by Elaine Durbach
NJJN Staff Writer

July 7, 2009

Rabbi Michael Goldstein of Temple Beth Torah in Manawassa and Rabbi Michael Pont of Temple Beth Ahm in Abderdeen were among 80 rabbis who fasted on June 18 to bring attention to the lack of humanitarian aid in Darfur.

The fast was initiated by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, whose director, Rabbi David Saperstein, began a three-day water-only fast on the evening of June 15 and invited rabbis of all four major streams to join him for the final day.

Goldstein said he heard about the fast through an e-mail from the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly and immediately signed on.

“When news of Darfur and the suffering in southern Sudan began to come through,” he said, “as a Jew and as a rabbi I felt it required that I lift my voice to declare that this was not acceptable in today’s world.”

Doing the fast, Goldstein said, felt somewhat surreal. “With the fasts that we’re accustomed to doing as Jews, even the minor ones, you know you’re part of a collective. This felt very quiet and personal, though I knew I had the company of colleagues who were doing it too — rabbis and cantors and other Jewish professionals.” At least six other NJ rabbis took part in the fast.

Sudan’s president Omar-al-Bashir expelled humanitarian aid groups from the country on March 5. Actress and activist Mia Farrow undertook a fast in April to bring attention to the lack of humanitarian aid allowed into Darfur; others continued after her.

Pont said he took part in the fast “because I feel powerless and sad over the tragedy in Darfur, and I saw this as a small way to show solidarity for those who are suffering and to raise awareness in my synagogue. I am glad I did it and will continue to fight for justice.”

In his weekly e-mail to his congregants before the fast, he said he had been struggling with the question of what can be done to be effective in helping those suffering in other places.

He told his temple’s members, “My fast will not take guns away from those killing the innocent, but I pray that it will help to keep the spotlight on Sudan…. More resources and information can be found at rac.org/Darfur.”

He ended by saying: “May we continue to learn, and may our learning lead to action.”

Saperstein said in a prepared statement, “Fasting is a traditional part of Judaism, usually accompanying the memory of a great tragedy or deep repentance. But here we must do a fast as a protest and as an emblem of solidarity with the individuals in the camps….”

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