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Resources | Organizations | Save Darfur Rallies » Reports Photos
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JRF is a member of the coalition (supported by AJWS and JCPA), and is encouraging our member congregations to show strong participation in this effort, through tzedakah relief efforts and organizing nationally and regionally to aid in this effort. Activities occurred worldwide, with thousands of people taking part in "SAVE DARFUR NOW: Voices to Stop Genocide" to urge the United Nations to deploy a peacekeeping force to Darfur and to raise international awareness of the ongoing atrocities in Darfur. The April 30th, 2006 rallies in Washington, DC and across the country demonstrated the impact that Americans could make on our congressional and political leaders. The September 17th rally in New York and internationally, redoubled Save Darfur Coalition domestic efforts while engaging the international community in a more coordinated manner. November, 2006: African, Arab, European and U.N. leaders agreed in principle Thursday, Nov. 16 to a joint African Union and United Nations peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region. The force could be as large as 27,000-strong, including the existing 7,000-member African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, but the leaders did not lay out a timetable for the force to begin work partly because Sudan had some reservations. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said additional personnel could include as many as 17,000 soldiers and 3,000 police officers. "The next step is for the U.N. and AU to call a meeting of the non-signatories (of the Darfur Peace Agreement) ... and the government of Sudan. It should take place in the next couple of weeks to resolve outstanding issues by the end of the year," said Annan. We hope your congregation will continue or deepen its involvement in trying to end the violence and impoverishment being perpetrated on the people of Darfur. NOW IS THE TIME! For info on JRF efforts contact: Rabbi Shawn Zevit, JRF (SZevit@jrf.org) or 215-782-8500, ex. 24 New Resource Materials Available In addition to the Congregation Organizing Guide, Jewish Community Organizing Guide, College Organizing Guide and Teen Organizing Guide that are available on AJWS’s Web site (http://www.ajws.org/darfur), AJWS has recently added a Jewish Youth Educators Organizing Guide and an updated Rally Fact Sheet. Download an ad that can be used for congregational bulletins. New activist packets and downloadable flyers/graphics can also be found on www.savedarfur.org. Groups in both Massachusetts and Pittsburgh have created Web sites to register people for buses. These Web sites can be found at http://www.savedarfurma.org and http://www.pittsburghdarfur.org respectively. Also, see http://www.DarfurScores.org, which AJWS helped to create. Questions? If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Joshua Bloom, AJWS Darfur Field Organizer, at 212-356-2977 or at jbloom@ajws.org.
April 30, 2006: Save Darfur Rally to Stop Genocide in Washington. 150 faith-based organizations participated. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the American World Jewish Service coordinated participation by the Jewish community. JRF and the RRA are members of the Save Darfur Coalition. (www.savedarfur.org) For general info about the Save Darfur Coalition and it's work, go to: http://savedarfur.org/home.php |
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| Reconstructionists join the 75,000 demonstrators from 150 faith-based organizations at the April 30 rally and 25,000 activists at the September 17 rally |
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| JRF staff and board, including Val Kaplan, Jackie Land, Lani Moss and Isaac Saposnik | |
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| Kids participate from Kol Halev, Cleveland | |
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| Rabbis Shai Gluskin from JRF, Steve Segar from Kol Halev (Cleveland), and Avi Winokur from Society Hill Synagogue (Philadelphia) | |
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| Adat Shalom (Bethesda) including Craig Sumberg on the right, co-chair of their Tikkun Olam committee | |
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RRC graduate Rabbi Steve Gutow, head of JCPA |  |
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| Rabbi Yael Ridberg , Barbara Gish (Tikkun Olam Co-Chair) and members of West End Synagogue, New York, NY |
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| Hazzan Eric Miller and the No’ar Hadash/Teen group from RSNS, Plandome, NY Photo by Linda Jum |
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| Photos contributed by Rabbi Shawn Zevit and Rabbi Shai Gluskin unless otherwise noted. | |||||||||
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Rally Reports RRC students are quoted in this article following the September 17, 2006 rally: Saturday night, April 29, 2006, we had over 100 people at the 6th and I Street synagogues, where Rabbis Brant Rosen and Steve Gutow (who continued his inspirational words on Sunday) spoke passionately and eloquently about the situation. Dr. Carl Sheingold and John Riehl gave greetings on behalf of JRF, and we engaged in prayer and text study led by Rabbis Shawn Zevit, Micah Becker-Klein, Liz Bolton, Leila Berner, and Jason Klein. On Sunday April 30, members of the JRF board and staff, RRC students and more than 25 JRF congregations sent rabbis and members to the rally. More details are in these news articles: We were aware of the presence of the following JRF congregations at various rallies: |
| "Do not stand idly by while your neighbor's blood is being shed." Leviticus 19:16 "What is at stake is our own humanity." "Whoever can prevent any person throughout the world from committing a sin but does not, is responsible for that person's sin." |
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JRF is among the Jewish organizations that endorsed a request to President Bush to "assert moral and political leadership, promoting immediate and comprehensive international intervention" in A Call to Action on Darfur, July 2005. Below you will find organizations that JRF has partnered with, as well as sample member congregational responses to the Darfur crisis. So that we can share our communities efforts and encourage each other to take action, please e-mail resources or links to material that your congregation has developed to Rabbi Shawn Zevit, JRF Director of External Affiliations, at SZevit@jrf.org, |
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| Resources |
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A Prayer for Darfur Wellspring of Compassion, spread the shelter of your peace over the suffering children, women and men of Darfur, that beleaguered region of the Sudan. May your love and tender mercies sustain the shattered lives of those residing in Darfur. May these people not lose hope or their will to be, and may we be moved to action by empathizing with their plight. Genocide is happening, and we must say, Never Again! You have commanded us not to stand idly by the blood of any fellow human being, for we regard ourselves as having once been enslaved so bitterly in ancient days. Our ancestors were liberated by the strength you granted them to overcome powerful oppression. It is the Jewish mission to be a light to the nations: a light of freedom and not of constriction, a light of liberation and not of conquest, a light of courage and not of cowardice, a light of hope and not of despair. Genocide is happening, and we must say, Never Again! God of peace, The Sudan poses no existential threat to us, and so it would be easy to do nothing, Rather, we must reach out to the people of Darfur for their sake and for the sake of our souls. It is our responsibility to support charitable organizations to help these people, and yes, to petition our Government in an effort to mobilize its diplomatic and military might to pursue justice in Darfur. We cannot be truly at peace so long as human beings are the victims of cruel, violent and hateful lordship by others. Genocide is happening, and we must say, Never Again! By Rabbi Jerry Seidler, Temple Sinai, Amerst, NY The FAQs of Genocide: Darfur: A Religious Imperative The Spiritual Dimension of Justice (prayers and songs) Jewish Liturgical and Sermon Resources Resolution on The Crisis in Sudan » PDF MS Word Letter to President Bush » PDF MS Word Interfaith Vigil Press Release Darfur Resource Kit - includes opportunities for tzedakah and lobbying, material for teaching and organizing, photos and videos, plus more. Haggadah Insert for Darfur » PDF MS Word A Passover Reflection Editable MS Word versions of documents are included for resources that your congregation may wish to adapt. |
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| Places to Donate and Advocacy Information |
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The AJWS and JCDR are Jewish agencies that JRF frequently partners with in response to social/political emergencies.
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The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation is participating in the Save Darfur Coalition effort to stop the atrocities and impoverishment in the Darfur region of Sudan.
