Mutual Responsibility
Addressing Hurricane Katrina –
An FAQ for Jewish Educators
Introduction
In the wake of the human catastrophe and devastation wreaked by Hurricane
Katrina, in and beyond the Gulf of Mexico, no-one remains untouched by the
images and news, and the Jewish community has committed assistance and funding
to help the victims of this major tragedy.
Jewish communities have always been sensitive to hardship and disaster, which
they have experienced time and again in the course of History. The modern
Jewish world has also gained a vast experience of disaster and response, as
well as in campaigning for action, raising funds and working for international
support. In the 19th century, Henry Morgenthau was synonymous with Jewish
and general campaigning following the Damascus Blood Libels and persecution
of Jews, Moses Montefiore with both settlement in Eretz Yisrael, and work
on behalf of persecuted Jews in Russia, Italy and the world. In the 20th century,
Jewish communities united to help save Jews in Germany and other countries,
whenever and wherever they could, and later to support survivors of the Shoah
(Holocaust) rebuild their lives in new countries. It is no small feat that
the State of Israel was established, through the selfless and dedicated work
of Zionist pioneers and Jewish communities around the world. All these communities
united in the Campaign for Soviet Jewry and, more recently, to provide assistance
in times of local and international disasters, from Mexico to the Far East.
Today, all Jewish community websites are appealing for funds for Disaster
relief for Hurricane Katrina, and Israel is involved in this effort. Here
at the Education Department of the Jewish Agency for Israel www.jafi.org.il/education/
, we would like to offer some general and Jewish educational orientation on
the issues, through an FAQ approach.
A short general perspective:
The fact that international aid is going to the USA is an exceptional phenomenon.
While the recent disaster shocked the world, rescue was initially considered
an internal problem for the United States, the greatest power in the contemporary
world. However, it rapidly became evident that this was an ongoing disaster,
that it would take months and even years to restore services and rebuild human
lives of the survivors, and 14 countries are at present involved with offering
emergency aid.
Not for nothing are comparisons being made to the Tsunami disaster, where
several coastal countries were affected, despite the vast difference in the
death toll. After all, were the USA a Federation of separate, sovereign states,
this would be considered an international disaster on an immense scale. Moreover,
as we have learned from the Tsunami, reconstruction aid has not kept pace
with initial aid and international plans for assistance, and lessons can be
learned from this for the USA.
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