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American Jewish World Service
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Save Darfur.org
Situation in Darfur

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Crisis in Darfur

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Darfur Conflict

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Q&A on Darfur

Washington Post
Darfur Descending by Kofi Annan

U.S. Dep't of State
Documenting Atrocities in Darfur

TAKE ACTION WITH THE NEW SHUL

Our Commitment to Darfur

We at The New Shul have committed ourselves to helping stop the genocide in Darfur where more than 2 million people have been brutally displaced since 2003 by the Sudanese government and their proxy militia, called Janjaweed, and almost half a million have died from violence, hunger or disease.

The Darfur region of Sudan (top) and a mother with her 2-year-old malnourished child in a displaced persons camp in North Darfur (bottom). Courtesy of USAID.

The Mishneh Torah tells us that "In the beginning, God created only one person in order to teach us the lesson that if you destroy a single person it is as if you have destroyed the world."

The genocide now taking place in Darfur is a destruction of the world. The Social Action Committee of The New Shul has made combating this attempt to destroy an entire population our commitment to saving the world.

We condemn the world for its indifference to the fate of European Jewry, decimated by Hitler's genocide. Can we then stand by while genocide is being committed against another people? "Never again" means "Never again" not just for us, but for all humanity.

In 5766 (2006-07), we began working to save the innocent victims in Darfur through micro-projects that enable us to effect change on a person-to-person basis. We also worked on a macro level by joining with other groups to engage in good old-fashioned 60's activism at the American Jewish World Service's March on Washington on April 30, 2006. (See our slideshow from the rally and read comments from members who marched.)

Our efforts are important. They will save lives. And remember, the Mishneh also tells us that "when you save the life of a single person, it is as if you saved the whole world."

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Think Globally, Act Locally
The New Shul Social Action Weekend

Please join us for a weekend of consciousness raising and reflection -- February 8-9, 2006.

• Friday, February 8
  6:30pm
  
  Join us for a special interfaith Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday, February 8th. Guest speaker Pastor Gloria White Hammond, creator of Million Voices for Darfur Campaign and founder of My Sister’s Keeper, will speak about the current situation in Sudan and what we can do, however small, to help end the genocide there. This service will take place at 272 West 10th Street, in the auditorium.
  
  Bring a grocery bag with you to feed a person in need. We will deliver the bags to the Trinity Food Pantry. The following grocers will feed one person for a week:
  
  1 Juice
  1 Beans
  3 Veggies
  1 Cereal
  1 Rice (1 lb. minimum)
  1 Pasta (1 lb. minimum)
  2 Fruits
  3 Meats (Tuna or other)
  
  
• Saturday, February 9
  9am-noon
  
  Join us for a morning of hands-on local social action at Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Church to clean and paint their soup kitchen, which feeds more than 200 people every weekday. We will also fill grocery bags for their food pantry, which feeds 50 families every day. Adults and children ages 8 and older welcome! The church is at 602 East 9th Street at the corner of Avenue B.
  
  Space is limited, so email amye@newshul.org if you are interested in participating.
  
  1-3pm
  
  Join us for lunch and a roundtable Tish on the subject of Jews and Tikkun Olam (healing the world) and an opportunity to discuss our day. This will be led by Rabbi Niles Goldstein and our rabbinic intern Dan Ain.

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