Temple Beth Am-Framingham, Massachusetts-See You In Shul !

"Do Not Allow Evil Another Chance"

"Look at these towers, passerby, and try to imagine what they really mean - what they symbolize - what they evoke. They evoke an era of incommensurate darkness, an era in history when civilization lost its humanity and humanity its soul . . ." "We must look at these towers of memory and say to ourselves, No one should ever deprive a human being of his or her right to dignity. No one should ever deprive anyone of his or her right to be a sovereign human being. No one should ever speak again about racial superiority... We cannot give evil another chance."

Those are the words of Nobel Prize winning author Elie Wiesel, describing the Holocaust Memorial in Boston. The Memorial features six luminous glass towers, each 54 feet high. Set on a black granite path, each one situated over a dark chamber which carries the name of one of the principal Nazi death camps. Smoke rises from charred embers at the bottom of these chambers. Six million numbers are etched in glass in an orderly pattern, suggesting the infamous tattooed numbers and frighteningly accurate ledgers of the Nazi bureaucracy.

Found only a few steps from the Freedom trail, the New England Holocaust Memorial was placed here because of the symbolism embodied in that red line. The line is a symbol of liberty and human rights as the core values of our nation. In a world where the Jewish people have seen the face of evil - we would hope that in this land founded on freedom and justice, we would find those who would heed Weisel's call to action and stop evil in its tracks.

Yet, evil lives. On this day of Judgment, when the liturgy of Yom Kippur puts before us the litany of the Unatanetokef - who shall live and who shall die, who shall perish by fire, and who by water, who by sword and who by beast, there are men, women and children who face these tests every day of their lives. And there are others who believe themselves to be superior - deciding the fate of those they consider beneath them. Thousands of miles from our shore, in the country of Sudan, innocent victims are being slaughtered by their government in a process of genocide.

While it is far from our home, we are no less obligated to fulfill Weisel's message - to make sure that human beings everywhere are given their dignity and their rights to be sovereign human beings. In order to act, we must first learn about the events taking place in Sudan and appreciate the history of that country.

Sudan is a country with a violent history. Since it's inception as an independent state in 1956, the people of Sudan have known bloodshed. The country is populated primarily by two distinct groups - in the North are the Arab Muslims of Nubian descent; in the south are the black Christians and the Animists who practice tribal traditions. The First Sudanese Civil War erupted one year before independence and lasted for 17 years, until 1972. The seeds for this war lay in the religious tensions between the north and south. The Northerners gained control of the government and sought to form a united Islamic Sudan. This created considerable conflict with the Southerners who prefer to worship God in their own way. As a result, the North declared a holy jihad against the South.

For ten years, the people of Sudan knew peace, before the conflict resumed in the early 1980's. In 1989 a new government came to power in the North, one with strong Islamic ties and goals. This only exacerbated the conflict, and in the early 1990's, the government began an assault on the South that included the bombing of villages, as well as frequent raids which destroyed villages located in the South, killing the men, women, and children at random. Many of the surviving women and children were captured and taken as slaves in the North. According to the Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan, over two million people have died in this campaign, while millions more were displaced having lost their homes.

One group of refugees is known today as The Lost Boys of Sudan, so named by aid workers after the fictional characters in Peter Pan who had no family except each other. These boys became separated from their families at early ages following attacks on their villages. They walked in large groups for approximately three months before reaching the safety of Ethiopia, with many dying along the way due to starvation and disease or attacks by wild animals. After residing in Ethiopia for approximately four years, civil war broke out in that country as well, causing them to flee once again to their war-torn country of Sudan.

Many died on that journey as well when crossing the deadly Gilo River. The boys who could not swim were swept away in the turbulent currents. Last year, I had the opportunity to speak with one of the Lost Boys, a young man by the name of Kuek, during a visit to Temple Beth El in Chappaqua. Kuek showed me a drawing that had been done by one of the Lost Boys. It depicted their harrowing journey across the Gilo River. The image showed children crossing on a narrow bridge, with gunfire all around, crocodiles in the water, and only a few making their way to safety.

