There is something terrible going on in Sudan, Africa. In a place I have never seen, on a continent I have never visited, a people I have never met are in pain. And a I am in pain for them too.

The Jewish people are no stranger to genocide. Perhaps it is because the Holocaust is still so fresh in our memory that so many Jewish groups are involved in protesting the situation taking place in Darfur. Perhaps it is because the world stood still at the time of the Nazi Holocaust, and we remember the countless nations that stood silent while one-third of European Jewry perished that so many youth groups are lending their voice to bring attention to the current genocide. Perhaps it is because the following words that are etched into the halls of many Holocaust Museums echo still so strongly in our minds today:

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.

-- Rev. Martin Niemoller 1945

I don't want to look back on my life and find that I have become part of that poem. And so, I strongly call upon everyone to make yourself aware of the horrors taking place right now in Darfur (Sudan), Africa. Beyond ensuring that the issue is talked about instead of being swept under the rug of our consciousness, I wanted to make sure that you were aware of events coming up on April 30th. There will be a rally in Washington, DC and a rally at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. If you cannot attend either, I hope you will research the situation, and let your elected representatives know that we care about what is happening to a people whose blood is just as red as ours.

Wherever you stand politically, I hope you will be able to lend your voice to this cause - whatever your religion, race or beliefs, no one should stand by silently while others suffer. After all, if we don't speak up, who will speak for us in our time of need?