JWW’s beautiful new High Holiday piece features poems and inspirational readings by member rabbis. As the Jewish New Year approaches, we hope that you will be inspired to say “Hineni – Here I am” and support our mission to combat genocide.

IT IS IN OUR HANDS
By Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis
High Holidays, 2009

Who shall answer the cry, and who shall be betrayed
by silence?
Whose wounds will be bandaged, and whose will be allowed to fester?
In our hands to sweeten the bitter,
To soften the hardness of the heart.
Through tshuvah and tefillah and ma’asim tovim
The outstretched hand of the sword can be restrained
The choked and strangled may breathe the air of freedom,
And we can turn our lives into shelters from the biting winds,
Refuge from the angry storms.

An entire generation of Darfuri children is growing up in refugee camps with little or no schooling, leaving them susceptible to abduction as child soldiers and with little hope for a productive future. The people of Darfur want a future with skilled, knowledgeable leaders. They want their children to have an education and the hope and promise that education brings.

JWW, in partnership with the Darfur Dream Team and top NBA players, is sponsoring the building, staffing and equipping of the Sudan Djedid (New Sudan) and Ali Dinar B School in the Djabal refugee camp in Eastern Chad. The schools will serve over 1400 students and will be the first in a series of schools built in the 12 Darfuri refugee camps in Chad.