This week is a sad week for everybody, and I would like to share with you the words of Rabbi Andy Shugerman, JTS (Jewish Theological Seminary) Rabbinic Fellow.

"For the last fifteen years, I have dedicated part or even all of Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday weekend as an opportunity for special study and social engagement activities. This year, I urge all of you to join me in both pursuits in response to this week's Torah portion and to the tragic aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.

"On the evening in January 1963 that he met Dr. King, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel gave a speech in which he said the following:

"'We are all Pharaohs or slaves of Pharaohs. It is sad to be a slave of a Pharaoh. It is horrible to be a Pharaoh. Daily we should take account and ask: What have I done today to alleviate the anguish, to mitigate the evil, to prevent humiliation? Let there be a grain of prophet in every man!' (The Religious Basis of Equality of Opportunity: The Segregation of God in the Insecurity of Freedom.)

"Rabbi Heschel observed that the human condition leads many people to remove themselves from improving the world. Those who see themselves only as victims become paralyzed with fear and sadness; those who see themselves only as powerful remain aloof from the problems around them. Especially in a time of crisis, we cannot follow either of these examples but must choose a path of compassionate action in solidarity with those in anguish."

This is our time to show our responsibility towards our fellowmen. We, at TBI, want to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti, so I want to share with you how we can do it:

United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism has a Disaster Relief Fund set up for those who wish to help earthquake victims. The URL for on-line donations is:

www.uscj.org/donate/relief 

Some Local Efforts:

There will be a rally for Haiti disaster relief on Sunday, January 17, at 1:30 pm in Arts Park in Hollywood. Funds raised at that rally will be given to the Red Cross for Haiti disaster relief.

Additionally, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has opened a mailbox for Haiti disaster relief donations. Accordingly, the Jewish Federation of Broward County has provided such a mailbox on its website - www.JewishBroward.org. One hundred percent of the donations received in the Federation's mailbox for Haiti disaster relief will go to the Joint Distribution Committee (www.jdc.org) which will provide non-sectarian help to the victims in Haiti.

Now is the time to pray and help them.

Shabbat Shalom,