More than 100 rabbis have signed a letter urging David Cameron to take in more Syrian refugees.
Two of those who delivered the letter to no10 yesterday came to Britain on the Kindertransport which rescued 10,000 Jews fleeing Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1940. Many other signatories were children of refugees and they reminded Cameron of British hospitality to Jews in the Second World War.
"We remember and speak about the brave and committed citizens of this country who opened their homes to welcome 10,000 children fleeing Hitler," it reads.
"We call this the Kindertransport, and it is again our beacon for hope in the values of Great Britain. A light of human kindness that shines into the darkest corners of history."
Now, the rabbis say, "it is our turn to open our gates to refugees who are fleeing from tyranny and evil, often with only the clothes on their backs, and their children in their arms."
The letter calls on the government to accelerate and expand current proposals for the UK to accept 20,000 refugees over five years. The group would like to see a minimum of 10,000 refugees accepted in the next six months.
They also call on him to re-examine asylum policies, in particular to allow the refugees to work.
The letter comes after a string of religious leaders have waded in and offered practical help to the refugee crisis.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has offered a home to one or two refugee families in a cottage in the grounds of Lambeth Palace.
"Jesus was a refugee," Welby said of his decision which he had been considering for some time.
This followed the Vatican's announcement it would take in a family of four Syrian refugees after Pope Francis called for every Catholic parish to offer hospitality.
