Darfur

There was an unmistakably large Jewish presence at the Rally for Darfur in Wahsington yesterday. Although I could not go because of the Beth El Annual Meeting, my wife and daughter did. They got there fairly early on one of the busses from our daughter’s Jewish Day School, Akiba. We sent 5 busses from our Federation as well. Helene called me to say that it looked as much like a rally for Israel as it did for Africa.

Carrying signs that read, “Never Again, Again”, and “Not On Our Watch” there were dozens of U.S.Y., Federation and synagogue groups. Elie Weisel spoke, as did Ruth Messinger, president of the Jewish World Service. Coming as it did so close to Yom Ha-Shoah, the parallels were obvious. Who knows better than Jews what it means to suffer and ultimately be slaughtered while the world watches and does nothing?

Amongst the thousands and thousands in attendance, the Jewish presence was clearly noted. The Washington Post picked up on it as you can see in today’s article - www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/30/AR2006043001219.html
I am so proud to be part of a people who says, “Never Again” and really means it.

T.S Eliot wrote: “Footfalls echo in the memory ---Down the passage which we did not take --- Towards the door we never opened”. On Pesach we open the door, not just to remind ourselves that we are not allowed to lead cloistered lives, but to welcome Elijah. To be a Jew means to work diligently to bring a better world into being, to open doors for other people, and to never have to wonder what would have been had we really cared.