What is our Global Jewish Responsibility?

Remarks by Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein, Senior Rabbi, Central Synagogue
Delivered at the JDC Ambassadors Global Symposium
December 3, 2012

It is a tremendous honor to be with you this morning and a special joy to personally salute you who are involved in and support the JDC.  In my mind you are responsible for and further the work of one of the great heroic organizations of Jewish life. To say this is not hyperbole because I have seen your work in action around much of this world.

Perhaps the most personally stunning and surprising experience I had with JDC was when in the late 1990’s I travelled with a small group of Jewish leaders to visit an Albanian refugee camp during the height of the Kosovo conflict and then to take some of those refugees with us to Israel. In those days brutalized refugees were flowing across the border seeking food and water and shelter and refuge.

I’m not sure what I expected when I arrived in Albania but a tent with a JDC sign outside was nowhere on my screen of possibilities. It was there and then that I came to understand the expansive theater of JDC operations which combat the results of human warfare and misery and are on the ground in the face of the most horrendous natural disasters as in Haiti after the earthquake. I comprehend the exquisite purity of an organization which has as its focus saving people in extremis no matter what their national origin, race, religion or gender. For that I salute and thank you.

The topic you have asked me to address is “What is our Global Jewish Responsibility?” In forming this question I suspect the planners of this symposium were purposeful in framing the question with inherent ambiguity for in fact this topic properly raises two very separate issues.

Argentina's Baby Help Brings Judaism and Joy to Community's Youngest

Joining Jews around the world in the Passover seder countdown, many struggling young families in Argentina are gearing up for their annual “Baby Pesach” celebration at the JDC-supported Baby Help center in Buenos Aires.

For young Jewish families in Argentina, Baby Help is a household name.

Launched by JDC and the local Jewish community to help struggling pregnant mothers and toddlers plunged into poverty in the wake of Argentina’s 2001-2 economic collapse, today Baby Help continues to be an important source of support for the country’s most vulnerable children.

In addition to providing for basic necessities such as food, milk, vitamins, vaccinations, and diapers, the Baby Help center in Buenos Aires offers critical day care services so that parents can find and maintain jobs, and welcomes dozens of young families for spirited celebrations of Shabbat and Jewish holidays throughout the year.

Recipes from Around the World to Celebrate Rosh Hashanah.

Jews in India celebrate Rosh Hashanah
with local traditions and flair.
from JDC website

When it comes to food for Rosh Hashanah, most of us here tend to think about apples and honey.  And while this is a delicious snack to usher in a sweet New Year,  there are many wonderful food traditions from Jewish communities around the world for the holiday and we want to share some with you. 

This newest collection of holiday recipes include dishes from Argentina, Serbia, Tunisia, Ethiopia and more. 

Download these delicious recipes at the JDC website. 

You can also read about Rosh Hashanah traditions in India in this interview with Rosy S. of India's Jewish community.