Rabbi David Nesson said fasting to bring attention to the situation in Darfur is an act that raises personal consciousness and deepens commitment to action.
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June 25, 2009
Rabbi David Nesson of the Morristown Jewish Center-Beit Yisrael joined over 80 rabbis last week in a fast to bring attention to the lack of humanitarian aid in Darfur.
The June 17-18 fast was initiated by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism as a link in a “fasting chain” launched by actress Mia Farrow and various nongovernmental organizations, including the American Jewish World Service.
Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the RAC, began a three-day water-only fast on the evening of June 15. He invited rabbis of all four major streams of American Judaism to join him in forgoing food on the final day.
“I think we need to raise awareness of what’s going on in Darfur, as Jews,” said Nesson, a Conservative rabbi, during his fast. “If you participate in some action, it raises your personal consciousness and deepens your commitment.”
Nesson was surprised to learn he was alone among his local colleagues in joining the fast, although eight rabbis from around New Jersey were among the at least 80 who participated. Rabbis, joined by cantors and other Jewish community leaders, fasted in countries around the world, including Canada, Israel, Mexico, and England.
Nesson began his liquid fast on the evening of June 17 and completed it the evening of June 18. It’s the first action on behalf of Darfur that Nesson has personally participated in, although the synagogue has a sign on its property reminding people about Darfur. Two b’nei mitzva students this year wrote a play about the suffering in Darfur and performed it for the religious school.
Hundreds of thousands have died and millions have been displaced in the southern region of Sudan at the hands of forces that the United States and other governments say were sponsored by the government of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
Al-Bashir expelled humanitarian aid groups from the country three months ago, and activists worry that negotiations about returning aid groups have been futile.
“Fasting is a traditional part of Judaism, usually accompanying the memory of a great tragedy or deep repentance,” Saperstein said in a statement. “But here we must do a fast as a protest and as an emblem of solidarity with the individuals in the camps, sharing the plight of too many in Darfur — water but too little food.”
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