When Rabbi Susan Silverman pitched a wildcat idea at the Rabbis for Human Rights meeting in Jerusalem in January, that perhaps Israelis could step up to hide asylum seekers threatened with deportation à la Anne Frank, she thought the proposal might, at best, gain some publicity for their plight.

But within three days, hundreds of families had signed up through the hastily organized Miklat Israel/Israel Sanctuary Movement, ready to take asylum seekers into their homes for an unknown period of time.

“They’re all aware of the fact that there is a level of civil disobedience,” said Rabbi Tamara Schagas, one of three female Jerusalem rabbis spearheading the initiative, along with Silverman and Rabbi Nava Hefetz.