REGARDING THE CRISIS IN HAITI:
THE ROLE OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADER
AS SUSTAINER OF PUBLIC CONSCIENCEA Statement from Rabbi Julie Schonfeld
Executive Vice President of the Rabbinical AssemblyAnd A Prayer for the People of Haiti
By Rabbi Naomi LevyJanuary 21, 2010 (New York, NY) -- What is the role of a religious leader in the face of a humanitarian crisis on the scale of the earthquake in Haiti?
Certainly, it is to harness the power of the pulpit to preach about the need for relief and response. Judging from the emails flooding my inbox, this pulpit is global, ecumenical and most active. From within the Rabbinical Assembly alone, the outpouring of concern has been great, with synagogues and communities mobilizing for the crisis, donations pouring in and rabbis requesting information on how best to provide relief to the people of Haiti.
In response to that request, the Rabbinical Assembly hosted a phone conference today at noon with Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service. There were over 100 participants on the call. Ms. Messinger reported on the situation in Haiti and the relief efforts of the AJWS.
Ms. Messinger described the magnitude of the devastation and gave projections for the immediate future. She advised the rabbis to urge their constituents to send monetary donations only to organizations already on the ground in Haiti, such as the AJWS. The sending of supplies or volunteers would be counterproductive because of conditions in Haiti, she said.
In the event of a crisis, the rabbi or religious leader also becomes a community organizer, gathering important information, educating and directing.
But I would like to propose two other ways in which religious leaders play a unique role in the aftermath of humanitarian disasters.
Firstly, religious leaders must remind their communities of the importance of prayer. In this spirit, I have asked Rabbi Naomi Levy to compose a special prayer for the people of Haiti, which will be recited in synagogues this upcoming Shabbat and thereafter. Rabbi Levy, a well-known liturgist, is the founder and spiritual leader of Nashuva, a groundbreaking Jewish outreach organization based in Los Angeles.
The prayer is appended below.
Secondly, religious leader must keep the awareness of the need to respond alive in the mind of the public long after the story loses the status of Breaking News. They must assume the mantle of sustainer of public conscience.
The urgent need to respond now to the crisis in Haiti is obvious as the vivid and horrifying images fill the airwaves, newspapers and cyberspace. However, the story will soon fade from the international forefront and the attention of the public will move on to other stories, as is human nature.
Long after the aftershocks cease and the survivors are recovered and the dead are buried and the rubble is cleared, the crisis will remain for the people of Haiti. When the global community has finished grieving, the grief and despair will live on for those in the epicenter of the disaster.
So this, finally, is the unique role of the religious leader in the face of a humanitarian crisis – to sustain that first, precious, sincere, horrified impulse to respond. To mobilize the community to respond, to offer a prayer for the dead and afflicted, to serve as the conscience of the world, reminding humankind that our prime responsibility is the ability to respond today and tomorrow.
A Prayer for the People of Haiti by Rabbi Naomi Levy
We pray for Haiti.
Our hearts are breaking, God.
The human mind cannot grasp the enormity of the loss.
The cries echo through the universe.
Innocent blood is calling us
To rise up from our heartbreak and act.
We pray for Haiti.
Help us, God,
To understand that destruction can come in a moment
But healing may take a lifetime.
Teach us perseverance, teach us dedication.
We pray for Haiti.
God of the weak, God of the broken-hearted,
God of the living, God of the dead,
Send healing to Haiti.
Send hope to the children who are lost and alone,
Send strength and resilience to the wounded,
And comfort to the grieving.
Fill the leaders of Haiti with the wisdom to raise their country up.
Fill relief workers with resolve.
Bless the doctors and nurses with the power
And the skill to save as many lives as possible.
Open their eyes, steady their hands.
We pray for Haiti.
Bless us, God,
Work through us.
Remind us that every one of us is filled with the power to heal.
Do not let the passage of time lead us to indifference.
Open our hearts, open our hands.
We pray for Haiti.
Let all nations unite as one in a time of reconstruction and repair.
Raise up the people of Haiti, God, out of helplessness and despair.
Teach them to believe
That cities shall be rebuilt on their ruins
That the cries of the children will soon return to laughter.
Be with them, God, watch over them.
And gather the souls of the dead
Whose homes and schools became their graves
Into Your eternal shelter,
Let them find peace in Your presence, God.
We pray for Haiti.
Amen.
I find it obscene to pray to God when that God has – if one believes his PR – facilitated such enormous cruelty and destruction. But I do think chastisement of the Holy One is in order.
Oh God Of Destruction
Hey God, God of Destruction
would you please take a break from crushing babies to death and listen?
If you can't stop killing, maiming and destroying on its own merits
maybe you could do it because this earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, fire and flood stuff
makes you look bad
you look dated
you look cruelHey God, God of Destruction
enough spilled blood already
Weren't chimneys filled with the smoke of babies enough for you?
You remember that, don't you?
You took a prolonged nap, a little R & R
Like Martha Coakley on vacation
you let it all slip away
you couldn't be botheredHey God, God of Destruction
We won't be in shul this Shabbos
and we won't say anymore prayers to you
We looked behind the curtain and found it empty
and we've finally said "enough"