Those who survived the trek remained in the bush of Sudan, hiding for approximately one-and-a-half years before making their way to the safety of the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. In all, these young men had walked some 1,000 miles by foot before reaching their destination.

In 2001, the United States government awarded refugee status to approximately 3,800 Lost Boys, allowing them to resettle in this country. While those boys found a home, their families remained in Sudan. Peace talks began in 2003, and in 2005, a treaty ended the 22 years of official violence between the North and South, but not until the South had been ravaged by war and ethnic cleansing. With the military campaign ending in the South, the Northern government turned its attention to the Darfur region of the country. Located to the West, the people of Darfur had long felt neglected during the years of Civil War between the North and South. Between the two Civil Wars, in the 1970's, tensions rose as the people of Darfur accused the government of ignoring their needs during the country's greatest famine.

In 2003, sensing unease with government policies and fearing further rebellion, the Northern government began a campaign of radical genocide against the tribesmen living in the Darfur region. Villages were ransacked, homes burned, and innocents slaughtered by bands of militia known as the Janjaweed. Working for the government, the janjaweed engaged in a scorched earth campaign -- terrorizing the people of Darfur through killings, rape, and the destruction of their dwellings.

American Jewish World Service estimates that since 2003, more than 2.5 million people have been displaced and 450,000 have lost their lives during this genocidal campaign.

Consider that those numbers represent the equivalent of displacing the entire city of Houston - 4 times the population of Boston. Killing 450,000 individuals is the same as killing the entire city of Cleveland, Ohio -- roughly 80% of the population of Boston.

Their homes destroyed, the Darfurians sought refuge in large camps across the border in nearby Chad. While these refugee camps have given them a home - it has not been a safe place. Disease and hunger run rampant through the population. Those who leave the camp to forage for food, water, or wood are often attacked by elements of the Janjaweed who wait for their opportunity to pounce upon defenseless men and women.

While the government of Sudan claims these actions are an internal matter, the truth is much darker. This atrocity is genocide. We who sit here today, know what genocide means. We know as a people what it means to be targeted for slaughter because of our ethnic heritage. Hearing about the bloodshed in the Sudan and the genocide taking place as we speak in Darfur, we wonder, "Why has this tragedy not been stopped?"

We should not overlook our American history when asking this question. On August 28, 1942, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise received a cable, originally sent by Gerhart Riegner, the World Jewish Congress representative in Geneva, revealing the existence of a comprehensive German plan to murder the Jews of Europe.

At a press conference on November 24, 1942, after the U.S. government confirmed the general accuracy of the information in the cable, Wise broke the news to the American press and public, and appealed to President Roosevelt to make an effort to stop the German murder plan. On December 17, 1942, the United States, Great Britain, and ten Allied governments-in-exile joined in a formal declaration denouncing Nazi implementation of "Hitler's oft-repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe."

Despite Wise's connections and strong influence with the President, FDR's administration decided against launching serious rescue efforts on behalf of the Jews of Europe. In addition, Wise found himself unable to unite American Jewry on a common course of action in response to Nazi mass murder. America's most influential rabbi was unable to change the course of events and the Jews of Europe remained in the camps until the end of World War II.

In an eerily similar pattern of events, in 2004, Nicholas D. Kristof, an Op-Ed writer for the New York Times first brought the horrors of Darfur to light through a series of articles. In an article entitled, "Will we say 'Never Again' Yet Again?" Kristof questions why the government of Sudan is pursing a policy of genocide against 3 black tribes while the world "yawns" and watches.

After 2004 and Kristof's articles, media outlets across the country began to recognize the crisis taking place in Africa. The Save Darfur Coalition was founded, by religious and community institutions seeking to advocate against the genocide in Darfur. Using a quote given by President Bush when speaking of how he would have acted if he had been president during the recent ethnic cleansing in Rwanda, Save Darfur created green bracelets that read, "Not on my watch."

