Darfur Shabbat

January 22, 2010

Each week we open the Torah Scroll and seek new insight about the significance of the text and how it might guide our lives. The Torah portion is a prism through which the past is refracted into a spectrum opf meaning with each band offering us new potential avenues of living.

And, so, we travel through the book of Shemot (Exodus) trying to understand the experience of the Israelites while seeking modern parallels. What must it have been like to have endured generations upon generations of slavery and degradation? How low did their spirits sink with despair as the rays of hope for liberation faded with each passing year?

I would suggest that the Exodus story is the foundational text for the Jewish imperative to transform the suffering and enslavement that exists in our time into a world that only knows peace and dignity for all human beings. After all, how can we who enjoy the blessings of a free and affluent society relate to the impoverishment and suffering of people continents away? I would add parenthetically, that the Exodus story is also the text that enables us to glean meaning from the horror of the Holocaust. How can those of us who did not experience the concentration camps redeem the memory of those who perished?

Clearly, the answer that emerges from both ancient and contemporary sources is one that is unambiguous and compelling. We cannot tolerate the abuse of other human beings regardless of religion, gender, sexual identity, race, or creed. God who heard the cries of the Israelites acted decisively to attain their liberation. So, too, must we emulate the Divine and act similarly to uplift those who are downtrodden.

Thus, today I join with rabbis in this community and throughout Canada and the United States in bringing awareness about the genocidal campaign against black Africans in Darfur along with the plea to help stop the senseless killing of innocent people.

Let me, then, share with you material gleaned from the Canadian Jewish Congress’ booklet, Darfur: A Jewish Response. This excellently prepared and thorough resource offers information, Jewish texts, and a call to action.

So, first allow me to convey some background information about this

issue:

Since 2003, a Sudanese Government backed militia called the Janjaweed has waged a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide against black African tribes in Darfur, in western Sudan. Up to 400,000 men, women and children have died. A further 2 million people have fled their homes, with 200,000 living in refugee camps in neighboring Chad and the remaining languishing in camps for internally displaced persons in Darfur. Thousands of small farming villages have been leveled, and four million people are dependent on international food aid. While there is an emerging view that the situation in Darfur is finally stabilizing, there is widespread consensus that the region remains volatile and that the current humanitarian consequences of the genocide are immense.

For us as Jews, this matter is a humanitarian issue that reflects Judaism’s core values of “not standing idly by when the blood of others is being spilled.” As Jews, we are acutely sensitive to the disastrous consequences of silence and international indifference.

We turn to our Jewish tradition and sacred literature for confirmation of the importance of acting with the values of respect and compassion and with a reverence for life. On Jewish holidays, Shabbat, over the dinner table at home, and in our school and synagogues, we echo the notion of kavod ha’briyot- “the dignity of created beings.” This concept reminds us that each human life is worthy of protection and sustenance at all times. Each person is created b’tzelem elohim- “in the image of God.” Embedded in every Jewish text is the underlying principle that we are called upon to respect and honor those who are different from us, as well as those who are similar. The call for us to “love the stranger” is mentioned 36 times in the Torah – more than any other mitzvah. To fulfill this mitzvah, we must begin by learning as much as we can about our world, the people around us, and ourselves.

For example, Maimonides (Rambam), one of the greatest Jewish scholars and theologians expanded this further in his 12th century writings:

Whenever a person can save another person’s life but fails to do so, he transgresses a negative commandment, as [Lev.19:16] states: “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbour.” Similarly, [this commandment applies] when a person sees another drowning at sea or being attacked by robbers or a wild animal, and he can save him himself or can hire others to save him. Similarly, [it applies] when he hears [others] conspiring to harm another or planning a trap for him, and he does not inform him and notify him [of the danger].

It may seem clear that we are to carry out our responsibility as taught in the Torah and reaffirmed in the teachings of Maimonides. But, in reality, taking action on a personal level is often much more complex.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of Britain, illustrates this point when he writes:

Traditionally, our sense of involvement with the fate of others has been in inverse proportion to the distance separating us and them. What has changed is that television and the Internet have effectively abolished distance. They have brought images of suffering in far-off lands into our immediate experience. Our sense of compassion for the victims of poverty, war and famine, runs ahead of our capacity to act. Our moral sense is simultaneously activated and frustrated. We feel that something should be done, but what, how, and by whom?

Rabbi Sacks points to a real problem that we face, namely, that there are so many issues that require our attention, resources, and response that we have become “compassion fatigued.” One day it is the homeless in our city, the next day it is an act of terrorism in the Middle East, and then all of that takes a back page to the natural disaster in Haiti.

Who, then, has the energy to focus on a humanitarian problem as far away as Darfur?

The Mishnah in Sanhedrin anticipates this problem when it teaches that, “The first human was created to teach that anyone who destroys a single soul is considered as though he had destroyed the entire world. Anyone who saves a single soul is considered as though he has saved an entire universe.”

We are not required to solve every problem in its entirety nor are we permitted to ignore it completely. We are commanded to do what we can and save one life at a time if need be. This is the meaning of Hillel’s famous moral dictum in Pirke Avot 1:14, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself what am I? If not now, when?

I, therefore, call you to study and to action this Shabbat in support of the people of Darfur. Please consider writing a letter on this matter to our government officials, sensitizing others to the situation in Darfur, and contributing funds for humanitarian relief. Specific material is available as you leave the sanctuary.

Lastly, we can also act through the power of prayer. I conclude, then, with this prayer for the people of Darfur composed by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

“O God of Peace,

Who commands us to seek peace,

Send peace to the people of Darfur.

O God of compassion,

Who hears the cry of the afflicted,

Hear the cry of the victims,

The bereaved, the injured,

And all those who live their days in fear.

Rouse the hearts of the leaders of the world To put an end to the bloodshed, the violence, The rape, the starvation, and the terror, That has ravaged and endangered an entire population.

Be with those who are working for peace, Or tending the sick, Or bringing food to the hungry, Or shelter to the homeless, O God of justice and love, Let us not be indifferent To the cry of the persecuted And the tears of those who have seen Their homes, their families and their communities destroyed.

And may their plea and their plight

Reach the ears and hearts of those who have it in their power To bring peace to a troubled region And aid to a devastated people.

Oseh shalom bimromav:

May You who makes peace in Your high places Help us make peace down here on earth.”

Amen.