Final answer:
Josef rips his shirt as a symbol of grief and mourning after realizing the MS St. Louis is leaving Cuba, reflecting the despair and shattered hopes of Jewish refugees denied asylum.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the book Refugee, Josef rips his shirt just like the Jewish funeral custom when he realizes the St. Louis is leaving Cuba. This act of tearing one's clothing is a traditional Jewish expression of grief and mourning, known as keriah. By ripping his shirt, Josef is symbolically mourning the loss of hope and the death of his expected future in a safe land. It represents the collective sense of despair the Jewish refugees aboard the MS St. Louis must have felt as they were denied asylum and faced the prospect of returning to a Europe dominated by Nazi persecution, which for many would ultimately lead to death in the Holocaust.