On September 9, 2004, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell termed the Darfur conflict a "genocide", acknowledging it as one of the worst humanitarian crises in history. Under pressure from a public wanting action, President Bush finally spoke out -calling the events in Darfur a genocide-and not unlike President Roosevelt before him, President Bush indicated that the atrocities would not be allowed to continue.

Despite these brave words, little action followed. Once again world politics interfered with the cause of justice. While the world is not at war, as it was in the 1940's, the political situation remains as difficult today as during that period.

One political stumbling block comes in the form of US relations with other Arab nations. As Kristof notes frequently in his pieces, the silence of other Muslim nations in the face of this genocide has been deafening. Although many could influence the government of Sudan, that effort remains to be seen. In addition, the tense nature of US-Arab relations at this time diminishes the ability for our government to encourage action on the part of other Islamic nations angered by the conflict in Iraq.

While most Muslim nations remain silent on Darfur, the largest elephant in the room is the Chinese government. Sudan is an oil rich nation. So rich, that it currently supplies 10% of all oil used by the People's Republic of China. Concerned about the status of its oil resources, China has repeatedly acted in the UN to prevent efforts to stop the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.

We don't want history to repeat itself. God forbid we have to wait any longer to stop the genocide taking place on our watch - before our very eyes. We must heed the warning given by Elie Wiesel and refuse to give evil any further chances for success. By raising our voices we can make others aware of the genocide taking place on our watch, we can encourage our government and the governments of other nations to take action, and we can raise money to support those who are in refugee camps.

As I mentioned earlier, when the crisis in Darfur first became apparent, a coalition of religious and secular organizations banded together to raise awareness on this issue. The Save Darfur coalition, based out of Washington, D.C., has long been at the forefront of Darfur advocacy. Save Darfur has organized several national rallies, in addition to encouraging the creation of local grassroots community coalitions.

Through the SaveDarfur.org website, we have the opportunity to participate in a number of their activities. Green bracelets with the message, "Not on my watch," are available for purchase on the website. When you visit the Save Darfur homepage, you can sign up to be part of their informational mailing list. You will be able to send electronic letters to President Bush, the members of Congress, and the UN voicing your concern that action needs to be taken.

Another organization that has been involved in Darfur advocacy is American Jewish World Service. AJWS, reports that since 2003, the United States has admitted a total of 3 Darfuri refugees into our country. 3 out of the 2.5 million who are displaced. While the people of Darfur want to return to their homes, there are those who seek to leave Darfur and start anew. AJWS encourages action through their website and offers a way for us to raise our voices - to let our government know that the time has come to implement a new policy for refugees seeking asylum in our country including a revision of the existing cap on refugees from Africa. Call on the Bush Administration to accelerate the processing of refugee resettlement in our country.

In addition to the advocacy work of Save Darfur and American Jewish World Service, one can act through local programs. A few weeks from today, on Sunday, October 7th, Boston will host Dream for Darfur - a national program that has been organized around the journey of the Olympic Torch through America. With the Olympics in China next summer, this is an excellent time for the world to see that China is playing a role in the slaughter of innocent men, women, and children. Organized by the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur, this rally hopes to pressure the Chinese government to use its influence with Sudan and end the killing in Darfur.

We also have the creative power within our congregation to find our own way of raising local awareness of the genocide in Darfur. One synagogue in Dallas, Texas, developed the idea of Dolls for Darfur - little pins with figures that were worn by members of the congregation as a physical reminder of the people in Darfur. Other congregations have raised money for the purchase of solar cookers - devices which allow the people in the refugee camp to cook or boil water without having to leave the safety of the camp in search of firewood. Last year, here at Beth Am a couple of students took the initiative for their own fundraising efforts -- selling lemonade to raise money to help those in refugee camps.

The only limiting factors are our creativity and our passion for bringing the genocide to an end.

All the horrors of Darfur have taken place on our watch - evil once more flourishes in this world. Today on this day of Atonement, when we will be judged, let us not commit another sin of omission.

SERMONS