resource gaps in the Global South. She also holds a Master of Science in Global Affairs from NYU, and a Bachelor of Arts in Metropolitan Studies and Hebrew and Judaic Studies from NYU. A recognized thought leader in her field, Oppenheim has written and published extensively on development and the NGO sector.
What is the Kol Tzedek Righteous Voices
Speaker Series?
The Kol Tzedek Speakers Series, now in its sixth year, addresses various topics of critical importance to the betterment of our world and how we can move forward with hope and action. The lecturers we consider are acclaimed authorities from their respective fields of specialization and have included Bryan Stevenson, Isabel Wilkerson, Erika Lee, Ben Jealous and Rabbi Sharon Brous. The Hebrew term Kol Tzedek means righteous voice.
The Kol Tzedek speaker series is generously underwritten by:
Danny and Susan Stern