Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Tragedies Test Faith, Humanity

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Tragedies Test Faith, Humanity

    TRAGEDIES TEST FAITH, HUMANITY
    By Rabbi Garry Loeb
    For the Times Herald-Record

    Times Herald-Record, NY
    April 2 2006

    Do not stand idle while your neighbor bleeds.

    - Leviticus 19:16

    As spring comes to Orange County, the days warm and lengthen,
    birds sing, flowers and trees bloom. It is a sweet time. Two great
    religious festivals mark this season. Christians celebrate rebirth at
    Easter and Jews celebrate freedom at Passover. Yet for many of us,
    our hearts and minds are turned to a faraway place, halfway around
    the world to Darfur, in Sudan.

    The genocide there mars our springtime. Hundreds of thousands are
    dead. Millions have been driven from their homes into refugee camps.

    The world has looked on, at first indifferently, then with grudging,
    ineffective gestures. Slowly, we are beginning to respond with
    real help.

    Throughout the past month, members of the Monroe-Woodbury Clergy
    Association have attempted to educate their faith communities about
    Darfur. We represent a tapestry of religious traditions, but we are
    united in our belief that the injunction from the book of Leviticus,
    above, has real meaning.

    Our clergy members have seen many world horrors in their lifetime:
    the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the Killing Fields of Cambodia,
    the slaughters in Bosnia and Kosovo, the mass murder in Rwanda.

    In each of these cases people said, "We didn't know! There was nothing
    we could do." People weep at memorials, shake their heads and wonder
    how people could let such things happen.

    What if, instead of mourning a new tragedy, we could prevent one?

    Darfur has been called the first genocide of the 21st century. We see
    it as a test of our faith and our humanity. At a time when religion
    is often seen as the root of much misery and strife, we know that
    religion can also bring people together and call to the best in us.

    Our traditions give us the moral center and ethical strength to speak
    out and teach. Darfur is an opportunity to make real the declaration
    "Never Again!"

    All across the country, Americans are raising their voices about
    Darfur. On April 30, many of us will go to the nation's capital to
    march and urge our leaders to take strong, effective and urgent action.

    In the Monroe-Woodbury area, congregants from our different
    faith communities have written to our officials and government
    representatives. We have worn pins, green bracelets and ribbons,
    displayed banners and signs with the message "Save Darfur!" The work
    continues and calls to all of us. We challenge all of you: What are
    you doing about Darfur?

    It is spring, a time of hope and new beginnings. Let's give hope and
    a new beginning to the people of Darfur.

    Rabbi Garry Loeb, of Monroe Temple Beth-El, coordinates the Darfur
    Project of the Monroe-Woodbury Clergy Association.
Working...
X